Swirl Distortion Using Stream Vanes for Boundary Layer Ingestion Research

Abstract

The swirl distortion of a StreamVane™ was investigated in the NASA Glenn Research Center W8 test facility. The StreamVane™ was designed and generated by Virginia Tech based on CFD simulations and included a center body at the aerodynamic interface plane. The swirl pattern generated by the distortion was evaluated using a dense grid of 5-hole Pitot probe measurements captured using a rotating array of probes. Good agreement was found between the design intent and the results at 38.5 kg/s mass flow. The StreamVane™ swirl results were compared to clean facility flow at 5 inlet mass flows and found to be consistent. Additionally, the axial location of the StreamVane™ relative to the measurement plane was investigated to determine the impact on downstream total pressure loss generated by the vanes. The intent of this work was to assess the viability of using a StreamVane™ to generate a Type I or Type II distortion into a Boundary Layer Ingesting propulsor to assess its aerodynamic performance and aeromechanic response.

Aerothermal Characterisation of Surface Heat Exchangers for Turbofans

“…Other techniques for circumferential distortion panels are based on water cutting [141]. However, maybe the most complete and easy-to-implement is by 3D printing [112,113,120,139,140,146]. Some examples of distortion screens manufactured using these techniques are displayed in Fig.…”

“…In terms of when the modified velocity is settled downstream of the screen, Stephens et al [140] showed that, at distances of about one hydraulic diameter, the velocity field was already very similar to the final distribution achieved. Sivapragasam [141] conducted a more detailed investigation and determined that the pressure field and its gradients between two and five diameters downstream remained almost unchanged, whereas the variations were larger for shorter distances.…”