Effect of Electric Ducted Fans Structural Arrangement on Their Performance Characteristics

Abstract

With the expanding electrification in all sectors of transport, it is necessary to look for new efficient solutions for propulsion systems for use in air transport. One of the approaches can be the use of electric ducted fans (EDFs), especially in, but not limited to, the case of unmanned aerial vehicles with vertical takeoff and landing. This concept has been known for several decades but has been used very little and therefore has been almost unexplored. This opens up opportunities for investigating the performance characteristics, electrical consumption or efficient thrust vectoring of EDFs with respect to their design and operational use. The presented study therefore deals with the influence of the EDF design change on its performance characteristics. These design changes mainly concerned the geometry of the cowling, i.e., reduction and increase of outlet cross section, and arrangement of fans, i.e., one- and two-rotor specification. The comparison was based on measuring of vertical thrust and power consumption during static testing. The results showed that the increasing outlet is the most suitable construction for the generation of vertical thrust during static testing, considering the specifically used EDF construction arrangement. Based on the findings, it can also be concluded that EDFs are a suitable option for use in unmanned aircraft as a competition to other propulsion systems.