Hindawi Publishing Corporation

International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

Volume 2016, Article ID 8913901, 9 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8913901

Research Article
Effects of Duct Cross Section Camber and
Thickness on the Performance of Ducted Propulsion
Systems for Aeronautical Applications

Rodolfo Bontempo and Marcello Manna

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Napoli, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Marcello Manna; marcello.manna@unina.it

Received 11 August 2015; Revised 18 January 2016; Accepted 19 January 2016

Academic Editor: Christopher J. Damaren

Copyright © 2016 R. Bontempo and M. Manna. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The axisymmetric flow field around a ducted rotor is thoroughly analysed by means of a nonlinear and semi-analytical model which
is able to deal with some crucial aspects of shrouded systems like the interaction between the rotor and the duct, and the slipstream
contraction and rotation. Not disregarding the more advanced CFD based methods, the proposed procedure is characterised by
a very low computational cost that makes it very appealing as analysis tool in the preliminary steps of a design procedure of
hierarchical type. The work focuses on the analysis of the effects of the camber and thickness of the duct cross section onto the
performance of the device. It has been found that an augmentation of both camber and thickness of the duct leads to an increase
of the propulsive ideal efficiency.

1. Introduction of a 5-bladed fixed pitch propeller (37.8 in diameter), a duct

with a ratio between the chord and the rotor diameter
Ducted fans and propellers have had some success in aero- roughly equal to 0.26, and, finally, a 3-in chord outlet exit
nautical applications especially by virtue of the higher thrust vane with manually adjustable 1-in chord flaps. The effects
to power ratio offered by these propulsive systems compared of different duct geometrical parameters were investigated
to an open propeller with identical diameter. Consequently, for both hover and forward flight conditions. In the latter
all vehicles requiring a higher value of the propulsive effi- case, the angle 𝛼 between the flight direction and the axis of
ciency at low speed are often equipped with ducted rotors. the machine was varied in the range [85∘ , 115∘ ]. The authors
The most remarkable examples refer to V/STOL aircraft, found that the propulsive force decreases with the angle 𝛼.
compound helicopters, autogyros, airboats, hovercraft, sea- Moreover, the side forces experienced by the outlet guide
planes, and airships. Beyond the improvement in the propul- vane were significantly affected by the flap deflection. These
sive efficiency, other advantages are related to the reduction of aspects are particularly important from the flight control
the tip losses (especially in hovering condition) and of the point of view. In fact, if the ducted fan is sufficiently above
noise. However, this kind of machine has never known a wide or below the vehicle gravity centre, those side forces can
success in the aeronautical applications partly because of the be used to produce control moments. Finally, the extension
high cost and weight and partly because of the impossibility to of the duct chord was found to have marginal effects on
achieve an optimal design for a wide range of advance speeds. the propulsive thrust. Oweis et al. [8, 9] carried out an
For these reasons, in the earlier years, many experimental extensive experimental campaign to investigate the most
studies have attempted to enhance the understanding of the important physical aspects of the tip-leakage flow in ducted
operating principles of shrouded rotors (see, e.g., [1–6]). More propellers. The data were acquired by means of both three-
recently, Abrego and Bulaga [7] experimentally analysed the dimensional laser Doppler and particle image velocimetry.
performance of a ducted fan in the 7-by-10-foot wind tunnel They highlighted the presence of multiple vortices in the
at the NASA Ames Research Center. The model consisted blade tip wake, where the largest vortex was associated with
2 International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

the tip-leakage. The data also show that the relative strength 𝜎
of the primary tip vortex of ducted propellers is reduced when

compared to open propellers. Graf et al. [10] investigated by
experimental means the effect of the duct lip shape on the u
performance of ducted fans. They found that a small leading w 𝜎s (𝜁)
edge curvature radius gives rise to a better performance Actuator disk
in forward conditions, while a large leading edge radius Wake
has to be preferred in hovering conditions. Akturk et al.
[11, 12] used a planar particle image velocimetry system
U∞ 𝜃 𝜁
to investigate the duct aerodynamic performance in hover
and forward flight. In Koc et al. [13], the effect of the duct Figure 1: Schematic representation of the actuator disk flow prob-
geometry on ducted propeller performance in axial flight lem.
was experimentally studied. In particular, velocity profiles
and thrust and power coefficients obtained by using NACA
0012, 0018, and 4312 are compared with open propeller means of a nonlinear and semi-analytical model [21–26]
results. Yilmaz et al. [14] experimentally investigated the which is able to deal with some crucial aspects of shrouded
performance characteristics of a ducted propeller at zero systems like the interaction between the rotor and the duct
angle of attack. The results show the opportunity to increase and the slipstream contraction and rotation. The proposed
the propulsive efficiency in comparison to an open propeller procedure is characterised by a very low computational cost
provided that an optimisation of the duct shape is carried out. that makes it very appealing as analysis tool in the preliminary
However, several numerical methods have also appeared steps of a design procedure of hierarchical type. A verification
for the analysis of the flow around ducted propellers. For of the correctness of the method through a comparison with
example, Gray and Wright [15] proposed a vortex wake CFD simulations has been carried out in [27] and [28] for a
model for the incompressible, inviscid, steady flow around ducted propeller and a ducted turbine, respectively. With the
a ducted fan. In their approach, the effects of the hub, help of this method, the effects of the thickness and camber of
of the tip clearance, and of the wake contraction were the duct on the performance coefficients of a ducted propeller
neglected. Guerrero et al. [16] developed a multidisciplinary will be analysed in detail with a focus on the propulsive
optimisation code for the design and analysis of ducted fan efficiency.
vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicles (VTOL
UAV). The duct forces prediction is based upon the empirical
2. The Actuator Disk Flow Model
data furnished by Fletcher [2], while the propeller is modelled
by means of two different models. The first one is a simple Since its first appearance in the axial momentum theory of
actuator disk model, while the second one is a blade/vortex Rankine [29] and Froude [30], the actuator disk constitutes
element method. Chang and Rajagopalan [17] modelled the a widely diffused method for the analysis of the stationary,
axisymmetric and incompressible flow around a ducted fan incompressible (𝜌 = const.), inviscid, and axisymmetric flow
by means of an actuator disk approach. Specifically, the flow around open and ducted rotors. In the present paper, due to
field is solved with the help of a classical CFD technique, while the axisymmetric flow assumption, a cylindrical coordinate
the rotor is represented by a set of sources in the momentum system is introduced and the axial, radial, and tangential
equation. The strength of these sources is iteratively evaluated coordinates are named 𝜁, 𝜎, and 𝜃, respectively (see Figure 1).
through a blade element method. The results of the model The actuator disk is a synthetic model which represents the
were also validated against experimental data for the Trek effects of the rotor by introducing a jump in the static pressure
Aerospace ducted fan and for the Micro-Craft’s LADFUAV 𝑝 and in the tangential velocity 𝑤 across a disk of infinitesimal
configurations. A similar approach was employed by Ahn and thickness. Contrariwise, the radial V and axial 𝑢 velocities are
Lee [18] to investigate how the duct exit angle and the shape considered to be continuous functions in the whole flow field.
of the duct leading edge affect the performance of a ducted By so doing, a discontinuity in the Bernoulli constant
fan. Lind et al. [19] coupled a blade element method for the
calculation of the propeller forces with a potential multiorder 𝑝 1 2
𝐻= + (𝑢 + V2 + 𝑤2 ) (1)
panel code for the evaluation of the flow field around a ducted 𝜌 2
fan. Experimental campaigns were also performed on a 10 in
diameter and 2-bladed propeller surrounded by a 6-in chord also appears, so that the mechanical energy H transferred to
duct. The computational results showed a good agreement the fluid reads
with experimental data for low and moderate values of the
angle of attack. Kinnas et al. [20] analysed the flow around Δ𝑝 Δ𝑤2
H = Δ𝐻 = + , (2)
ducted propellers through a perturbation potential-based 𝜌 2
panel method which employs a full wake alignment scheme.
The results are in good agreement both with experiments and where Δ𝐻, Δ𝑝, and Δ𝑤2 /2 are the jump across the disk in the
CFD simulations. Bernoulli constant, in the static pressure, and in the kinetic
In this paper the axisymmetric flow field around a ducted tangential energy, respectively. Having said that, the flow
rotor with zero angle of attack is thoroughly analysed by field can be divided into two regions as reported in Figure 1.
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 3

The first one is the so called propeller wake which is defined of which 𝛿 vanishes, is not known beforehand and it must
as the space region {(𝜁, 𝜎) ∈ R × R : 𝜁 > 0, 𝜎 < 𝜎𝑠 (𝜁)} (see be computed as a part of the solution. The linear elliptic
Figure 1). In the latter definition, the function 𝜎𝑠 (𝜁), which operator appearing at the left hand side of (4) differs from
describes the shape of the wake (see Figure 1), is not known the Laplacian operator due to the presence of the minus sign.
in advance and must be evaluated as a part of the solution. The right hand-side of the same equation is a function of the
Due to the energy transfer occurring through the rotor, 𝐻 is two physical quantities 𝐽 and Ĥ which have to be prescribed
not constant in the wake. The second region is the domain in advance. This means that 𝐽 and H ̂ have to be regarded as
outside the wake and it is characterised by a constant value of input quantities to the method. With the help of the Stokes
2
𝐻 equal to 𝐻∞ = 𝑝∞ /𝜌 + 𝑈∞ /2, where 𝑈∞ and 𝑝∞ are the stream function definition (3) the meaning of the conditions
velocity and the static pressure of the free stream. at infinity (5) and (6) can be easily understood. In fact, the
Following the approach suggested by Wu [31], the flow first one requires that, outside the wake, the dimensionless
problem is formulated in terms of the Stokes stream function, axial velocity 𝑢̂ = 𝑢/𝑈∞ tends to one at infinity. Then, in
which is defined as the function Ψ satisfying the following order to comply with condition (6), the dimensionless radial
relations: velocity ̂V = V/𝑈∞ has to vanish everywhere at infinity. The
last requirement (7) is the duct impermeability condition.
1 𝜕Ψ
𝑢= , Once the through-flow problem (4)–(7) has been solved,
𝜎 𝜕𝜎 the tangential component of the velocity can be easily evalu-
(3)
1 𝜕Ψ ated by means of the angular momentum or Euler equation:
V=− .
𝜎 𝜕𝜁 ̂
̂ = 2𝜋̂
H
𝜎𝑤
. (9)
Then, from the continuity and momentum equation, it can be 𝐽
proven [21] that the following differential problem holds for With the help of the Hankel transform it can be proven
the through-flow around a ducted actuator disk: that the solution of problem (4)–(7) can be regarded as the
superposition of the flow induced by a set of ring vortices
̂ 1 𝜕Ψ
𝜕2 Ψ ̂ 𝜕2 Ψ
̂ ̂ 2 dH
H𝐽 ̂ (see [21] for mathematical details). The ring vortex is one of
− + = 𝛿 (2 − ) , (4)
𝜕̂
𝜎 2 ̂ 𝜕̂
𝜎 𝜎 𝜕̂𝜁2 𝜋2 ̂
dΨ the classical vorticity singularities which is often employed
to represent axisymmetric flows [32]. Considering a single
̂
1 𝜕Ψ ring vortex of radius 𝑟, unity strength, and located at (𝜁 = 𝑧,
󳨀→ 1 𝜎 = 0), the induced stream function and velocities are [33, 34]
2̂
𝜎 𝜕̂
𝜎 (5)
𝑟 ∞ −𝑠|𝜁−𝑧|
as ̂𝜁 󳨀→ −∞ or 𝜎
̂ 󳨀→ ∞, Ψ𝑟V = ∫ 𝑒 J1 (𝑠𝑟) J1 (𝑠𝜎) d𝑠, (10)
2 0
̂
𝜕Ψ 𝑟 ∞ −𝑠|𝜁−𝑧|
󳨀→ 0 as ̂𝜁 󳨀→ ∞ or 𝜎
̂ 󳨀→ ∞, (6) 𝑢𝑟V = ∫ 𝑒 𝑠J1 (𝑠𝑟) J0 (𝑠𝜎) d𝑠, (11)
𝜕̂𝜁 2 0
̂ = const.
Ψ on 𝐶, 𝑟 ∞
(7) V𝑟V = ± ∫ 𝑒−𝑠|𝜁−𝑧| 𝑠J1 (𝑠𝑟) J1 (𝑠𝜎) d𝑠, (12)
2 0
where 𝐶 is the contour of the duct cross section, 𝐽 =
where J1 and J0 are the first kind Bessel functions of the first
𝑈∞ /(2𝑛𝜎ad ) is the advance coefficient of the propeller, 𝑈∞
and zero order, respectively. In more details, two ring vortex
is the free stream velocity, 𝑛 is the rotational speed of the
systems are adopted to represent the flow around a ducted
rotor in revolutions per second and, finally, 𝜎ad is the actuator
rotor. The first one is the actuator disk ring vortex system
disk radius. In problem (4)–(7), the following dimensionless
which models the flow induced by the propeller. The second
quantities have also been employed:
one is the duct ring vortex system and it models the flow
𝜎 induced by the duct. Moreover, two density strength distribu-
̂=
𝜎 , tions 𝛾ad (𝜁, 𝜎) and 𝛾𝑑 (𝜁, 𝜎) can be introduced for the actuator
𝜎ad
disk and the duct ring vortices, respectively. Consequently,
̂𝜁 = 𝜁 , the exact solution Ψ can be cast in the following form:
𝜎ad
𝑈∞ 𝜎2 𝜎
(8) Ψ= +
̂= 2Ψ 2 2
Ψ 2
,
𝑈∞ 𝜎ad ∞ 𝜎𝑠 (𝜁) ∞
⋅∫ ∫ ∫ 𝑒−𝑠|𝜁−𝑧| 𝛾ad 𝑟J1 (𝑠𝑟) J1 (𝑠𝜎) d𝑠 d𝑟 d𝑧 (13)
̂ = 2H .
H
0 0 0
2
𝑈∞ ∞
𝜎
+ ∮ ∫ 𝑒−𝑠|𝜁−𝑧| 𝛾𝑑 𝑟 (𝑐) J1 (𝑠𝑟) J1 (𝑠𝜎) d𝑠 d𝑐,
2 𝐶 0
Function 𝛿, appearing at the right hand-side of (4), is equal
to 1 inside the wake and zero otherwise. As stated before, where 𝑐 is the curvilinear abscissa along the contour 𝐶 of
the slipstream edge 𝜎𝑠 (𝜁), defining the space region outside the duct cross section. The first term appearing at the right
4 International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

hand-side of the above equation is the Stokes stream function Moreover, the following classical definition for the thrust
of the free stream. The second addendum is the Stokes stream and power coefficients will be adopted:
function induced by the actuator disk ring vortex system.
Finally, the last integral represents the Stokes stream function 𝑇
𝐶𝑇 = 2 𝜋𝜎2
,
induced by the duct. It is noteworthy that the second and (1/2) 𝜌𝑈∞ ad
third addendum can be simply obtained by integrating (10) (17)
𝑃
over the wake and the contour 𝐶, respectively. 𝐶𝑃 = 3 𝜋𝜎2
.
The density strengths 𝛾ad (𝜁, 𝜎) and 𝛾𝑑 (𝜁, 𝜎) have to be (1/2) 𝜌𝑈∞ ad
evaluated in such a way that the resulting overall solutions
As customary, 𝑇 and 𝑃 are the thrust and the power
(13) satisfy both (4) and the boundary conditions (5)–(7).
experienced by the device, respectively. The overall thrust 𝑇
To this aim, the density strength 𝛾ad has to be related to
can also be regarded as the algebraic sum of the rotor (𝑇rot )
the advance coefficient 𝐽 and to H through the following
and the duct (𝑇duct ) thrust, so that the following equation
equation [21]:
holds:

̂ 2 d𝐻̂ 𝐶𝑇 = 𝐶𝑇,rot + 𝐶𝑇,duct , (18)

𝐻𝐽
𝛾ad (𝜁, 𝜎) = 𝛿 (2 − ) . (14)
𝜋2 ̂
dΨ where 𝐶𝑇,rot = 2𝑇rot /𝜌𝑈∞ 2 2
𝜋𝜎ad and 𝐶𝑇,duct = 2𝑇duct /
2 2
𝜌𝑈∞ 𝜋𝜎ad . By convention, the duct thrust coefficient is con-
Furthermore, the density strength 𝛾𝑑 (𝑐) has to satisfy the sidered to be negative if 𝑇duct is discordant with 𝑇rot and
following Fredholm second kind integral equation [21]: vice-versa. Finally, the ideal propulsive efficiency is evaluated
through the standard relation
1 𝐶𝑇
𝛾 (𝑐) + ∮ 𝑘 (𝑐, ̃𝑐) 𝛾𝑑 (̃𝑐) d̃𝑐 𝜂𝑖 = . (19)
2 𝑑 𝐶 (15) 𝐶𝑃
= (𝑈∞ + 𝑢ad (𝑐)) cos 𝛽 (𝑐) + Vad (𝑐) sin 𝛽 (𝑐) , The aforementioned performance coefficient can be easily
evaluated through the proposed semi-analytical method. In
particular, since the elemental rotor thrust d𝑇rot is defined as
where 𝛽(𝑐) is the local profile slope, 𝑘(𝑐, ̃𝑐) is the velocity the product between the static pressure jump across the disk
parallel to the surface at 𝑐, induced by a ring vortex of Δ𝑝 and the infinitesimal area 2𝜋𝜎 d𝜎, it is easy to prove that
unit strength located at ̃𝑐, and 𝑢ad (𝑐) and Vad (𝑐) are the the rotor thrust coefficient can be expressed as [21]
axial and radial velocities at 𝑐 induced by the actuator
disk ring vortex system, respectively. Equation (15) is the 1
homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition on the tangent ̂𝜎
𝐶𝑇,rot = 2 ∫ Δ𝑝 ̂ d̂
𝜎, (20)
0
to the wall velocity just beneath the duct vorticity sheet of ring
2
vortices, and, moreover, it is equivalent to the impermeability where Δ𝑝 ̂ = 2Δ𝑝/(𝜌𝑈∞ ) can be evaluated from (2) once
condition on the duct surface [35]. the tangential velocity has been obtained from (9). The duct
It should be noted that the solution Ψ(𝜁, 𝜎) cannot be thrust can be evaluated by integrating the static pressure over
directly evaluated through (13) since all quantities 𝛾ad , 𝛾𝑑 , the duct surface, so that 𝐶𝑇,duct reads [21, 36]
and 𝜎𝑠 depend upon Ψ. This means that (13) is the exact
but implicit solution of the flow around a ducted actuator 2
𝐶𝑇,duct = 2 𝜋𝜎2
∮ 𝑝i𝜁 ⋅ n2𝜋𝜎 d𝑐
disk. In order to make (13) explicit, a semi-analytical and 𝜌𝑈∞ ad 𝐶
iterative procedure has been developed in [21], but it will (21)
be not be reported hereafter for the sake of brevity. Once ̂ i𝜁 ⋅ n d̂𝑐,
= 2 ∮ 𝐶𝑝,wall 𝜎
the solution Ψ(𝜁, 𝜎) of (13) has been obtained, the whole 𝐶
velocity and pressure flow field can be easily computed. 2
where 𝐶𝑝,wall = 2(𝑝 − 𝑝∞ )/(𝜌𝑈∞ ) is the wall pressure
The aforementioned iterative procedure can handle load
coefficient, ̂𝑐 = 𝑐/𝜎ad is the dimensionless curvilinear
distributions expressed as an algebraic polynomial of the
abscissa, n is the outward pointing normal to the duct surface,
Stokes stream function:
and i𝜁 is the unit vector of the 𝜁 axis. Finally, the power
absorbed in the infinitesimal rotor area 2𝜋𝜎 d𝜎 is defined as
𝑀
Ψ 𝑚 the product between the elemental mass flow 𝜌𝑢(0, 𝜎)2𝜋𝜎 d𝜎
H (Ψ) = ∑ 𝑎𝑚 ( ) . (16) and the mechanical energy transferred H. Then, the power
𝑚=0 Ψad
coefficient can be cast in the following form [21]:
𝜎
In the above equation, Ψad is the stream function at the apex 2 ∫0 ad H𝜌𝑢 (0, 𝜎) 2𝜋𝜎 d𝜎
of the disk, while 𝑎𝑚 are input parameters to be supplied to 𝐶𝑃 = 3 𝜋𝜎2
𝜌𝑈∞ ad
the procedure. In the following, a parabolic load distribution (22)
(𝑀 = 2) will be employed for all simulations, while the 1
̂ 𝑢 (0, 𝜎
= 2 ∫ Ĥ ̂) 𝜎
̂ d̂
𝜎.
advance coefficient 𝐽 will be set equal to 0.5. 0
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 5

2 2

1.6 1.6

1.2 1.2
𝜎/𝜎ad

𝜎/𝜎ad
0.8 0.8

0.4 0.4

0
0
−1 −0.5 0 0.5 1
−1 −0.5 0 0.5 1
𝜁/𝜎ad
𝜁/𝜎ad
NACA 1415 NACA 9415
NACA 5405 NACA 5425
NACA 5415
NACA 5415
Figure 2: Profiles employed to investigate the effects of the duct
Figure 3: Profiles employed to investigate the effects of the duct
cross section camber.
cross section thickness.

Table 1: Geometrical details of the reference profile. 3

Ratio between the tip gap and 𝜎ad ∼2%

Ratio between the chord and 𝜎ad 1.4
Angle between the chord and the 𝜁 axis 12.0∘
2

3. Results
CT,duct

1
In this section, the effects of the geometry of the duct
on the performance coefficients of a ducted propeller will
be described with a focus on the propulsive efficiency. In
particular, an analysis of the effects of a finite variation of the
thickness and camber of the duct will be conducted with the 0
help of the semi-analytical actuator disk method described
in the previous section. The scope of the analysis is twofold.
Firstly, some information about the role played by the duct
and about the operating principles of this kind of machinery −1
are collected. Then, some broad guidelines for the design of 0 2 4 6 8
ducted propellers are outlined. The analysis relies on the use CT
of the NACA 4 digits wing sections. In the present study, a NACA 5405 NACA 5425
NACA 5415 is adopted as reference profile (see Table 1 for NACA 5415
geometrical details).
Figure 4: Effects of the profile thickness on the duct thrust
Then, the effects of the camber are investigated by
coefficient.
changing the first of the four digits; namely, a NACA 1415 and
a NACA 9415 have been employed (see Figure 2). In fact, in
the NACA 4-digit numbering system the first digit describes
the maximum value of the mean line ordinate in percentage of The effect of the profile thickness on the duct thrust
the chord, that is, the maximum camber. Instead, the effects of coefficient, on the mass flow swallowed by the rotor, and,
the thickness are investigated by means of a NACA 5405 and a finally, on the propulsive efficiency is reported in Figures
NACA 5425 profile (see Figure 3). In fact, as well-known, the 4, 5, and 6, respectively. In the aforementioned figures,
last two digits denote the maximum thickness as percentage the dashed lines represent the results of the open rotor
of the chord. configuration obtained through a modified version of the
6 International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

3 1

2.5
0.8

2
0.6

𝜂i
m
̂̇

1.5

0.4

0.2
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
CT CT
NACA 5405 NACA 5425 NACA 5405 NACA 5425
NACA 5415 Open NACA 5415 Open

Figure 5: Effects of the profile thickness on the mass flow swallowed Figure 6: Effects of the profile thickness on the propulsive efficiency.
by the rotor.

semi-analytical actuator disk method which does not take

into account the presence of the duct. According to the well-
known axial momentum theory, a negative value of the duct 0
thrust coefficient (see Figure 4) returns a decrease in the
dimensionless mass flow (𝑚 ̂̇ = 𝑚/(𝜌𝑈
̇ 2
∞ 𝜋𝜎ad )) swallowed
by the rotor in comparison to an open propeller with the −1
same 𝐶𝑇 (see Figure 5). Moreover, a negative value of 𝐶𝑇,duct
Cp,wall

also induces a decrease in 𝜂𝑖 in comparison to an open

propeller (see Figure 6). In particular, for lower values of 𝐶𝑇 ,
−2
ducts NACA 5405 and NACA 5415 are characterised by a
negative duct thrust and, consequently, by a reduced value
̂̇ and 𝜂𝑖 . Contrariwise, for higher 𝐶𝑇 values both ducts
of 𝑚
are characterised by a positive 𝐶𝑇,duct and therefore by an −3
increased value of the propulsive efficiency in comparison
to an open propeller. In turn, the NACA 5425 profile always
experiences a positive duct thrust and an enhancement in the −4
propulsive efficiency. −0.6 −0.3 0 0.3 0.6 0.9
Some insights on the behaviour of 𝐶𝑇,duct when 𝐶𝑇 is 𝜁/𝜎ad
decreased can be obtained through a closer look at the CT = 0.81 CT = 6.35
wall pressure coefficient distributions. In particular, Figure 7 CT = 3.36
represents 𝐶𝑝,wall as a function of 𝜁/𝜎ad for the duct NACA
1405 and for three different 𝐶𝑇 values. As already stressed, Figure 7: Wall pressure coefficient distribution along the duct
the actuator disk is placed at 𝜁/𝜎ad = 0. NACA 5405.
It can be observed that, for a high value of 𝐶𝑇 , the front
stagnation point is located on the external surface of the duct.
This means that a large acceleration and, consequently, a very the most important contribution to 𝐶𝑇,duct is the one due to
negative value of 𝐶𝑝,wall exists at the front part of the duct the front part of the inner surface. When 𝐶𝑇 is decreased,
inner surface. Since i𝜁 ⋅ n is also negative in this last part of the mass flow swallowed by the propeller is decreased too.
the duct, a huge positive contribution to the overall integral Consequently, the front stagnation point moves towards the
value of 𝐶𝑇,duct (see (21)) is due to the front part of the inner inner part of the duct so that 𝐶𝑝,wall tends to become less
duct surface. Looking at Figure 7, it is also easy to realise that negative in the front part of the inner surface and 𝐶𝑇,duct tends
International Journal of Aerospace Engineering 7

3 3

2.5
2

2
CT,duct

m
̂̇
1.5

−1
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
CT CT
NACA 1415 NACA 9415 NACA 1415 NACA 9415
NACA 5415 NACA 5415 Open

Figure 8: Effects of the profile camber on the duct thrust coefficient. Figure 9: Effects of the profile camber on the mass flow swallowed
by the rotor.

1
to become less positive or even negative. The effects of the
front stagnation point displacement with 𝐶𝑇 are mitigated
when the thickness of the profile is increased. In fact, in a
thicker profile, the profile curvature at the leading edge is 0.8
decreased as well as the acceleration needed to go around
it.
To summarise, an increase in the duct thickness yields a
beneficial effect on the propulsive efficiency (see Figure 6).
0.6
𝜂i

However, compared with the open rotor configuration, thin

profiles only preserve this advantage for sufficiently high
values of the thrust coefficient.
Turning now to the camber effect, Figure 8 shows the
duct thrust coefficient 𝐶𝑇,duct as a function of the overall 0.4
thrust coefficient 𝐶𝑇 for three different profiles. Once again,
if 𝐶𝑇,duct is negative, then the rotor swallows a lower mass
flow in comparison to the open configuration (see Figure 9)
and consequently a lower value of the propulsive efficiency is 0.2
achieved (see Figure 10). This is the case of the NACA 1415 0 2 4 6 8
and 5415 profiles, which experience a negative 𝐶𝑇,duct for low CT
values of 𝐶𝑇 . Conversely, at the higher value of 𝐶𝑇 , the ducted NACA 1415 NACA 9415
configuration always induces an enhancement of 𝜂𝑖 for all NACA 5415 Open
profiles. The reasons behind this behavior are again related
to the displacement of the position of the front stagnation Figure 10: Effects of the profile camber on the propulsive efficiency.
point with the thrust coefficient; as it can be seen in Figure 11
a propeller ducted with the most cambered NACA 9415
profile behaves differently, since it is characterised by an 4. Conclusions
enhanced propulsive efficiency in the whole range of 𝐶𝑇 . To
summarise, an increase in the duct camber yields a beneficial In the paper, the axisymmetric flow field around a ducted
effect on the propulsive efficiency (see Figure 10). However, propeller/fan has been thoroughly analysed by means of a
compared with the open rotor configuration, poorly cam- nonlinear and semi-analytical model which is able to deal
bered profiles only preserve this advantage for sufficiently with some crucial aspects of shrouded systems like the
high values of the thrust coefficient 𝐶𝑇 . interaction between the rotor and the duct, and the slipstream
8 International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

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