Advance ratio
The propeller advance ratio or coefficient is a dimensionless number used in aeronautics and marine hydrodynamics to describe the relationship between the speed at which a vehicle (like an airplane or a boat) is moving forward and the speed at which its propeller is turning. It helps in understanding the efficiency of the propeller at different speeds and is particularly useful in the design and analysis of propeller-driven vehicles.It is the ratio of the freestream fluid speed to the propeller, rotor, or cyclorotor tip speed.