SBIR Phase I: Micro-textured surfaces for high-performance drone propellers

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力旨在提高无人机的性能，无人机正在迅速被众多商业和民用应用所采用。据估计，到2021年，全球新无人机的数量将达到2900万架。无人机操作的两个主要挑战是有限的飞行时间和无人机螺旋桨产生的噪音。这两个问题都是无人机更高效、更普遍使用的障碍，它们都与螺旋桨的空气动力学性能有关，更具体地说，与螺旋桨上的气流分离有关。该项目旨在利用微纹理表面创造有利的空气动力学条件，以减轻噪音、振动和效率损失。被动缓解气动效率低下将延长组件寿命，降低辐射噪声，并提高能源效率。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在评估微纹理表面的效果，微纹理表面在增加升力、减少阻力和减轻无人机螺旋桨叶片机翼噪音方面是有效的。这些改进可能会增加有效载荷能力，延长飞行时间，并降低无人机的噪音。这项工作的主要目标是设计具有微纹理表面的螺旋桨，使其效率比领先的工业螺旋桨提高10%，并减少产生的噪音。推力，扭矩和噪音将量化结合微纹理和螺旋桨设计。此外，还将进行现场实验，以了解微纹理对无人机飞行性能、噪声和机动性的影响。项目将追求对微纹理/流动关系的全面理解，以有效地设计用于工业应用的微纹理表面。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to improve the performance of drones - unmanned aerial vehicles - that are quickly being adopted for numerous commercial and civil applications. It is estimated that by 2021 the number of new drones will reach 29 million worldwide. Two of the main challenges in drone operation are the limited flight time and the noise generated by the drone propellers. Both of these represent obstacles for a more efficient and universal use of drones, and both are linked to propeller aerodynamic performance, more specifically, flow separation on propellers. This project aims to use micro-textured surfaces to create favorable aerodynamic conditions to mitigate noise, vibrations, and efficiency losses. Passive mitigation of aerodynamic inefficiencies will prolong component lifespan, reduce radiated noise, and increase energy efficiency. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project seeks to evaluate the effect of micro-textured surfaces that were previously shown to be effective in increasing lift, reducing drag, and mitigating noise from airfoils on drone propeller blades. The improvements may increase payload capacity, extend the flight time, and reduce the noise of drones. The main goal of the proposed effort is to design propellers with a micro-textured surface that improves the efficiency up to 10% over leading industry propellers and mitigate generated noise. Thrust, torque and noise will be quantified for a combination of micro-textures and propeller designs. Additionally, field experiments will be carried out to understand the impact of the micro-texture on flight performance, noise, and maneuverability of a drone. Project will pursue an overall understanding of micro-texture/flow relationship to effectively design micro-textured surfaces for industrial applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.