Analysis of the Aerodynamic and Structural Performance of a Cooling Fan with Morphing Blade

Suman, Alessio; Fortini, Annalisa; Aldi, Nicola; Pinelli, Michele; Merlin, Mattia

doi:10.3390/ijtpp2020007

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Many works may be found in literature investigating the impact of morphing on the performance of blades [40,41]. Actuating morphing on rotating parts presents specific challenges, such as the power transmission and signal data transfer, the small room to host actuation systems, the large deflections of the structure subjected to high inertial forces, and the reconstruction of the actual shape of the blade.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System

et al. 2022

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This paper focuses on the development and demonstration of a novel blade morphing system within a whirl tower facility. The scope is to investigate the behavior of the proposed architecture under representative loads, demonstrating its capability to alter the blade original shape in operation under centrifugal, aerodynamic, and internal forces. The morphing concept was developed inside the European project “Shape Adaptive Blades for Rotorcraft Efficiency”, SABRE, and consists of a shape memory alloy system able to change the original twist law and, in this way, enhance rotor performance at certain specific regimes, such as hover and vertical flight. These phases, indeed, are generally penalized with respect to other more extended flight regimes (cruise). The work starts with an overview of the research in the field of morphing, with specific reference to the researches envisaging rotary wing demonstrations. Then, an overview of the morphing twist concept is provided, with particular attention paid to those features particularly suited for the whirl tower representative test environment. The laboratory characterization and commissioning operations are illustrated. Then, the task of the installation of the prototype on the whirl tower facility is described together with the testing modality adopted. Finally, the results of the test campaign are illustrated and critically discussed, providing the reader with insights and possible future steps to be taken in further research. The impact on the morphing capability of the following different parameters was investigated: the number of the prototype segments switched on, the speed and thus the centrifugal actions, and the angles of attack. The stiffening effect due to centrifugal actions was quantified through the measurement of the actual twist and the internal deformation. The link between speed, angle of attack at root, and twist and flap angles was also tracked, building a database useful for the comprehension of the phenomenon, and for the assessment of numerical predictive models. The achieved results highlighted the capability of the system to produce a twist angle matching the target of 8° per blade radius; this figure is related to a potential power saving of 10% in hover and vertical flight and an improvement of about 1% on the over-all efficiency of the rotorcraft.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System

et al. 2022

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“…Suman et al [5] investigated, from a numerical and experimental point of view, the performance of a cooling axial fan equipped with morphing blades, which can control itself to reduce or eliminate the need for active control systems. Morphing blades were obtained using shape memory alloys (SMA) strips embedded in a polymeric matrix.…”

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confidence: 99%

Excellence in Turbomachinery Research: The Best of the 12th European Turbomachinery Conference

Manna

2018

IJTPP

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Turbomachines are undoubtedly the key components of all power systems, and despite the impressive advances of the past century, there seems to still be room for improvement. While the reduction in the specific fuel consumption directly related to the components efficiency enhancement is the most natural and pursued objective, other aspects progressively acquire importance. Noise, life, reliability, and safety, to quote a few examples, require technological leaps that can only stem from solid, well-conceived, fundamental, and applied research. Those concerns are equally shared by the power generation world, the aerospace community, and the automotive one, all mainly focused on efficiency innovations.This Special Issue appearing in the International Journal of Turbomachinery, Propulsion, and Power [1] (www.mdpi.com/journal/ijtpp), collects original research articles addressing advances in computational and measurement techniques as applied to the above mentioned fields for the benefit of the academic and industrial research communities. These manuscripts originate from the 12th European Turbomachinery Conference (ETC12) held in Stockholm (Sweden) in March 2017 under the local coordination of the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology. The conference main objectives are the presentation of the latest developments in the turbomachinery field; the promotion of the transfer of this technology across Europe; and the creation of a forum suitable to disseminate and advertise the results of the research projects funded by the European Commission, as well the resultant benefits from the support by the Commission.The ETC series, started in 1995, is managed and organized by Euroturbo (www.euroturbo.eu), the European Turbomachinery Society, a not-for-profit international scientific organization legally established in February 2012, specifically organized to enhance the dissemination, exchange, and publication of top quality research in the field of turbomachinery. Yet, the policy of the society has always been to seek papers documenting good quality research rather than simply increasing their numbers, so that striving for quality rather than quantity has always been the society's motto.The research works appearing in this Special Issue were selected from a pool of two hundred full manuscripts submitted for review to the ETC12. They represent the outcome of a rigorous review process completed with the help of three independent referees supervised by a senior scientist, who rated them of journal quality.Six of the papers appearing in this issue are of computational nature, two deal with experimental work, one is of theoretical imprinting, and one is of the mixed experimental-computational type.

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