Cyclorotor
A cyclorotor is a type of a propeller, designed to provide propulsion in a gaseous or liquid environments such as the atmosphere or ocean. An ordinary propeller produces thrust along the axis of rotation. In the case of the cyclorotor, thrust points in the perpendicular direction to the axis of rotation. This is the fundamental difference between a propeller and a cyclorotor. Beyond that, both types of propulsion have their own pros and cons.
The first question is - why would anybody need to re-invent the propeller? Well, contrary to popular belief, propellers are not ideal devices. Let's consider for a second a propeller operating in Earth's atmosphere. The propeller experiences different linear velocities and loads along the length of each blade. As you get farther out along the blade, the linear velocity increases. At the tip, the linear velocity is highest, and it is critical to keep it below the speed of sound. A sonic shockwave can tear apart the blade of the propeller. As the tip approaches this limit, it generates great instabilities which could lead to rapid disassembly of the whole propeller - not a preferred scenario. For this reason, propeller-powered aircraft cannot go very fast.
A cyclorotor consists of two rings connected by simple, straight blades. It is very similar to the old paddlewheels used on steamboats. Actually, they are so similar that it is likely that cyclorotors were inspired by these very paddlewheels. Unlike propellers, there is no upper limit to angular velocity, and load is spread evenly across all blades during a complete cycle. Also, thrust vectoring is built right into the system. By changing the pitch of the individual blades for every cycle, the thrust can be vectored nearly instantaneously from 0 to 360 degrees - certainly a very useful feature for high maneuverability aircraft such as UFO. Last but not least, since there are no blade tips exposed, the noise levels are lower for a cyclorotor than a comparable propeller.
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Currently, an Austrian-based company called CycloTech is actively pursuing this technology and has even shown a short hover test-flight of a quad cyclorotor electrical drone. But they have a long way to go - there is a reason why cyclorotors are not common in modern aviation. For one, transitions and forward flight are complex maneuvers for these vehicles as the incoming air starts to mess around with the flow field of the cyclorotors bringing about instability. Furthermore, to maintain stable hover - thrust vectoring requires the addition of swashplates and other complex mechanisms, producing a heavier and less reliable vehicle. The list of technological hurdles goes on, including disk-loading issues, scaling-up penalties, and power density. Chances that the cyclorotor makes it out as the next big thing after propellers is low. Nonetheless, the guys at CycloTech get my kudos. We must keep thinking outside of the box if we are to keep progress moving forward - just got to always ask yourself - can this be done better?
#cyclotech #cyclorotor #cyclogyro #propeller #fluid #propulsion #atmosphere #drone #electrical
Leading disruptive innovation across the tech sector; Hair Stylers to aerospace, audio to V-band, one-offs to millions. SC cleared.
1 年You can make /anything/ work if you throw enough money at it, but that doesn't make it either practical or economically viable.
Silly question, maybe... What would happen if you had fans (perhaps counter rotating) on the main rotor endcaps and blowing additional air into the center of the rotor (creating high pressure) or removing air (low pressure?
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
1 年Here’s my small scale demonstrator https://youtu.be/JoVmejDsMrM?si=WOUsY_H56FS7Ezrz
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1 年Interesting concept: I have been working on a similar momentum generation rotor concept, as a hobby; And, I hope to revert with a prototype at the earliest.
Chief Technology Officer | iLAuNCH at University of Southern Queensland
1 年I did heaps of wind tunnel tests on a cross flow fan concept for drones. It was a cool idea with lots of benefits, but difficulties in manufacturing and high costs led us to abandon interest. Costs can be driven down, and often times in aerospace the juice is worth the squeeze! Helicopters exist with their crazy swash plates, tail rotors and challenging GNC dynamics, but the efficient hover capability is the niche they fill.