Aerodynamic Investigation of a New Layout for eVTOL Aircraft

As an important component of urban air mobility (UAM) aircraft, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft come in a variety of configurations, including Multirotor, Lift + Cruise, and Tiltrotor. However, most of these configurations use open rotors, which have certain limitations in terms of safety and noise levels. To address this issue, this paper proposes a novel aerodynamic layout for eVTOL aircraft that combines tiltable ducted fans with lift fans embedded in the wing. Numerical simulation methods are used to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of this configuration, including the effects of step structures at the forward end of the lift fan and the effects of additional covers on the top and bottom of the lift fan on the overall lift-to-drag ratio. The research results show that the best performance is obtained when the ducts are provided with covers, but this increases the complexity of the system. To increase the reliability of the system, adding step structures to the forward end of the lift fan on the underside of the wing can cause changes in the flow field of the duct at the lift fan, improving the overall lift-to-drag ratio of the wing. This produces similar results to enclosing the duct, especially at low angles of attack.