Delivering better power: the role of simulation in reducing the environmental impact of aircraft engines

Abstract

The growth in simulation capability over the past 20 years has led to remarkable changes in the design process for gas turbines. The availability of relatively cheap computational power coupled to improvements in numerical methods and physical modelling in simulation codes have enabled the development of aircraft propulsion systems that are more powerful and yet more efficient than ever before. However, the design challenges are correspondingly greater, especially to reduce environmental impact. The simulation requirements to achieve a reduced environmental impact are described along with the implications of continued growth in available computational power. It is concluded that achieving the environmental goals will demand large-scale multi-disciplinary simulations requiring significantly increased computational power, to enable optimization of the airframe and propulsion system over the entire operational envelope. However even with massive parallelization, the limits imposed by communications latency will constrain the time required to achieve a solution, and therefore the position of such large-scale calculations in the industrial design process.

Computational Fluid Dynamics Prediction of External Thermal Loads on Film-Cooled Gas Turbine Vanes: A Validation of Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes Transition Models and Scale-Resolving Simulations for the VKI LS-94 Test Case

“…The evolution of computational power has not only expanded the scope of CFD but also revolutionized its application in the design and optimization of gas turbines. The advent of enhanced computational capabilities has enabled three-dimensional simulations of industrially relevant test cases, and the (unsteady) Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach has become the standard modeling technique for most gas turbine components [1]. Moreover, the advancement of gas turbine design has placed a growing emphasis on comprehending and predicting with high fidelity the lifespan of the components, particularly those in the hot-gas path.…”

Automated Virtual Testing Rig Incorporating Multi-level Models of Gas Turbine Engines

“…These expenses may be decreased by using virtual testing [1][2][3][4][5], which mainly differ from the mathematical models of engine designing in that they simulate transient processes.…”

Aerodynamics, computers and the environment

“…Menzies [4] at Rolls-Royce plc focuses on aeroengines. The emissions targets in terms of CO 2 , NO x and noise are defined.…”