Powered wind tunnel tests setup of the IRON innovative turboprop aircraft

This paper describes the powered wind tunnel tests setup of the innovative configuration of the IRON regional turboprop aircraft. The objective of the tests is the evaluation of propulsive effects on aircraft stability and control characteristics. During the setup process, several aerodynamic issues have been anticipated and here illustrated. A scaled engine deck has been derived from the full-scale data provided by the IRON powerplant consortium partner. From two representative flight conditions, the characteristics of the scaled motor as RPM, torque and power have been calculated, providing a choice for the electric motors to install in the test section. The motors’ operating voltage and current determined the sizing of the power, acquisition and control system. Similarly, the desired propeller coefficients were the target of a propeller design process, which was performed with XROTOR, MATLAB®, XFOIL and validated with RANS analyses. Finally, to directly evaluate the propeller thrust and normal force, motors’ supporting structures with load cells have been conceptually designed.