Comparative analysis of two and four blades Quadcopter propellers based on finite element method

A Quadcopter is a multi-rotor helicopter equipped with four propellers. Design of these propellers plays important role in the flight performance of a Quadcopter. The propellers are operated by DC motors and their rotations generate the thrust forces enabling a Quadcopter to fly. Thus, the body weight and the external payloads are to be overcome by the propellers’ thrust force. It becomes important to design a propeller which can sustain the loading condition of a Quadcopter. In the present study, two types of commonly used propellers are compared based on finite element method (FEM). The considered types of propellers include two and four blades propellers. First, 3D models of propellers have been developed using a computer aided design (CAD)software. Subsequently, the developed CAD models have been analyzed for stress, deformation, and vibrational frequencies based on FEM. Two types of analyses have been performed on propellers namely, static structural and modal analysis. The static structural analysis yields stress and deformation in the designed propellers, while modal analysis calculates the failure frequencies under pre-stressed condition. The obtained results have been used to compare the performance of the two designed propellers for the same given conditions.