Propeller Calibration Powered by Electric Engine in the Indonesian Low Speed Tunnel (ILST)

A calibration of a propeller has been conducted during a wind tunnel test of an aircraft model in the Indonesian Low Speed Wind Tunnel (ILST). The purpose of the calibration was to obtain a power (thrust) characteristic of the propeller used for Engine Simulation (Power ON) test in the ILST. A fixed angle 3-blade wooden propeller was used during the calibration, the diameter of the propeller is 35 cm and the fix angle of the blades are 33 cm per revolution. To rotate the propeller, the engine was powered by an electric dc motor with the maximum power .of 5 kW, voltage of 40 V-dc, and the maximum RPM is 12.000 revolution per minute. A 10 kW DC power supply with an adjustable current was used to supply the dc motor engine. The RPM variation is set by means adjusting the current that supplied to the motor through a dc controller. To measure the power of the motor, a current and voltage reader were installed and connected to the conditioning units where then the value of them can be acquired by the data acquisition system. RPM of the propeller was measured by an optical transducer located at behind of the propeller. A reflector was attached in one blade of propeller as rotation reference of the propeller. The propeller was installed at the original position on aircraft model and the force/thrust of the propeller was measured by the ILST External Balance System