Aerodynamic Characteristic of an Electric Ducted Propulsion Fan with Duct Nozzle Shape Modifications
摘要
In the current technology trend, electric fan with surrounding airflow duct has many applications in the field of “green” flying vehicles. The investigation suggests a novel design for the existing duct nozzle to increase thrust for the electric Ducted Propulsion Fan (ePDF) in case of outlet subsonic flow. In addition, two geometric parameters, including nozzle length and deflection angle, and one operating one, rotational speed, are also investigated to improve the aerodynamic characteristic of this thrust-generating device. The study is conducted using commercial CFD simulation method based on the SST k-ω turbulence model. The numerical results are analyzed, as well as graphs of thrust and mass flow variation with deflection angle, nozzle length and rotational speed; Mach number and total pressure distribution at cross sections and along the length of the ePDF. Thrust increased slightly by about 0.8% compared to the reference case and reached a maximum value of 782 N at deflection angle of −7° and nozzle length of 40 mm at 8100 rpm. The low-speed region in the duct lip and tail-cone area needs to be narrowed down in further studies, besides considering the proposed investigations on the structural and acoustic characteristics of this electric propulsion device.