Hello everyone,
a couple of weeks ago I got a pretty good 3D printer and immediately started printing and testing Vectored Thrust nozzles and EDF housings for my EDF jets. I designed the parts a long time ago, but until now I didn't have a way to make them, that didn't cost a fortune. With the addition of the 3D printer, things moved along very quickly. The printer is optimized for ABS plastic, so that is what I am using for all parts.

Keep in mind that these parts are pretty much as they come out of the printer. There have been very light sanding on some of the edges of the parts of the Vectored Thrust nozzle unit to prevent friction when the unit is at full deflection on any one of the axis . They haven't been sanded, polished or finished in any other way.

The first thing that I made and eventually got to a pretty reasonable and usable state was the EDF Vectored Thrust nozzle unit. It is made up of 3 parts, which provide a quite nice 360 degree movement - 13 degrees on one axis and 12 degrees on the other. IF you think this movement is little... I would like to inform you that at about 10 degrees deflection on the elevator axis, the plane does one back flip on the spot, and then one more from the inertia of the first one!!! I am using about 50-60% of the full travel available on both axis.

As fate would have it, my T-45 does NOT have enough thrust to hover, but when I get the sticks positions right, it does do a nice Harrier. The biggest problem is that the T-45 plane design is not very suitable for vectored thrust, BUT it is the only one I currently have. I have two other model lined up for vectored thrust, who's designs are MUCH better suited to vectored thrust, hovering and Harrier maneuvers, but it will take some time to get all the equipment together and get them in the air, so be patient.

So, lets stop talking, almost, and move on to the photo and video materials.

Here it is, the World's first (at least to my knowledge) 3D printed, usable, Vectored Thrust nozzle units for 35mm, 50mm, 64mm, 70mm, and pretty much every other size EDF jets.





Here it is mounted on my 50mm EDF T-45 jet.





Here it is on my 64mm EDF T-45 jet.

















The good news is that it WORKS great!!! The problem, like I mentioned above, is that the T-45's design is not very suitable for 3D flying. My observations show that the optimal design is when the main wing is very close to the Vectored Thrust unit, i.e. going all the way to the back of the plane like all delta designs. The T-45 is quite shaky when I try to do a Harrier, but its control surfaces are also quite small and the main wing is quite far from the vectored thrust unit. On some rare occasions I manage to achieve a pretty stable Harrier, and it looks great in those moments, I am filled with overwhelming joy, and I can see that all the effort put into developing this was not in vain. I can't wait to get the other two air frames in the air, to see if they will handle better than the T-45.

Until then, here is a video of the 50mm T-45 in flight. Incidentally, this flight was also the plane's first flight with the new 3D printed EDF housing, but more on that later in the post.

SkyAngel T-45 50mm EDF Jet - 3D printed EDF and Vectored Thrust unit (getting better at it) (5 min 56 sec)

And now we transition to the World's first usable (again to my knowledge) 3D printed EDF housing.

The EDF housing mounted on the 50mm T-45 jet is a slightly improved copy of the original - I added a lip and made it just slightly larger, which improved fit considerably. The printed housing is also much tougher than the stock one.

Here are some pics:





The holes in the lip are to allow the push rod sleeves to go under the housing without pushing it up.















The plane has had 6 flights since the 3D printed housing was installed. The housing is holding up great for now, I am very happy with the results.

The success of the T-45 printed EDF housing inspired me to design a housing optimized for mounting on a depron foam model. Since I was not going to be using a thrust tube I designed the housing with fins on both sides to ease alignment and gluing/mounting to the foam model. I also optimized the lip to improve air flow around the outside of the housing.



















And here is the video presentation of the 3D printed EDF housing:

World's first usable 3D printed 50mm EDF housing!!! (6 min 0 sec)

As you can tell by the last 3 photos above, the EDF housing was used in my F-Sweep XL plane.

Here is a video of the F-Sweep XL's maiden flight:

F-Sweep XL - a forward swept RC plane with a 3D printed 50mm EDF housing and a 5800Kv motor (3 min 44 sec)

I've also printed other plane/multirotor usable parts: a motor mount for my FMS F4U Corsair, and a motor mount for the YAW mechanism on my Tricopter - Woody. However, their place is not in this thread, so I am not going to discuss them here.

That is about it for now. I am constantly refining and optimizing the Vectored Thrust nozzle unit and EDF housing designs, so if anyone is interested in these products, drop me a line in the thread or PM me. The beauty about these Vectored Thrust nozzle units and EDF housings is that there is not fixed size - they can be printed to the exact specifications of the jet that they are going to be mounted on.

I am looking forward to comments and suggestions guys, so don't be shy.

Good stuff!! Glad to see someone using the 3D printers for some things on these planes now! I like the idea of thrust vectoring... Would love to give it a shot!

Originally Posted by gooniac33

Good stuff!! Glad to see someone using the 3D printers for some things on these planes now! I like the idea of thrust vectoring... Would love to give it a shot!

What plane will you mount it on? I honestly believe the F-35 and the Gripen will handle great with thrust vectoring, since they have the proper design for it. I have an F-35 air frame, but waiting for a proper EDF unit with adequate thrust to arrive. Hopefully it will allow me to demonstrate the full capabilities of the Vectored Thrust nozzle units. I am also going to get the Gripen soon and also do the mod to it.

Originally Posted by Arxangel

What plane will you mount it on? I honestly believe the F-35 and the Gripen will handle great with thrust vectoring, since they have the proper design for it. I have an F-35 air frame, but waiting for a proper EDF unit with adequate thrust to arrive. Hopefully it will allow me to demonstrate the full capabilities of the Vectored Thrust nozzle units. I am also going to get the Gripen soon and also do the mod to it.

Not sure yet... but I have a Screamer that would do some pretty cool stuff with it! I know that it can handle the weight..

Originally Posted by gooniac33

Not sure yet... but I have a Screamer that would do some pretty cool stuff with it! I know that it can handle the weight..

Well, the unit weights around 12 grams, and you need to add the weight of two servos and possibly some servo extension leads. I think this mode added around 25 grams to my T-45.

The latest version of the Vectored Thrust nozzle unit weights just under 10 grams, but I haven't tested it yet, since I would want to do it on the F-35. It is thinner and more flexible than the one currently on the T-45, but I think it will work fine and the nozzle won't warp in the air since air pressure is uniform. I hope this lighter version works, as every gram removed from the back makes for an easier balance. I know the joints can handle much more pressure than any 50mm EDF motor can create since I can't pry them apart by hand, no matter how hard I pull. Only question is if the nozzle exit would bend up in the air, but logic suggests that it wouldn't. We will see soon.

I think it would be greate on the Gripen, since it has to be modded to get the battery further back to get CoG at a proper location with 3 cells batterys over 1000mAh.

Originally Posted by MagnusEl

I think it would be greate on the Gripen, since it has to be modded to get the battery further back to get CoG at a proper location with 3 cells batterys over 1000mAh.

That is yet another reason why I want to test it on the Gripen - achieving proper balance would be much easier and you would be putting something useful at the back rather than just dead weight.

Looks good!
The printed fans have been kicking around a while now for micro and sub-micro, as there's nothing else available. We've even printed rotors 30mm and below! First time I've seen ones bigger though.

any plans to do a petal type nozzle?

Originally Posted by Odysis

Looks good!
The printed fans have been kicking around a while now for micro and sub-micro, as there's nothing else available. We've even printed rotors 30mm and below! First time I've seen ones bigger though.

any plans to do a petal type nozzle?

Hahaha, I get asked this a lot. I haven't thought about it too much though. It might be possible, but it would require an intricate design to be able to do it with one servo. I will have to look into it, but for now I find this more than enough for what I am trying to achieve.

I have seen plans for the micro EDF stuff around the web, but nothing really published officially, and definitely nothing of this size. I've got a 64mm EDF housing ready and will be able to show it in action by the end of the week.

It'll take 2 servos minimum for 2 axis, 3 if you want nozzle size control too (3 axis)
Way to detailed to do by hand, so printing would be perfect

Being able to print your own would make changing the shroud easy too, more stators, different angles, shapes etc. Jealous much!

Originally Posted by Odysis

It'll take 2 servos minimum for 2 axis, 3 if you want nozzle size control too (3 axis)
Way to detailed to do by hand, so printing would be perfect

Being able to print your own would make changing the shroud easy too, more stators, different angles, shapes etc. Jealous much!

Well, the tricky part is making the nozzle size control with only 1 servo... But since you've got me thinking, I already have 1 or 2 ideas, but I will have to see when I will have time to sit down and design something.

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Originally Posted by mixjsj

Hellow~! it's just amazing stuff. Can I ask you which 3d mashine did you used for your work? I 'm very interested in 3d printing work and i know ABS printing need heated bed or heated chamber.

Hi, its the Replicator 2X.

Here is the newly developed 3D printed 64mm EDF housing, installed in my F-Sweep XL.





What surprised me, was that with a little effort I was able to peel off the epoxy from the 50mm housing. This means that I can reuse it, and do not need to print a new one.



The new 64mm EDF unit epoxied in place and ready for action.



If somebody is not in the mood to watch the 64mm EDF housing presentation, skip the 1st minute to get to the flight part of the video.

F-Sweep XL - first flight with World's first, 3D printed, 64mm EDF housing!!! (1 min 54 sec)

Neat toys. The 50 mm shroud does not adequatel;y fit the 10 blade rotor.
Impellor needs be inside the tube to be operating to it's potentials. Imo that CS rotor is not as good as it looks.
However the Cheap (6$) CS 50mm ali shroud from Hobby king is both Very Rigid and perfectly accurate. Worth owning.
A bit of Epoxy and it can have Any mount system desired.. glued on to it..
2615 4000kv motor on 4s using a Haoye 50mm 7 blade rotor and the stock haoye 50mm shroud has been independently tested/published to generate 760 gms thrust at v Hi efflux speeds.