Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics of da Vinci's Aerial Screw

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Prakhar, Suryansh, Seo, Jung-Hee, Mittal, Rajat
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Prakhar, Suryansh
Seo, Jung-Hee
Mittal, Rajat
author_facet Prakhar, Suryansh
Seo, Jung-Hee
Mittal, Rajat
contents Leonardo da Vinci's aerial screw, conceived in the 15th century, represents one of the earliest conceptualizations of lift-generating rotary flight. Despite its historical significance, the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of this rotor has received limited scientific attention. In this study, we employ direct numerical simulations to analyze the aerodynamic forces and acoustic emissions of a modernized da Vinci aerial screw design across a range of Reynolds numbers (2000, 4000, 8000, and 16000). These results are compared against those from a canonical two-bladed rotor producing similar lift. The aerial screw demonstrates 42.2% lower mechanical power consumption and 72.3% lower acoustic intensity per unit lift, primarily due to its larger wetted area and correspondingly lower rotational speed. Although the aerial screw exhibits a lower lift coefficient and much of its surface contributes minimally to lift generation, the net performance under iso-lift conditions highlights its efficiency and reduced noise signature. The continuous spiral geometry of the aerial screw also helps suppress blade-vortex interaction noise common in multi-bladed systems. These findings support previous scaling analyses and point toward unconventional rotor designs as viable options for low-noise aerial platforms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_10223
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics of da Vinci's Aerial Screw
Prakhar, Suryansh
Seo, Jung-Hee
Mittal, Rajat
Fluid Dynamics
Leonardo da Vinci's aerial screw, conceived in the 15th century, represents one of the earliest conceptualizations of lift-generating rotary flight. Despite its historical significance, the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of this rotor has received limited scientific attention. In this study, we employ direct numerical simulations to analyze the aerodynamic forces and acoustic emissions of a modernized da Vinci aerial screw design across a range of Reynolds numbers (2000, 4000, 8000, and 16000). These results are compared against those from a canonical two-bladed rotor producing similar lift. The aerial screw demonstrates 42.2% lower mechanical power consumption and 72.3% lower acoustic intensity per unit lift, primarily due to its larger wetted area and correspondingly lower rotational speed. Although the aerial screw exhibits a lower lift coefficient and much of its surface contributes minimally to lift generation, the net performance under iso-lift conditions highlights its efficiency and reduced noise signature. The continuous spiral geometry of the aerial screw also helps suppress blade-vortex interaction noise common in multi-bladed systems. These findings support previous scaling analyses and point toward unconventional rotor designs as viable options for low-noise aerial platforms.
title Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics of da Vinci's Aerial Screw
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.10223