Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Shock Wave Within a Swept Shrouded Propfan Rotor

Helming, Klaus

doi:10.1115/94-gt-221

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

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Counter rotating fans — An aircraft propulsion for the future?

Schimming

2003

J. of Therm. Sci.

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In the mid seventies a new propulsor for aircraft was designed and investigated -the so-called PROPFAN. With regard to the total pressure increase, it ranges between a conventional propeller and a turbofan with very high bypass ratio. This new propulsion system promised a reduction in fuel consumption of 15 to 25% compared to engines at that time. A lot of propfans (Hamilton Standard, USA) with different numbers of blades and blade shapes have been designed and tested in wind tunnels in order to find an optimum in efficiency, Fig. 1. Parallel to this development GE, USA, made a design of a counter rotating unducted propfan, the so-called UDE Fig.2. A prototype engine was manufactured and investigated on an in-flight test bed mounted at the MD82 and the B727. Since that time there has not been any further development of propfans (except AN 70 with NK 90-engine, Ukraine, which is more or less a propeller design) due to relatively low fuel prices and technical obstacles. Only technical programs in different countries are still going on in order to prepare a data base for designing counter rotating fans in terms of aeroacoustics, aerodynamics and aeroelasticities. In DLR, Germany, a lot of experimental and numerical work has been undertaken to understand the physical behaviour of the unsteady flow in a counter rotating fan.

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