Ducted Fan And Propeller Design

Ducted Fan Design

AVID LLC designs ducted fan propulsors for all types of vehicles - from backpackable hovering UAVs, to fixed wing HALE concepts. The fan design considers aerodynamic, acoustic performance, and structural considerations for a balanced, optimized design that can be tailored to the customer's specifications and priorities. An interactive design process is utilized to iterate on a design that will meet performance goals and integrate smoothly with the vehicle and powerplant.

A typical ducted fan design would include the following tasks:

• Trade studies to develop the best fan for integration with the vehicle's other components such as engine mounting struts.
• Assessment of fan shape and RPM impact on performance, weight, maneuverability, and radiated noise.
• Stator design for optimum combined performance and increased thrust. Modeling of shape, twist, lean, and sweep and their effect on performance, weight, and radiated noise.
• Blade pitch angle range analysis to show the effect of more aggressive pitch mechanisms on the overall performance of the vehicle.
• Upon selection of fan RPM, a detailed design study will be performed to create a baseline fan design. CAD files of the 3-D geometry of the blade will be created.
• An iteration of the fan design will be conducted to optimize the fan once integration aspects of the fan are determined. If the original fan needs to be modified to achieve performance goals additional design trades will be undertaken. Fan performance predictions will document figure of merit and design options.

Propeller Design

AVID LLC also designs fans and propellers for non-ducted propulsion applications. AVID's same design tools and methods have been applied to such tasks as conventional aircraft propellers and cooling fans.