DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS

OF BLADELESS THRUSTER

A MINI PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by

M. MANIKANDAN (1801023)
M. SATHISH (1801037)
K. YUGESH KRISNARAJ (1801045)

in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

PSN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

Melathediyoor, Tirunelveli-627157

(An Autonomous Institution affiliated to Anna University, Chennai)

Approved by AICTE, Recognized by UGC under section 2(f), 12(b)

An ISO 9001:2015 certified Institution

DECEMBER-2021
i
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project of “DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS

OF BLADELESS THRUSTER” is the bonafide work of M. MANIKANDAN

(1801023), M. SATHISH (1801037), K. YUGESH KRISHNARAJ
(1801045) who carried out the project work under my supervision.

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

Dr. K. CHANDRASEKAR, Ph.d MR.P.MUTHUKRISHNAN,M.E

Head of Departmant, Assistant Professor,

Dept. of Aeronautical Engg Dept. Of Aeronautical Engg,

PSNCET PSNCET

Tirunelveli-627152 Tirunelveli-627152

Submitted for the B.E Mini Project (501301) work viva -voice at The PSN
college of Engineering and Technology, Tirunelveli- 627152, on……………….

External Examiner Internal Examiner

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We express our deep and sincere thanks to chairman of our college

Dr.P.SUYAMBU, for giving us the inspiration and for making all the facilities

during the identification of this project.

We indebted to Dr.MANIKANDAN,Ph.D., Principal, PSNCET, for

granting us permission to carry out our project work and for giving us an

excellent opportunity to learn more.

We much grateful to Prof. Dr. K. CHANDRASEKAR, Ph.d , Head of

the department of Aeronautical Engineering for this encourage discussion,

valuable comments and many innovation ideas. Without his timely help it

would have been impossible for us to complete this work

We acknowledge in no less term the qualified excellent assistance

rendered by MR.P. MUTHUKRISHNAN,M.E Assistant professor,

Department of Engineering. We owe a dept of her valuable suggestion, kind

inspiration and encouragement. We most sincerely acknowledge the staff

members of the Department of Aeronautical for their constant inspiration and

encouragement.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

LIST OF FIGURES iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

ABSTRACT ix

1 CHAPTER -1 1

INTRODUCTION 1

2 CHAPTER -2 2

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS 2

2.1 FEASIBILITY OF BLADELESS

THRUSTER 2
2.2 THRUSTER CROSS SECTION 3

2.3 DESIGN OF THRUSTER CROSS

SECTION 5
3 CHAPTER -3 7

ANALYSING OF SECTION VIEW OF

THRUSTER 7
4 CHAPTER -4 12

COANDA EFFECT 12

5 CHAPTER -5 14

ANALYSIS AND RESULT 14

iv
 5.1 ANALYSIS OF BLADELESS
THURSTER 14
5.2 SIMULSTION AND EXPERIMENTAL
RESULT 6
6 CHAPTER -6 20
SUSTAINABLE DESIGNS 20
6.1 SOFTWARE DESIGN 21

6.2 EDF MOTOR CONNECTED WITH

NOZZLE 23

6.3 FINSLIZED ANALYSIS 26

7 CHAPTER -7 29

EDF MOTOR DATA SHEET 29

7.1 SPECIFICATION OF EDF MOTOR 30

8 CONCLUSION 32

9 REFERENCES 34

v
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE TITLE PAGE

NO.

2.1 Airfoil parts 3

2.2 Coanda ejector surface 4

2.3 Cross section of nozzle design, (a) design 1 6

2.4 Cross section of nozzle design, (b) design 2 6

2.5 Cross section of nozzle design, (c) design 3 6

3.1 (a) design 1, cross section of view thruster 7

3.2 (b) design 2, cross section of view thruster 7

3.3 (c) design 3, cross section of view thruster 8

3.4 Cross section of thruster (patent pending) 9

3.5 Meshing of thruster 11

4.1 Concepts of Coanda effects 12

5.1 Velocity cut-plots of (a) design 1 cross section 18

5.2 Velocity cut-plots of (b) design 2 cross section 18

5.3 Velocity cut-plots of (c) design 3 cross section 19

6.1 Design of nozzle 20

6.2 (a) design of nozzle 1 21

6.3 (b) design of nozzle 2 22

6.4 (c) design of nozzle 3 22

6.5 Meshing of nozzle 23

vi
6.6 Back view of nozzle 24

6.7 Isometrical view of nozzle 25

6.8 Front view of nozzle 25

6.9 Side view of nozzle 26

6.10 Finalized nozzle design 27

6.11 Assembly visualization and component environmental 28

impact

7.1 EDF motor 31

8.1 Design 2 section view thruster 32

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE TITLE PAGE

NO.

5.1 3D flow analysis of the three design 15

5.2 Values obtained for various position of the inlet duct 17

viii
 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research project was to get one step closer to the
design and manufacturing of a bladeless thruster Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV) using bladeless technology. The motivation behind this research was to
eliminate the hazards created by exposed propellers on conventional bladeless
thruster UAVs. The bladeless propulsion system would serve as an alternative
to propellers on bladeless thruster UAVs. The concept of a bladeless propulsion
system was inspired by Dysons bladeless fan. Research was done in the areas of
the bladeless fan cross section geometry, air-flow properties, impellers, motors,
ducted fans, power sources were used to design the propulsion system for the
UAV.
The data collected from this research was used to design a nozzle that attaches
to an Electric Ducted Fan (EDF), to create a bladeless thruster. The nozzle is a
circular ring with the cross section of an airfoil, which is designed to induced an
airflow from the surroundings through the ring. The nozzle and concept of the
UAV was designed and virtually tested using SOLIDWORKS, and
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The concept of the UAV consists of two
bladeless thrusters which were 3D model and analyzed. The proposed thruster
has the significant advantage of a bladeless technology in terms of safety. The
thruster is composed of a vertical inlet duct with an Electric Ducted Fan and a
special nozzle ring. The pressure difference created through the airfoil-like
cross-section of the ring combined with the Coanda effect helps to create at a
thruster that has no externally rotating blades or propellers.

Keywords - Bladeless Thruster, Coanda Effect, Entrained Air, Induced Air.

ix
 CHAPTER -1

INTRODUCTION

The idea of a Bladeless Thruster system was inspired by the British tech
manufacturer Dyson when they released merchandise called the Air Multiplier –
a quieter fan, more power-efficient, safer and most importantly ‘bladeless’. The
mechanism of the thrusters employed will be composed of two parts – an
Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) or a specifically designed compressor and a
discharge frame.

The purpose of the electronic components is to provide a form of suction

of air from the surroundings and channel it towards the discharge frame. The
discharge frame is held in position to accelerate the incoming flow. Similar
concepts of pressure differences over the surface of the airfoil are employed
across the nozzle ring. The induced airflow through the suction mechanism
creates a region of low pressure over one end of the ring. The combination of
the induced flow and the accelerated flow creates a high-pressure area across
the other end of the ring. The fundamentals used here are basic concepts of lift
generation and thus it can be employed in creating a propulsion system that
creates a state-of-the-art bladeless design on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
(UAV).

The thruster is composed of a vertical inlet duct with an Electric Ducted

Fan and a special nozzle ring. The pressure difference created through the
airfoil-like cross-section of the ring combined with the Coanda effect helps to
create at a thruster that has no externally rotating blades or propellers.

1
 CHAPTER - 2

EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

2.1 FEASIBILITY OF BLADELESS THRUSTER

The ideology of a bladeless propulsion system was conceived through

Dyson’s bladeless fan. Based on the research by Daniel Valdenegro [1] the
thruster assembly is composed of two parts -an EDF or a compressor and a
discharge frame with an inlet. The EDF will provide high velocity or high-
pressure air to the discharge frame, which in turn creates a suction of air termed
as induction [2] through the discharge frame. The surrounding air is drawn into
the injected flow and is termed as entrainment [2]. Here, fundamental concepts
of lift are involved that creates a low-pressure on the suction surface of the
airfoil and a high-pressure on the pressure surface of the airfoil.

The induced airflow creates a low-pressure area on the periphery of the

ring. The combination of induced airflow and injected airflow create a high-
pressure area in the component. the fundamental concept of low- and high-
pressure areas for creating lift are employed. This concept of a propulsive
system can be applied to create the first start of the art bladeless UAV [7]. A
change in pressure from the inlet and outlet is necessary to create thrust from a
propulsion system. A net change of pressure in the flow causes an additional
change in momentum.

2
 Figure 2.1: airfoil parts

2.2 THRUSTER CROSS SECTION

In order to achieve a better performance, an airfoil profile Fig.1 was

selected among standardized airfoils and evaluated as the thruster’s cross-
section, because it has a high curvature (good Coanda surface) [3]. Thus, an
enhanced suction of air from the rear portion of the discharge ring can be
achieved. The airfoil like cross-section of the nozzle is essential to increase the
performance of the thruster. The airfoil can be modified to obtain maximum
thrust by varying parameters like throat size, inlet duct length, hydraulic
diameter and taper angle. The capacity to acquire greatest thrust from each
thruster necessitates a uniform flow (laminar) of air that is not constrained by
any horizontal flow components along its thrust axis (turbulence).

Another important concept that needs to be understood completely in

order to successfully design the thruster is the Coanda effect and subsequently
the Coanda ejector [4]. The Coanda ejector Fig.2.1 is an axis symmetric device
that uses the injected primary flow on the inward curved surface of the
geometry while entraining a secondary flow on the outer curved surface. A
Coanda ejector is primarily used to deliver a high ratio of the induced mass flow
rate to the injected mass flow rate. The ratio of induced mass flow rate to
injected mass flow rate is called w factor [4].

3
 The primary flow is provided by a compressor, which follows the curved
contour of the ejector after flowing through the throat, due to Coanda effect. A
turbulent mixing zone is developed as a result of expansion/compression waves
created due to the pressure at the outlet section. The effects of pressure ratio,
outlet and ejector configurations on the system performance are estimated based
on the performance parameters. The mixing layer growth is crucial to enhance
the performance of the Coanda ejector as it controls the w factor and the mixing
length. Based on the velocity profile shape Fig.2.2, which is measured by the
amount of the outlet throat gap, the mixing characteristics can be approximated.
Complete mixing ratio between the primary and the secondary or induced jets is
indicated by the flattened shape of the profile. To yield a better ejector
performance, these characteristics need to be achieved in a section closer to the
inlet.

Figure 2.2. Coanda Ejector Surface.

4
2.3. DESIGN OF THRUSTER CROSS SECTION

The airfoil cross-section of the thruster has evolved primarily from

Dyson’s bladeless fan’s cross-section. The best thruster design was chosen after
running a CFD 3D Analysis of the thruster. The cross-section design and
analysis were done using SolidWorks. A k-epsilon model was preferred as the
required turbulence model [5]. SolidWorks 3D data is directly used for fluid
flow simulation using SolidWorks Flow Simulation using built-in functions.
The fluid domain is automatically generated based on the geometry and is then
revised for any design changes. Flow conditions are well-defined directly on the
SolidWorks model.

SolidWorks was chosen as it can easily handle our geometry containing

constricted openings and sharp angles without the need to defeature the model.
SolidWorks Flow Simulation provides an exceptionally efficient automatic
mesher for both fluid and solid regions and boundaries with mesh refinement
appropriate to geometrical or physical requirements. In SolidWorks Flow
Simulation the internal flow space containing the fluid is not modeled as a
discrete domain in the design. This makes the 3D analysis of the geometry easy.

The first design chosen has a larger slit size with the intention of
obtaining an increased mass flow rate at the expense of loss of outlet velocity
(Fig.2.3(a)). On analysis it was observed that the first design does not provide
sufficient thrust as the outlet velocity was too low. In order to overcome this
drawback, a CD nozzle type arrangement Figure.2.4(b) was added to the
outflow section of the airfoil [5]. This helped in increasing the exit velocity, but
it did not produce sufficient thrust. The third design Figure.2.5(c) was created
by decreasing the throat size to 3 mm and this design successfully provided the
required thrust with uniform flow

5
 Figure.2.3. cross section of nozzle, (a) Design 1

Figure.2.4. cross section of nozzle, (b) Design 2

(c)Figure.2.5. cross section of nozzle, (c) Design 3

6
 CHAPTER 3

ANALYSING OF SECTION VIEW OF THRUSTER

Figure 3.1.(a)Design 1 cross-section section view thruster

Figure 3.2. (b)Design 2 cross-section section view thruster

7
 Figure 3.3. (c)Design 3 cross-section section view thruster

The thrusters work by bringing in air with the EDF which then pushes air
through a ring-shaped nozzle that has a cross-section of an airfoil. When the air
is pushed out of the nozzle, the high velocity air induces an airflow from
itssurroundings that travel through the ring to enhances the exit air flow. This
phenomena occurs due to the basic principle of thermodynamics which states
that pressure moves from high to low [4]. High pressure is considered the
stagnant air and the low pressure is considered the high velocity air profile.

The cross sectional shape of the nozzle, which resembles an airfoil, plays
an important role in the efficiency of the thruster. To maximize thrust
efficiency, the thruster geometry in Figure 1 was sectioned into four parts as
shown in Figure.3.4. the trailing edge (1), high flow passage way (2), outlet (3),
leading edge/outlet extension (4), inner leading edge (5), inner surface of
contact (6). The ability to obtain maximum thrust from each thruster requires a
uniform flow(laminar) of air that is free of any horizontal flow
componentsalong its thrust axis (turbulence).

8
 Figure 3.4. Cross section of Thruster (Patent Pending).

After experimentation and airflow simulations using Autodesk CFD, it

was determined that the angle of the high flow passageway (2) can be treated
like an angle of attack. The angle of attack is a term used in aeronautics to refer
to the angle of an airfoil. Through observation, it was also determined that an
excessive amount of camber, or a high angle of attack, resulted in a phenomena
similar to a stall of the high speed passageway, and the transition point where
the laminar flow becomes turbulent is given as a function of airspeed. In
aeronautics, the airfoil stall refers to the turbulent flow produced from a high
angle of attack [5]. A stalling airfoil results in higher drag which causes a
decrease in lift as seen in Figure 3.4.
In the case of the thruster, the turbulent flow is the result of the
decreasing and disbursement of the airflow along the high flow passageway. To
have a higher thrust efficiency, the elimination of turbulence along high flow
passageway is
necessary. The flow would have to remain laminar, rather than convert into
turbulence, as it travels along the surface. The laminar air flow results in a
concentration of air flow which means a nearly constant or uniform velocity
along surface (2), indicating in higher thrust. It was determined that the optimal
angle lies within three to eight degrees. The combination of the leading

9
edge/outlet extension (4), inner leading edge (5) and the inner surface of contact
(6) plays an important role in the efficiency. In order to have an optimal laminar
airflow at the outlet, it was found that the inner surface of contact (6) would
need a slight angle.
The slight angle reduces turbulence as the air makes contact
with the surface. In other words, the angle helps direct the air towards the exit
of the nozzle more efficiently as it travels along and around the inner surface of
contact (6). Also, the inner leading edge (5) features a curvature that also
contributes to a more efficient airflow towards the exit. In addition, the leading
edge features the outlet extension, a fin that extends along the upper surface of
the outlet (3) and directs the compressed air within the interior of the structure
outwards onto the high flow passageway (2). It was found that the optimal
leading edge would have to be parallel to the surface of the high flow passage
way. Also, the leading edge would have to about a quarter of the length of the
surface of the high flow passage way. The trailing edge (4) has the important
role of transporting the airflow from the outlet of the nozzle onto the
surrounding medium. The trailing edge has been designed with its outermost
edge as sharp as possible in order to avoid drag and sustain the flow of air in a
single direction. Having a smooth airflow from the leading edge of the outlet to
the trailing edge, will allow for a maximum thrust efficiency in one direction as
opposed to having flow in multiple directions resulting in reduced thrust.

10
Fig 3.5. Meshing of thruster

11
 CHAPTER 4

COANDA EFFECT

The bladeless thruster multiplies the air by up to 15 times so let’s have a

look at how thrust augmentation or air multiplication happens if you look at the
bladeless thruster it has a small compressor that is hidden away in the stock of
the edf motor is actually a misnomer the blades are just on the inside rather than
the outside which has its advantages that will be revealed later the compressor
pushes the compressed air to a toroidal outlet through a tiny slit opening thus
creating a narrow jet of air this outgoing jet affair encounters a diverging
surface in its path now fluids have a tendency to follow the profile of the
surface in their proximity this is called the coanda effect so the air jet instead of
flowing straight through follows the profile of the diverging section this creates
a negative pressure.

Figure 4.1. concepts of Coanda effect

12
 The middle of the propulsor ring tube which encourages air in front of the
propulsor to be inducted and pulled through the hoop this step is called air
induction and it alone can bring up to 10 times more fluid in the steam than was
released from the slit outlet but there's also a second step that adds a little more
air this is called entrainment going by the definition entrainment is the transport
of fluid across an interface between two bodies of fluid by a sheer induced
turbulent flux.

In simple words entrainment is when a fluid in our case air is pulled into
an existing stream of air and cannot escape because of the circulation or vortices
at the flow boundaries that trap the air it is not that the fluid induction or
entrainment technique hasn't been successfully used before in the aviation world
it has been but in a totally different application there is a device called an
aspirator that is used to fill up the evacuation slide in a passenger aircraft and
works on flow.

Induction note that it is extremely difficult to inflate the slide rapidly by

an air pump alone and we just cannot install a massive size air pump for this
purpose so the aspirator is used which sucks air from the ambient as the
compressed air jet is being pushed into the slide and because of this the
evacuation slide inflates in a matter of seconds another application is the
adductors and ships that pump out flooded compartments in the event of an
accident sea water is pumped to the adductor.

13
 CHAPTER 5

ANALYSIS AND RESULT

5.1 ANALYSIS OF BLADELESS THURSTER

The design conditions applied were based on the dimensions of the EDF
available. A 90mm 35000 rpm EDF was chosen for the study based on the
availability. Hence, the inlet duct diameter was fixed at a diameter of 90mm.
The maximum diameter of the thruster outlet was 90mm. Since mass flow rate
is required as an inlet boundary condition during CFD analysis, it was
calculated using equation 1 and 2 as shown below

𝑣 = 𝜋𝑁𝐷 / 60 = 3.14 × 4500 × 0.090 / 60

= 16.485 𝑚/𝑠 … … … … … … … … (1)

𝑚 = 𝜌𝐴𝑣 = 1.225 × (3.14 × (0.090) 2 / 4 ) × 16.48

= 0.1284 𝑘𝑔/𝑠 … … …… (2)

Here,

‘v’ is velocity,

‘N’ is the rpm of the motor,

‘D’ denotes the diameter of the fan,

‘m’ represents the mass flow rate,

‘A’ is the area encompassed by the fan and

‘v’ in equation 2 is the velocity calculated from equation 1.

The drawbacks of design 1 were that the exit mass flow rate obtained was
very small and negligible and outlet velocity obtained was much less than the
inlet velocity. Hence, the thrust obtained was very small. The drawbacks of
design 2, which was designed with the aim of increasing both the mass flow rate
and the velocity at the outlet by employing a convergent-divergent passage at
the exit of the airfoil, were that the mass flow rate obtained was nearly the same
as that of the inlet but the velocity was much less than that obtained at the outlet
of design.

14
 The drawbacks of both design 1 and design 2 were overcome in design 3
with a throat size of 3mm Fig.4(c) and sufficient thrust was obtained. In order to
further compare the designs obtained, a few parameters were considered, the
results of which are described in the next section. The consolidated results of
the 3D flow analysis of the three designs are as given in Table 5.1.

Design 1 Design 2 Design 3

Mass
Flow
0.06 kg/s 0.06 kg/s 0.06 kg/s s
Rate at
Inlet

Velocit
y at 16.485 m/s 16.485 m/s 16.485 m/s
Inlet

Mass
Flow
0.00020 kg/s 0.061 kg/s 0.067 kg/s
Rate at
Outlet

Velocit
y at 5.27 m/s 4.61 m/s 27.17 m/s
Outlet

Thrust 0.93 N 1.21 N 2.75 N

Thruster
Mass
0.10 kg/s 0.08 kg/s 0.29 kg/s
Flow
Rate

Thruster
Velocit 1.97 m/s 2.44 m/s 5.85 m/s
y

Table 5.1: 3D flow analysis of the three designs.

15
5.2 SIMULSTION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULT

The first parameter considered was the Throat Size which would control
the two main contributing factors to thrust velocity and mass flow rate. It was
observed that with a smaller throat size, the mass flow rate was slightly more
than the inlet mass flow rate. Also, the exit velocity at the outlet was high, thus
giving a considerable amount of thrust. The Coanda effect takes place
effectively with a smaller size. The next parameter considered was the Length
of the Inlet Duct. Two variants were tried in each of the design. The first
version was with an inlet duct length was 30 mm, which means that the EDF
was placed far away from the thruster ring. The second case was where the EDF
was placed close to the thruster ring, where the duct length was 10mm. It was
observed that placing the EDF closer to the ring helps generate a more
uniformly distributed flow at the exit of the thruster. When the EDF was placed
far from the ring, greater outflow was observed from the top of the ring and
almost no flow was obtained from the bottom of the ring (the section near the
inlet).

Another parameter analysed was the Taper Angle of the ring cross-
section. A taper angle of 15o and 20o was chosen for the study. It was seen that
the taper angle does not contribute significantly to the final thrust obtained.
Hence no taper angle was chosen for the final design in order to reduce
constraints and restrictions on manufacturing.

The velocity contours for the three different cross-sections are as shown
in Fig.5.1 (a), Fig.5.2 (b) and Fig.5.3 (c). It is observed that Design 2 gives a
symmetric flow at the exit, but thrust produced is very low. Hence, Design 3 is
considered to be the most apt design for our thruster. The next parameter
16
analysed was the position of the inlet duct. In previously conducted analysis, the
inlet duct was placed at the center of the ring thruster. Considering a forward
position that is closer to the leading edge resulted in a lower thrust, but an aft
position, i.e. near the trailing edge shows a slight increase in thrust. The results
are as shown in Table 5.2.

Position of Inlet Duct

Aft (near Forward (near

Centre
trailing edge) leading edge)

Mass Flow Rate

0.06 kg/s 0.06 kg/s 0.06 kg/s
at Inlet

Velocity at Inlet 14.7 m/s 15.47 m/s 15.27 m/s

Mass Flow Rate

0.066 kg/s 0.064 kg/s 0.067 kg/s
at Outlet

Velocity at Outlet 44.2 m/s 43.2 m/s 27.15 m/s

Thrust 3.825 N 3.725 N 2.75 N

Thruster Mass
0.24 kg/s 0.25 kg/s 0.29 kg/s
Flow Rate

Thruster Velocity 7.55 m/s 7.73 m/s 5.77 m/s

Table 5.2: Values obtained for various position of the inlet duct

17
Figure 5.1. Velocity Cut-Plot of (a)Design 1 cross-section

Figure 5.2. Velocity Cut-Plot of (b) Design 2 cross-section

18
Figure 5.3. Velocity Cut-Plot of (c) Design 3 cross-section

19
 CHAPTER 6

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Sustainable design refers to creating products that are beautiful,

functional and cost effective while having a reduced impact on the environment.
Sustainable design is also an explosive trend which has even grown through
recession slowed years. What we’ve done is Qualitative Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA) [6] using real industry average numerical data and this type of
assessment is referred to as a screening level LCA. So we’ve selected certain
parameters and then we baseline these parameters. Next make some changes
against the baseline. Once changes are made in the model and graphs
automatically update. We’ve used assembly visualization to rank these parts in
the order of decreasing environmental impact. We can see that the outer and
inner shell are the worst offenders.

Figure 6.1. design of nozzle

20
6.1 Software and design

Used Cura is an open source 3D printer slicing application. It was created

by David Braam who was later employed by Ultimaker, a 3D printer
manufacturing company, to maintain the software. Ultimaker Cura is used by
over one million users worldwide, handles 1.4 million print jobs per week, and
is the preferred 3D printing software for Ultimaker 3D printers, but it can be
used with other printers as well. Ultimaker Cura works by slicing the user’s
model (CAD) file into layers and generating a printer specific g-code. Once the
g-code is generated, it can be sent to the printer for the manufacture of the
physical model. Cura is compatible with most desktop 3D printers, can work
with files in the 3D formats such as STL, OBJ, X3D, 3MF also with image file
formats such as BMP, GIF, JPG, and PNG. Creality Ender 3 printer is a
compact designed 3D printer with decent build volume of 220 x 220 x 250mm,
a magnetic bed, a power recovery mode, and a tight filament

Figure 6.2. (a) Design of nozzle 1

21
Figure 6.3. (b) Design of nozzle 2

Figure 6.4. (c) Design of nozzle 3

22
 Figure 6.5. Meshing of nozzle

6.2 EDF motor connected with the nozzle:

The thrusters are composed of two parts. The first part is an Electric
Ducted Fan (EDF) or a special type of compressor designed for the second part,
the nozzle. The second part is a special ring nozzle attachment for the EDF. The
EDF is powered by a battery and is used to draw in air from the surrounding
environment and channel the air through a special ring nozzle. The special ring
nozzle is designed to accelerate the airflow through the component and induce
an airflow through the ring when the air is ejected from the exit. A fundamental
concept on how lift is created involves creating low pressure on the top surface
of the airfoil and high pressure under the airfoil [2]. The induced airflow creates
a low pressure area over the ring. The combination of induced airflow and
accelerated airflow create a high pressure area under the ring. Both the low and
high pressure areas created are part of the fundamental concept of aeronautics
for creating lift. Using this concept of a propulsion system the first state of the
art bladeless UAV can be created. The thruster must follow the fundamental
concepts of propulsion in order to work. In order to create thrust from a
propulsion system, there must be a change in pressure from the inlet and outlet.

23
If there is a net change of pressure in the flow there is an additional change in
momentum [3]. Also, the exit velocity must be greater than the inlet velocity. In
other words this means that the mass flow rate must be increased through the
system.

Figure 6.6. Back view of nozzle

24
Figure 6.7. Isometrical view of nozzle

Figure 6.8. Front view of nozzle

25
 Figure 6.9. Side view of nozzle

6.3 Finalized Design

Analysis The design used in solidworks our thruster. In order to minimize

the use of support structures, which would have to be removed separately, the
thruster ring was divided into 16 parts. The exploded view is as shown in Fig
6.1 Exploded view of Design 3 cross-section thruster with 16 parts. On actual
manufacturing, a few inconsistencies and defects were found. The 16 parts did
not mate with each other perfectly and some gaps were found. The front, bottom
and isometric view of the manufactured thruster is shown in Fig 7. It can be
seen that there are gaps in between which will allow the air to escape thus
leading to loss in efficiency. Fig. 6.10. 3D printed Design 3 cross-section
thruster with 16 parts.

26
Figure 6.10. Finalized nozzle design

27
Figure.6.11. Assembly Visualization and Component Environmental
Impact

28
 CHAPTER 7

EDF MOTOR DATA SHEET

DATA SHEET:

Length (mm): 74.12mm (without motor / Cone)

Weight (gr): 459 gr

EDF thrust (categorization) 3-4kg, 4-5kg, 5-6kg

Direction of Rotation (EDF

Classic Counter Clock Wize (CCW)
Rotor)

EDF Diameter Class (mm): 90

EDF Outside Diameter (mm): 94.5 mm

EDF Inner Diameter (mm) : 90.5 mm

Rotor Diameter (mm): 90 mm

Blades: 12

Stators: 8

Turns/min/Volt (Kv): 1250 Kv

Motor Type: Out-Runner

Motor Diameter (mm): 42.5 mm

Shaft diameter (mm): 6

Battery Cells: 8s - 29.6v, 9s - 33.3v, 10s - 37v

Working voltage (Volts): 37v / 10s

29
 MORE INFO

EDF Ducted Fan JP Hobby 90mm + 8-10s Motor

100% CNC aluminium JP Hobby EDF unit (shroud and rotor) for 8 -10s.

Measures

About the above measures: they have been read on the test bench with the
intake lip on the unit. The measures have been made using a bench stabilized
power source. Results may changed depending upon your equipment and
situation.

 Description /   10s
8s (33.0V)  10s (39.0v)  10s (40.0v)
LiPo  (37.0v) 

 Thrust: 3.7kg 4.88 kg   5.36 kg  5.63 kg

 Current: 87 A 105 A 118 A 124 A

 Power: 2871 W 3885 W 4602 W 4960 W

 Recommended 150 A / 150 A /

120 A / HV 120 A / HV 
ESC:   HV  HV 

 3500mAh
 Recommended  3500mAh  3500mAh  3500mAh
40C 
battery:  40C  40C   40C 

7.1 Specifications of EDF motor

 Special high grade aluminum quality

 Motor Kv: 1250Kv 6mm 
 Motor: 1250 outrunner 
 Rotor: 90mm 12 blades aluminium
 External diameter: 94.5mm
 Internal diameter: 90.5mm
 Ejection diameter: nc

30
 Combo max thrust: 5.63kg
 Weight: 459g (combo EDF + lip + motor )
 Max efficiency: 90 %
 Recommended max. rotation speed: 75,600 RPM
 Speed Control Advanced Timing Setting: 15°
 Connections: Banana / PK 5.5mm (in place)

Content
 1x JP Hobby 8-10s 90mm full metal EDF unit

Figure 7.1. EDF Motor

31
 CONCLUSION

The bladeless thruster designed was successfully analysed taking into

consideration variations in geometric parameters like Throat Size, Length of
Inlet Duct, Taper Angle, Hydraulic Diameter and Position of Inlet Duct. Based
on the 3D Flow analysis using SolidWorks, a bladeless thruster that provides
sufficient thrust was achieved as shown in Fig.10.The manufacturing and design
limitations have been identified through comparisons between computational
and experimental data. Further probing must be carried out on the nature of flow
and its influence on the mixing region.

The thruster performance was evaluated by solving mass, momentum and

thrust equations by simulating the thruster inside a cuboidal domain. The thrust
produced may be further increased by increasing the inlet mass flow rate by
using a higher powered EDF or a compressor. The bladeless thruster so devised
may be used for a UAV Application which would be greatly beneficial in terms
of safety. The successful completion of this project on time.

This paper conducted a study using CFD to investigate the thruster and
nozzle performance of a bladeless thruster. The measurement and calculation
are discussed which is useful for analysis. The solidworks has becomes a
powerful tool in the design phase of thruster and nozzle. Since, the detailed
evaluation of design alternatives con be done during the design process. The
thruster interaction aspects CFD can provide fairly good result.

32
 REFERENCE

[1] Daniel Valdenegro, Austin Capunay, Daniel Gonzalez, Luis Rodolfo Garcia
Carrillo, Pablo Rangel 2018, Improving Safety: Design and Development of a
Bladeless Thruster for Autonomous Multicopters,

DOI: 10.1109/ICUAS.2018.8453474.

[2] Hossein Afshin, Mohammad Jafari, Bijan Farhanieh, Atta Sojoudi, 2015,
Numerical investigation of geometric parameter effects on the aerodynamic
performance of a Bladeless fan.

[3] M. Jafari, H. Afshin, B. Farhanieh and H. Bozorgasareh, Numerical

Aerodynamic Evaluation and Noise Investigation of a Bladeless Fan - Journal
of Applied Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 133-142, 2015.

[4] Alexandru Dumitrache, Florin Frunzulica, Tudor Ionescu, Coanda Effect On

The Flows Through Ejectors and Channels - Scienific Research and Education
in the Air Force, June 2018.

[5] Lasse C. M ̊ansson, Simon H. Traberg-Larsen, 2014, Flow Characteristics of

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https://www.presustainability.com/about-pre.

[7] Edgar Herrera, retrieved from

https://www.yankodesign.com/2017/08/18/the-dyson-of- drones/.

33