Moller International Develops Damage-Resistant Carbon-Fiber Fan Blades for Skycar and Neuera

8 November 2009

Moller International has successfully developed and tested a damage-resistant, carbon-fiber blade technology that increases durability for the ducted fans used in its Skycar and Neuera VTOL aircraft product lines. (Earlier post.)

This improvement reduces blade rotating inertia, allowing the fans to respond quicker to roll and pitch commands from the artificial stability system, resulting in a more stable aircraft during hover and transition.

In addition, the newly-developed epoxy carbon fiber matrix can tolerate increased damage to the leading edge of the fan thereby dramatically improving resistance to damage caused by bird ingestion.

This advancement was inadvertently validated when a screwdriver was accidentally ingested into a fan during the maximum power tests of an M400. The screwdriver caused a significant notch in the leading edge of the fan but was quickly repaired with epoxy filler. An aluminum fan blade would have to be replaced if it had survived the impact, which is problematic

—Dr. Paul Moller, President of Moller International

Carbon fiber has up to seven times the tensile strength of aluminum. As a result, the blades can be designed to have a very large safety factor. This is particularly important in a VTOL aircraft like the Skycar or Neuera, where a fan blade failure due to foreign object damage (FOD) could be catastrophic during hover or early transition, the company said. This technology proves to be valuable not only to the Moller volantor aircraft but an important advancement in aviation safety.

Moller International has developed and flight-tested a utility or recreational, two-passenger VTOL aircraft called the Neuera. This was followed by the development and initial flight-testing of a four-passenger VTOL aircraft called the Skycar.

Both aircraft use the Rotapower rotary engine, designed specifically for applications requiring high power along with low weight, volume, hazardous emissions, fuel consumption and cost per horsepower.