Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing Techniques for
Fabrication of Propellers for SUAVs
Shaheryar A. Khan Bilal A. Siddiqui
DHA Suffa University DHA Suffa University
NEDUET Karachi airbilal@dsu.edu.pk
shaheryar.atta@dsu.edu.pk
Abstract — Small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) find
wide-ranging civilian and military applications. The use of
additive manufacturing (3D printing) in fabricating small
propellers was explored in this work. The effect of material
(ABS) fill ratio on the performance of 3-D printed propellers
was studied. It was noted that due to changes in material
density, the flexibility of the propeller changed, which was
reflected it in the amount of thrust produced and noise
generated by these propeller. A custom built Arduino based
printer was used for the fabrication and showed promising
results for additive manufacturing of custom built propellers
used in SAUVs. Extensive testing showed feasibility of
flightworthy propellers produced through additive
manufacturing.
Keywords — 3D printing, propeller, UAV,
Additive Manufacturing
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Additive Manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing (AM) used to be an important
element in Product Design and Development since 1980s. Now
AM is being used for much more than just prototyping, AM is
being used for consumer products as well. An AM processes
involves building a physical model from 3-D Solid CAD data,
AM process tessellates solid CAD Data into thin layers that are
later manufactured layer by layer until the final solid geometry
is achieved. Base material for AM processes can be Solid
Polymers, Liquid Polymers or Powder depending on the process
type.
There are various AM processes, each of these processes
have some advantages and disadvantages with respect to each
other but the basic process remains the same. These processes
were developed under different names such as Free Form
Manufacturing, Rapid Layer Manufacturing, and Additive Laser
Manufacturing etc. Since all these processes are similar in nature
the word Additive Manufacturing (AM) was coined which is an
umbrella over all the previously used terms.
B. Small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs)
SUAVs typically have a wingspan less than 4 m [1] and are
powered by either an internal-combustion engine or electric
motor(s) driving a fixed pitch propeller. SUAVs are intended for
airborne data collection. Potential civil UAV missions were
Muhammad Fahad
NEDUET Karachi
mfahad@neduet.edu.pk
identified in [2] and some of these missions are well-suited to
SUAVs, which include:
• forestry and mineral surveys
• agriculture monitoring and crop spraying
• transportation and energy infrastructure monitoring
• poaching and game surveys
Small UAVs offer a major advantage over manned aircraft
as they can potentially perform this type of mission much more
efficiently. While civil UAV operators are not as concerned
about the flight capabilities of their aircraft as are military
operators or UAV designers, it would be impossible to perform
any of the listed missions unless the aircraft has adequate range
or endurance.
II. RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY
Achieving a SUAV’s optimal performance is complicated
by several factors. The propeller offers the most potential to
maximize the SUAV’s efficiency and performance. The purpose
of the propeller is to convert the mechanical energy from the
motor (and in the case of an electric propulsion system, the
chemical energy stored inside the battery) into thrust. Therefore
the propeller directly influences on the aircraft’s performance
and drives the design of the propulsion system.
Most SUAVs presently use the readily available fixed pitch
of the shelf propellers. The process of selecting an off the shelf
propeller for an SUAV involves trial and error, which can be
time consuming and expensive at the same time. Even the best
suited off the shelf propeller may not be the optimal propeller
for the SUAV.
To optimize the performance of a SUAVs customized
propellers can be designed. In a study at Carleton University,
Canada [3] customized propellers were designed and
manufactured by AM processes. The study yielded promising
results. AM processes are a viable option to manufacture
customized propellers. The study employed the use of two AM
technologies, Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Selective
Laser Sintering (SLS).
With the increasing use of open source FDM machines, the
feasibility of manufacturing customized propellers from open
source FDM machines is explored in this paper. The process
parameters of FDM greatly influence the performance of
produced parts.
 III. PROBLEM STATEMENT recorded using the app “Decibel Meter” developed by
The mechanical properties of object manufactured by FDM www.ashlogic.com.
are anisotropic showing poor properties along Z axis (i.e. normal V. RESULTS & DISCUSSION
to the bed) as confirmed by Ahn, Montero, Odell, Roundy and
Wright [4]. They also concluded that the tensile and The experimental setup yielded the following data.
compressive strengths of the FDM manufactured specimen was Table 1: Experimental Results.
greatly influenced by print density (air gap) and raster
orientation, while model temperature, material color, and road Infill Static Test Thrust
width had little or no significant effect. The study also compared S.# dB
Density (%) Mass (g) Mass (g) (g)
the tensile and compressive strengths of FDM manufactured
specimen, using the specific parameters used for the factorial 1 100 1847.7 1360.2 76 487.5
design, with their injection molded counter parts. The tensile
strengths were in the range of 65 - 72% as compared to the 2 75 1847.6 1370.1 77 477.5
injection molded specimen while the range of compressive
strength was 80 - 90%. 3 50 1847.4 1425.6 77 421.8

Due to the limitation of FDM process, poor surface finish is 4 25 1847.2 1395.8 77 451.4
achieved on the manufactured part which requires further 5 I.M.P* 1847.5 1220.3 78 627.2
postprocessing and coating. Most users of open source FDM
machines do not have provisions to post process the
manufactured part.
Considering the Injection Molded propeller as the
Performance of an un-post-processed propeller benchmark, the following table shows the thrust of the FDM
manufactured using FDM should be compared to its injection manufactured propellers as a percentage of their injection
molded counterpart. molded counterpart.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP Table 2: Percentage thrusts.
To gage the performance of a FDM manufactured propeller %age Thrust of
against that of an injection molded propeller four fixed pitch S.# Infill Density (%) Thrust (g)
the I.M.P*
propellers were manufactured on a custom made open source
FDM machine1 at different levels of infill. The propellers were 1 100 487.5 77.73
mounted on a test jig consisting of a brushless dc motor driven 2 75 477.5 76.13
by an Arduino
Uno controller, 3 50 421.8 67.25
and a dead
weight. The test 4 25 451.4 71.97
jig was placed on
a calibrated
weighing scale. The results show a variation in the thrust produced by the
Double sided tape propellers of different infill, a propeller manufactured at 100%
was used to keep print density yields a thrust of about 78% of the thrust produced
the jig from by its injection molded counterpart.
drifting away
To further investigate the mass of each FDM manufactured
from the scale.
propeller was recorded.
The setup is
shown in figure. Table 3: Mass of Propellers

S.# Infill Density (%) Mass (g)

Arduino Uno
was used to send 1 100 5.3
pulses to the
motor at selected 2 75 5.2
frequencies. Figure 1 Experimental Setup 3 50 5.0
When 8500 RPM
was achieved by 4 25 4.8
the motor, the change in the weight measured by the weighing
scale was recorded. The change in the weight is an indicator of 5 I.M.P* 5.1
the thrust produced by the propeller. The sound level was also

1
Open source FDM machine owned by EjaadTech * I.M.P = Injection Molded Propeller
 The data in Table 3 show that there is no significant change
in the mass of the propellers manufactured at different infills.
This is consequent to the geometry of the propeller as the
tessellated layers does not a lot of area that needs infill resulting
in no significant change in the mass of the manufactured
propeller.

Figure 2 Destructive Testing Setup

Figure 3 FDM manufactured Propellers Following are the respective breaking loads of the propellers.

To investigate the flightworthiness of the FDM

manufactured propeller, they were destructively tested on a Table 4: Breaking load of Propellers
UTM for their breaking load. The propellers were subjected to a
strain rate of 50 mm/min. S.# Infill Density (%) Breaking Load (kg)

1 100 40.5
2 75 40.1
3 50 31.7
4 25 31.2

Figure 4 Propellers after Destructive Testing
VI. CONCLUSION
The study concludes that propellers manufactured by FDM
at 100% infill produce maximum thrust which is about 78% of
the thrust produced by its injection molded counterpart. A
designer can cater this loss in thrust while designing a propeller
to be manufactured by FDM. The propellers manufactured by
FDM are flightworthy and cheap for low production volume.
The propellers can be post processed and reevaluated for
further research. Propellers manufactured by other AM
processes such as 3D printing (Binder Jetting), PolyJet Printing
etc. should also be studied.

VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A sincere thanks to EjaadTech and DHA Suffa University
for providing the access to their equipment. A special
acknowledgement to Amar Bhatti for his Injection Molded
Propeller and electronics support.

REFERENCES

[1] "UAV design guidelines," Barnard Microsystems, 18

August 2014. [Online]. Available:
http://www.barnardmicrosystems.com/UAV/uav_design/
guidelines.html.
[2] D. J. M. Roughley, "Canadian Market Opportunities for
UAS: Non-Military," Strategic Technology Consulting,
BC, 2008.
[3] B. D. Rutkay, "A Process for the Design and
Manufacture of Propellers for Small Unmaned Arial
Vehicles," Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada, 2014.
[4] S.-H. Ahn, M. Montero, D. Odell, S. Roundy and P. K.
Wright, "Anisotropic material properties of fused
deposition modeling ABS," Rapid Prototyping Journal,
vol. 8(4), p. 248–257, 2002.