Tag: Biomimetic

Biomimetic EV fan goes full ‘birds of prey’ toward muted efficiency

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German automotive supplier Mahle has been hard at work on next-gen electric drive systems, and it’s also been exploring other critical components to help make vehicular electrification a more viable reality. At September’s IAA Transportation show, it revealed a thermal management fan that borrows from nature to provide smoother, quieter, more efficient performance on the road and at the charger. The fan is designed to meet the needs of the full spectrum of vehicles, from small urban EVs to large fuel cell trucks.

In order to arrive at its unique fan blade design, Mahle used an AI engine to explore a variety of possible biomimetic options.

“We analyzed the characteristic features of bats, swordfish, and many other inspirations from nature,” explained Dr. Uli Christian Blessing, Mahle’s development chief for thermal management. “We finally ended up with the owl, the silent hunter, as the main template for our new fan.”

Blessing doesn’t exaggerate; owls are well-known as a silent predator, able to effectively swoop down on their prey in virtual silence thanks to the unique form of their wing feathers. Both the leading and trailing edges are broken into small comb-like serrations that smooth out air turbulence to cut noise and provide the owl’s hyper-quiet hunting ability.

While Mahle may have indeed used AI to help narrow its specific search, it didn’t start from scratch on the idea of an owl-like blade. This style of design has been researched and pursued by a number of entities over the years, proposed for myriad uses that include wind turbines, aircraft engines and gaming system cooling hardware. In fact, German building and machinery component supplier Ziehl-Abegg has developed a full lineup of FE2owlet multipurpose axial fans with owl wing-inspired blades.

The wavy ribbon-like blades feature owl-inspired serrated edges for smoother airflow and less noise
Mahle

Compared to the F2owlet, Mahle’s design looks downright docile and much less saw-like, but it still employs serrations along the wavy blade edges to channel and quiet airflow. The company says the blade design works much like it does on the owl’s wing, cutting noise by up to 4 decibel A, more than half the sound output of a standard fan.

“One can imagine the sound reduction power of our fan to be like that of turning off one of the speakers on a stereo system,” Blessing analogized.

Mahle says the effect is particularly valuable when the vehicle is running at full load or fast-charging at night, cutting down on noise pollution for both the vehicle driver and those nearby.

Beyond just the blades, Mahle has applied biomimetic inspiration to the construction of the fan cover and hardware
Mahle

The new blade design also results in 10% more efficient performance and a weight savings of 10% versus a conventional fan design, Mahle reports. Drivers may not notice any difference at the battery gauge, but efficiency optimization is the name of the game when it comes to EV design, and every bit contributes.

Mahle has designed the fan for a scalable power range between 300 and 35,000 watts so it could be equipped to everything from small electric passenger cars to large commercial vehicles. Beyond just battery electrics, it’s also designed for use in fuel cell electric setups, and Mahle debuted it within an FCEV truck cab mockup with a full complement of FCEV system components, including its first all-electric axle with two SCT motors.

At last month’s IAA Transportation show, Mahle exhibited a mockup of its full fuel cell drive system that included a fuel cell and supporting hardware, thermal management setup (fan and battery cooling), complete liquid management system, and HD electric axle with two SCT electric motors worth 697 hp
Mahle

Mahle has supplied initial fan prototypes to both passenger and commercial vehicle manufacturers for testing. Citing forecasts that battery and fuel cell electric trucks will make up 30 percent of global production by 2035, the company plans to continue attacking the challenges of electrification from multiple angles, developing both next-gen electric drives and optimized components.

Source: Mahle

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October 24, 2024
Biomimetic propeller brings whale-like flow to hubless marine e-drive

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French electric marine drive specialist BlueNav is preparing to put a more natural spin in its lineup. The all-new Whale Design propeller features blades that follow the contours of a whale to improve system efficiency. The unique propeller is set to debut in the company’s electric outboard and inboard drive systems to further improve upon the efficiency and versatility they add to existing boats.

Founded in 2020, BlueNav is focused on the gradual electrification of private and commercial boats. In contrast to companies focusing all their energy on pure-electric boating, BlueNav has taken a hybrid tack, developing “BlueSpin” electric propulsion solutions designed to be used in conjunction with a boat’s original combustion engine.

The add-on electric propulsion introduces readily available near-silent, zero-emissions electric cruising and an overall reduction in on-water emissions, without giving up the range and power of a combustion engine. The retractable design of the BlueSpin outboard and inboard systems means they can be easily pulled out of the water when the captain wants to proceed in combustion mode. Having an all-electric option is especially valuable for navigating through protected waterways where combustion engines are banned.

BlueNav presentation

BlueNav sums up its approach: “Recognizing the impossible batteries challenge for immediate widespread adoption of electric mobility, BlueNav has focused on bringing today’s mobility to life by developing alternative solutions with hybrid propulsion. Designed for boaters and professional vessels, BlueNav motors allow any type of boat to be converted into a hybrid-electric vessel, today.”

In the same way some automakers and drivers believe that hybrid vehicles are a more practical step than pure EVs for emissions-cutting in the short term, BlueNav believes hybrid drives are the best immediate way forward for boats. And having seen years’ worth of paltry battery-electric boat ranges, it’s hard to find fault in the logic.

As for its latest innovation, BlueNav looked to the humpback whale as a point of inspiration, zeroing in on its flippers. In place of the smooth, slippery edge one might expect to find on a creature of the sea, the humpback’s flipper has a very bumpy edge. Bony bumps called tubercles line the flipper’s leading edge, and have been found to improve hydrodynamic efficiency by channeling water flow, reducing drag, increasing lift and improving maneuverability.

This humpback whale gives the world the flipper, providing a good look at its tubercles

BlueNav’s engineering team studied the efficacy of these whale tubercles, and undoubtedly previous propeller work of this vein, and used CAD to apply it to its own propeller design, replacing the smooth leading edge with tubercle-inspired crests. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was then used to analyze predicted performance over a variety of thrust ratios.

According to BlueNav, the crested blades improve flow around the troughs, changing the pressure and speed of the downstream water and increasing thrust and overall power output. The company has also laid gentle striations in the propeller surface to mimic the low-friction nature of the whale’s body, further optimizing performance.

The BlueSpin stationary sail drive attaches to the hull underbody; this one includes the traditional propeller design, not the new Whale version
BlueNav

BlueNav developed the Whale Design propeller for integration into its BlueSpin hubless electric prop drives. In place of a common shaft-mounted propeller, the BlueSpin motor places the propeller blades on a magnetically driven inner ring. The company says the design minimizes friction for improved efficiency, operates more quietly, and requires fewer components and less maintenance in comparison to a traditional hub-prop drive. BlueNav offers outboard, in-hull and stationary under-hull configurations to meet the needs of different vessels.

BlueNav revealed the Whale Design at the Düsseldorf boat show in January and plans to begin offering the Whale prop BlueSpin models for order in the coming weeks. It will sell three-, four- and five-blade configurations and tells us the new blades will not tack any additional costs on the price of the BlueSpin drives.

Source: BlueNav

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April 5, 2024
Biomimetic electric outboard ditches propeller for fin-driven thrust

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French startup FinX was founded on the idea that the best way to preserve nature is to look to it for inspiration. Toward that end, it’s developed an outboard motor that allows boats to move through the water more naturally and efficiently, similar to actual creatures of the sea. It cuts out the basic propeller and replaces it with a fin-like undulating membrane directly inspired dolphins and jellyfish. When agitated by the electric motor, the membrane develops safe, steady thrust that quietly pushes the vessel forward.

Something of a circular trip in reverse engineering that unfolded over the course of decades, the technology behind FinX stems back to the university work done by engineer Jean-Baptiste Drevet in the 1990s. Determined to make a more efficient fluid pump system, Drevet looked to the dolphin for inspiration in innovating the idea of an undulating membrane.

The work captured the interest of Erik Guillemin, who founded AMS R&D to further develop and commercialize the technology under the trademark Wavera. The membrane tech has since found use in industrial fluid pumps and medical blood pumps.

FinX looks to eliminate the propeller to create a clean, safe, quiet electric outboard that causes less turbulence in the water
FinX

Guillemin’s son Harold founded FinX in 2019 after working at AMS R&D for close to a decade. With his eyes on bringing the technology back to the sea from whence it was conceived, he arrived with an exclusive Wavera license for the boating industry in hand. In the ensuing years, FinX has adapted AMS’ undulating membrane design to create a smoother, more efficient style of electric outboard it bills as the world’s first propeller-less fin motor.

In place of a propeller, FinX’s outboard relies on a linear motor to excite the ring-shaped elastomer membrane. This causes it to undulate and send wave energy through to the water, creating thrust via fluid flow. This quick video clip illustrates it in action:

Discover the FinS. Safe. Simple. Strong.

In addition to being safer for life, limb and line than a propeller system, the FinX drive is also designed to operate more efficiently. FinX says the linear propulsion consumes less energy than traditional rotational propeller systems and also claims the design produces less noise and agitation in the water, making it a less impactful on marine life.

FinX began production of its first commercial outboard, the FinS, last year. Previously, or perhaps stylistically and intermittently, referred to as the Fin5, the 2-kW FinS is designed for small boats, inflatable dinghies and sailboats up to 3 tonnes. It attaches to the transom via two clamps and is controlled via tiller. Manual and auto-lift hardware protect it in shallow waters.

The 5-hp FinS is designed for small vessels like inflatable dinghies
FinX

With the accompanying 72-Ah 48-V lithium battery, the FinS delivers an estimated top speed just under 7 mph (11 km/h). It’s made to run at top speed for up to an hour and 45 minutes before draining the battery. Dialing speed back to 3 mph (5 km/h), the system can deliver up to eight hours of on-water time per charge. Estimated ranges come in at 10.5 and 21 nautical miles (19 and 39 km) at those respective speeds.

FinX is now offering the FinS for a price of €3,200 (approx. US$3,450). It showed the newfangled marine drive at this year’s Boat Dusseldorf show, where it also previewed its next model, the FinE.

FinE outboard rendering
FinX

A scaled-up version of the fin motor, the FinE will offer up to 120 kW with the aim of powering tourist shuttles, riverboats, work boats and other larger vessels. Instead of the ring membrane design of the FinS, it uses a flatter layout with two excited membranes. FinX is planning to offer it with a hydrogen fuel cell stack.

Below, AMS R&D founder and chief Erik Guillemin puts the FinX tech to work on small inflatable vessel.

The founder of this technology is experimenting it on a boat engine!

Source: FinX

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January 31, 2024