← Back to list of papers of the 2026 EuroGNC conference

CEAS EuroGNC 2026

AI-Based Design of Low Reynolds Numbers Propellers
Gabriele Salomone PhD Candidate, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Gerardo Paolillo Researcher, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Tommaso Astarita Full Professor, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Gennaro Cardone Full Professor, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Carlo Salvatore Greco Associate Professor, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Abstract:
The present work investigates the application of Artificial Intelligence-based optimization techniques to the aerodynamic design of small-scale propellers operating at low Reynolds numbers. A Single-Step Deep Reinforcement Learning (SDRL) algorithm is implemented to optimize propeller geometry in terms of chord and twist distributions and airfoil shape. The performance of the generated geometries is assessed using Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT), coupled with NeuralFoil for fast and reliable aerodynamic coefficients evaluation. In the two optimization runs, the rewards identifying the quality metric are set equal to thrust and efficiency, respectively. The results prove that the intelligent agent is capable of autonomously identifying valid design solutions in a complex design space, without prior aerodynamic knowledge.
Keywords: Deep Reinforcement Learning; Aerodynamic Optimization; Low-Reynolds-Number Propellers; Blade Element Momentum Theory; Airfoil Design
 View PDF CEAS-GNC-2026-051 doi: 10.82124/CEAS-GNC-2026-051


Gabriele Salomone, Gerardo Paolillo, Tommaso Astarita, Gennaro Cardone, Carlo Salvatore Greco: AI-Based Design of Low Reynolds Numbers Propellers. Proceedings of the 2026 CEAS EuroGNC conference. Madrid, Spain. May 2026. doi: 10.82124/CEAS-GNC-2026-051.
BibTeX entry (UTF-8):

@Incollection{CEAS-GNC-2026-051,
    author = {Salomone, Gabriele and Paolillo, Gerardo and Astarita, Tommaso and Cardone, Gennaro and Greco, Carlo Salvatore},
    title = {AI-Based Design of Low Reynolds Numbers Propellers},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 {CEAS EuroGNC} conference},
    address = {Madrid, Spain},
    month = may,
    year = {2026},
    doi = {10.82124/CEAS-GNC-2026-051}
}