Review on ducted fans for compound rotorcraft

ABSTRACT This paper presents a survey of published works on ducted fans for aeronautical applications. Early and recent experiments on full- or model-scale ducted fans are reviewed. Theoretical studies, lower-order simulations and high-fidelity CFD simulations are also summarised. Test matrices of several experimental and numerical studies are compiled and discussed. The paper closes with a summary of challenges for future ducted fan research.