From the thrust equation presented, it appears that the actuator disc thrust will always be constant. Is there a method, way, or setting that can be changed so that thrust varies with the freestream fluid speed the actuator disc sees? Put another way, fans and propeller aircraft produce less thrust at higher airspeeds, is there a way to account for this with the actuator disc?
Currently there is not a way to vary actuator disc thrust with velocity. However, we would suggest writing script files to batch run your analysis at different flight speeds and change the CT setting for each case accordingly. Remember to use unsteady analysis to calculate your propeller map ahead of time. Alternatively, you can choose to run an unsteady propeller analysis with your full aircraft geometry and this will capture the velocity dependent effects. Let me know if you have more questions!
So nice and informative video 👍
From the thrust equation presented, it appears that the actuator disc thrust will always be constant. Is there a method, way, or setting that can be changed so that thrust varies with the freestream fluid speed the actuator disc sees? Put another way, fans and propeller aircraft produce less thrust at higher airspeeds, is there a way to account for this with the actuator disc?
Currently there is not a way to vary actuator disc thrust with velocity. However, we would suggest writing script files to batch run your analysis at different flight speeds and change the CT setting for each case accordingly. Remember to use unsteady analysis to calculate your propeller map ahead of time. Alternatively, you can choose to run an unsteady propeller analysis with your full aircraft geometry and this will capture the velocity dependent effects. Let me know if you have more questions!