Research on Tilting Moment Characteristics of Multi-Condition Electric Ducted Propellers

This paper focuses on the attitude transition process of flying cars, conducting research on the calculation and characteristic analysis of the tilting moment of the distributed electric propulsion system’s electric ducted Propellers (EDPs). The unsteady aerodynamic forces during tilting process of the EDP are calculated using the sliding mesh and the SST k-ω two-equation turbulence model. The aerodynamic characteristics of the EDP under different wind speeds and tilting angles are studied in depth and details. The influence of wind speed and tilting angle on the tilting moment is thoroughly analyzed. The results show that: The tilting moment increases nonlinearly with increasing crosswind speed, reaching a peak torque of 1320 Nm at a tilting angle of 20° under the high-speed condition (23 m/s). Under deceleration conditions, a large area of flow separation occurs on the outer duct. Some separated flow is re-ingested into the inlet, impacting the efficiency of the ducted propeller; this can be mitigated by optimizing the outer duct contour. Under high wind speed conditions, the tilting moment of the electric ducted fan is substantial, resulting in a large load on the vectoring control mechanism, which is detrimental to its lightweight design. Minimizing the tilting moment by optimizing the position of the tilting axis can effectively reduce the load on the vectoring control mechanism. This study provides key technical support for the optimized design of EDPs, the lightweight design of the powertrain’s vectoring control mechanism, and the improvement of flying car flight performance.