Calculating Propulsive Efficiency of an Aircraft Propeller

AI Thread Summary
To calculate the propulsive efficiency of an aircraft propeller, thrust and velocity are essential, but power consumption data is also required. The discussion highlights that while thrust is 300 lbf and speed is 150 mph, the lack of power information leads to incorrect efficiency calculations, often exceeding 1, which is not feasible. It emphasizes the importance of unit consistency, noting that thrust must be in pounds and velocity in feet per second to align with the power term in foot-pounds per second. Without the power consumed by the propeller, accurate efficiency cannot be determined. Thus, obtaining the power data is crucial for a valid efficiency calculation.
HansGruber
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An aircraft is flying straight and level at a speed of 150 mph. Its propeller has a diameter of 8 ft and is generating 300 lbf of thrust at an altitude of 3000 ft. What is the propulsive efficiency of the propeller at this operating point?


no equations given, but from searching around I've found that Propulsive efficiency = (thrust *velocty)/ power


Intuitively, I've tried several ways to calculate power with the given variables, but all of my answers come out to an efficiency much greater than 1, which, of course, is impossible.
 
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You have thrust and velocity, but you don't have consumed power.

You also need to make sure your units match up. For example, thrust*velocity is a power term, and to get that into (ft-lbs/sec) your thrust needs to be in (lbs) and velocity needs to be in (ft/s). Your power term needs to be in (ft-lbs/sec) as well, then your efficiency formula works. But again, you don't have anything that will give you the power consumed.
 
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