Abstract
The aerodynamic performance of a counter-rotating ducted fan in hover mode is numerically analyzed for different rotor spacings and duct diffusion angles. The design of the counter-rotating fan is inspired by a custom-designed single rotor ducted fan used in a previous study. The numerical model to predict the aerodynamic performance of the counter-rotating ducted fan is developed by adopting the frozen rotor approach for steady-state incompressible flow conditions. The relative angle between the front and the rear rotor is examined due to the usage of the frozen rotor model. The results show that the variation of thrust for the different relative angles is extremely low. The aerodynamic performances are evaluated by comparing the thrust, thrust coefficient, power coefficient, and figure of merit (FOM). The thrust, thrust coefficient, and FOM slightly increase with increasing rotor spacing up to 200 mm, regardless of the duct diffusion angle, and reduce on further increase in the rotor spacing. The duct diffusion angle of 0° generates about 9% higher thrust and increases the FOM by 6.7%, compared with the 6° duct diffusion angle. The duct diffusion angle is highly effective in improving the thrust and FOM of the counter-rotating ducted fan, rather than the rotor spacing.
Highlights
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are of global interest, since they can perform versatile tasks in the military, search and rescue, agriculture, and transportation fields
Yilmaz et al [3] experimentally studied the aerodynamic performance of a ducted fan in hover mode for five different duct profiles, based on National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoils
Ryu et al [17] examined the effect of the tip clearance of the front and rear rotors on the aerodynamic performances of the counter-rotating ducted fan in hover mode
Summary
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are of global interest, since they can perform versatile tasks in the military, search and rescue, agriculture, and transportation fields. Ryu et al [17] examined the effect of the tip clearance of the front and rear rotors on the aerodynamic performances of the counter-rotating ducted fan in hover mode. Han et al [18] conducted experiments and simulations to investigate the aerodynamic performances of a counter-rotating fan with and without ducts for different blade pitch angles, rotor spacings, and tip clearances in hover mode. It is highly important to further study and improve the aerodynamic performance of UAVs. In the present study, the effects of rotor spacing and the duct diffusion angle on the aerodynamic performances of a counter-rotating ducted fan in hover mode are investigated. UAVs. In the present study, the effects of rotor spacing and the duct diffusion angle on the aerodynamic performances of a counter-rotating ducted fan in hover mode are investigated numerically using the frozen rotor approach.
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