In progress · CFD-validated
World's Fastest Drone Propellers
Custom high-pitch aluminum propellers for an extreme-speed quadcopter, targeting roughly 30,000 RPM and 800 km/h — designed parametrically and validated through a custom OpenFOAM CFD pipeline.
How it works
Built for one number: forward speed.
The goal
Design propellers for an extreme forward-speed quadcopter — an attempt at a world speed record. The problem is nothing like a normal drone: hover efficiency, endurance, and noise don't matter. Everything is optimized for thrust at very high advance ratio.
The geometry
Custom high-pitch, three-blade propellers (≈3 in radius) with distinct root, mid, and tip airfoils from the NACA 16 series, built parametrically so pitch and chord can be swept into whole design families.
The simulation
Each variant runs through a custom browser-driven OpenFOAM pipeline — snappyHexMesh, MRF, compressible rhoPimpleFoam with k-ω SST — batched overnight with automated thrust and efficiency extraction.
The discipline
CFD numbers only count once they're trusted: static baselines against known APC data, mesh-independence and domain studies, tip-Mach checks, and structural safety for the final aluminum blades.