Propulsor Behavior Under the Highly Distorted Flow of Boundary Layer Ingestion

Speaker: Gregory Heinlein, NASA Glenn Research Center
February 15, 2024

Presentation

Abstract

Aircraft engine propulsors operating with boundary layer ingestion or in cross-wind, or highly integrated with airframes can encounter significant inlet flow distortion, leading to degradation of performance, operability, and durability. To investigate the impact of distortion on a propulsor, the Boundary Layer Ingesting Inlet – Distortion Tolerant Fan (BLI2DTF) is simulated. A code coupling approach with the Launch, Ascent, and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) computational framework and the turbomachinery-specific code TURBO is utilized to capture the closely coupled nature of the system. The results from the simulation are compared to experimental values obtained from the test conducted in the 8- by 6-foot supersonic wind tunnel at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Wall static pressure, total pressure, and total temperature are compared with experimental values and show good agreement for the behavior of the overall coupled system. A closer investigation of the fan is conducted to elucidate the behavior of operating in this distorted environment. The results show that the fan rotor blade loading/performance characteristics are predominantly induced by the axial velocity of the distortion at high span and swirl velocity of the distortion at low span.

This work is supported by NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) project.

Biography

Gregory Heinlein is an Aeroelasticity Research Engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center in the Multiscale/Multiphysics Modeling branch. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University. He received his Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering from Ohio State University. His research has focused on the aerodynamic and aeromechanic behavior of turbomachinery since joining NASA.

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