--- title: Pitting A CFD-Optimized Toroidal Propeller Against A... description: An experiment by YouTuber Neuronautics compared a conventional, highly-optimized propeller against a CFD-designed toroidal propeller. The conventional... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Pitting A CFD-Optimized Toroidal Propeller Against A Conventional One | daily.dev og:description: An experiment by YouTuber Neuronautics compared a conventional, highly-optimized propeller against a CFD-designed toroidal propeller. The conventional... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/LtxdeMfz4.png og:image:alt: Pitting A CFD-Optimized Toroidal Propeller Against A Conventional One og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Pitting A CFD-Optimized Toroidal Propeller Against A Conventional One **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 3 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An experiment by YouTuber Neuronautics compared a conventional, highly-optimized propeller against a CFD-designed toroidal propeller. The conventional propeller scanned and simulated at 73% efficiency, while the best toroidal design found through a two-month CFD process using multiple reference frame (MRF) simulation and a neural network to filter results only reached a simulated 62.9% efficiency, and 62% in real-world testing after 3D printing and manual redesign for printability. The comparison wasn't perfectly apples-to-apples since one propeller was commercial and the other DIY resin-printed, but no dramatic efficiency gain was found for the toroidal shape. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does a toroidal propeller's efficiency compare to a conventional propeller in CFD simulation? A conventional, highly optimized propeller scanned and simulated in CFD achieved about 73% efficiency, while the best toroidal propeller design found after a two-month search using multiple reference frame simulation and neural network filtering only reached a simulated 62.9% efficiency, later measured at around 62% in physical testing. The toroidal design showed no clear efficiency advantage over the conventional shape. _Anyone weighing propeller designs for a drone or aircraft project can track experiments like this on daily.dev._ ### What technique speeds up CFD analysis when optimizing many propeller shape parameters? Multiple reference frame (MRF) simulation drastically speeds up evaluating many propeller shape variants compared to brute-forcing every combination in full CFD. Even with MRF, testing seventeen shape parameters for a toroidal propeller design still took about two months, and a neural network was trained afterward to filter the resulting data for the most promising candidates. _Engineers exploring faster CFD workflows can follow techniques like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Variable-Pitch Propellers For More Efficient Quadcopter](https://daily.dev/posts/variable-pitch-propellers-for-more-efficient-quadcopter-9dhrm0hdv) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Trying A New Radial Impeller Design For Quadcopters](https://daily.dev/posts/trying-a-new-radial-impeller-design-for-quadcopters-thu8zz5sh) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Pressurized experiments could help wind farms generate more power](https://daily.dev/posts/pressurized-experiments-could-help-wind-farms-generate-more-power-hqmgucoru) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Nanotip Ion Thruster Promises Power Efficiency Boost](https://daily.dev/posts/nanotip-ion-thruster-promises-power-efficiency-boost-mhckuz7tt) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#deep-learning](https://daily.dev/tags/deep-learning) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Pitting A CFD-Optimized Toroidal Propeller Against A Conventional One","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4"},"datePublished":"2026-09-29T05:20:31.594Z","dateModified":"2026-09-29T05:21:00.145Z","description":"An experiment by YouTuber Neuronautics compared a conventional, highly-optimized propeller against a CFD-designed toroidal propeller. The conventional...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3e13ae5c29b76cd777d8e02bf78cd84b?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3e13ae5c29b76cd777d8e02bf78cd84b?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"deep-learning","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pitting A CFD-Optimized Toroidal Propeller Against A Conventional One"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/pitting-a-cfd-optimized-toroidal-propeller-against-a-conventional-one-ltxdemfz4#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does a toroidal propeller's efficiency compare to a conventional propeller in CFD simulation?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A conventional, highly optimized propeller scanned and simulated in CFD achieved about 73% efficiency, while the best toroidal propeller design found after a two-month search using multiple reference frame simulation and neural network filtering only reached a simulated 62.9% efficiency, later measured at around 62% in physical testing. The toroidal design showed no clear efficiency advantage over the conventional shape. Anyone weighing propeller designs for a drone or aircraft project can track experiments like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What technique speeds up CFD analysis when optimizing many propeller shape parameters?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Multiple reference frame (MRF) simulation drastically speeds up evaluating many propeller shape variants compared to brute-forcing every combination in full CFD. Even with MRF, testing seventeen shape parameters for a toroidal propeller design still took about two months, and a neural network was trained afterward to filter the resulting data for the most promising candidates. Engineers exploring faster CFD workflows can follow techniques like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```