Design and Structural Mechanics of a Modified Wood – Composite Integrated Propeller Blade

Abstract

Aircraft Propellers are the key components of turboprop type engines which are used for thrust generation for the aircraft. Metallic propellers which are in use for long time are being replaced by composite type equivalent propeller due to their high specific strength and modulus. Composite material is used in combination with engineered wooden core offers refined dynamic character-istics with enhanced damping as well as greater stiffness Better damping char-acteristics reduces the vibrations due to external excitation sources resulting in higher fatigue life. In this study, effort will be made to design and analyze a composite bladed propeller for a typical light transport aircraft. Scope of the work in this project includes design, modeling and detailed finite element analysis of an integrated composite – engineered wood propeller blade. The structural analysis includes static structural and modal analysis for induced stresses, deformations, its natural frequencies and associated mode shapes.