Keywords

ducted fan, electric, ducted rotor, aerodynamics, gradient-based optimization, derivatives, axisymmetric panel method

Abstract

Electric ducted fans have become an intriguing option for the propulsion systems of clean, quiet advanced air mobility technologies due to their potential benefits in both aerodynamic efficiency and reduced noise profiles compared to open rotor systems. Exploration of conceptual electric ducted fan design in the context of novel, and often complex, applications may be greatly aided by the use of optimization techniques. Specifically, gradient-based optimization lends itself to the exploration of large, complex, multi-disciplinary systems due to its inherent scalability. Despite ducted fans/propellers having been relatively well studied for the last century, modern, gradient-based, optimization-ready analysis tools for ducted fans are scarce. Building from existing ducted fan analysis methods, and utilizing modern code language and differentiation tools, we have been able to develop a gradient-based, optimization-ready analysis tool for low-Mach electric ducted fans. In this work, we present our ducted fan analysis code— dubbed Ducted Axisymmetric Propulsor Evaluation (DuctAPE)—and showcase its suitability for application in gradient-based optimization settings. We verify DuctAPE’s accuracy through comparison with the Ducted Fan Design Code (DFDC), showing that DuctAPE matches DFDC within 0.5% for each the various solution methods implemented in DuctAPE. We also showcase DuctAPE’s functionality in a gradient- based optimization setting, showing three ducted fan optimizations with different combinations of design variables. From our results we conclude that DuctAPE is a suitable tool for conceptual and preliminary design using modern, gradient-based optimization techniques. Future work will include the application of DuctAPE in multi-disciplinary, gradient-based optimization settings.

Original Publication Citation

Mehr, J., and Ning, A., “DuctAPE: A steady-state, axisymmetric ducted fan analysis code designed for gradient-based optimization.,” AIAA Aviation Forum, Las Vegas, Jul. 2024. doi:10.2514/6.2024-4297

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2024-7

Publisher

AIAA

Language

English

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering

Department

Mechanical Engineering

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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