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Design and Optimization of Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsor

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2019, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Mechanical Engineering.
The boundary layer ingestion concept has the potential to improve propulsion efficiency that will lead to better fuel economy of commercial aircraft. This design concept has been explored by NASA as the Single-aisle Turboelectric Aircraft with Aft Boundary-Layer propulsor "STARC-ABL." This thesis discusses the 1D-3D aerodynamic design and optimization process of a propulsor with incoming distortion. It starts off with exploring the subsonic design of a two row propulsor (rotor and OGV) on a 2D basis, with angular momentum (related to work) distribution (rV_theta) manipulation at the rotor TE to get the optimum rV_theta profile with adiabatic efficiency as the objective function. The same concept of varying rV_theta profile on 2D basis was extended to the high speed propulsor design case before moving on to 3D design and optimization. The propulsor is at the tail of the fuselage, and consists of an Inlet Guide Vane (IGV), rotor, and Outlet Guide Vane (OGV). The design process presented accounts for only the large radial distortion and not the circumferential distortion. The thesis also describes a pragmatic way of choosing orthogonal design parameters to proceed with the optimization process using a genetic algorithm. The final optimized design is highly-dependent on the objective function to be optimized. A Modified Adiabatic Efficiency (MAE) has been defined to account for the loss of kinetic energy at the OGV. This lost kinetic energy is essentially an approximation of the mixing loss of the tangential, axial and radial components of velocity at the OGV exit. The three blade-row adiabatic efficiency and MAE for an intermediate design case is 88.91% and 86.10% respectively. Upon further optimization and a different incoming distortion, using MAE as the objective function improved the MAE to 87.40% with an 88.159% adiabatic efficiency for the final design case presented in the thesis. The rotor-only adiabatic efficiency for this case is 93.85%, the IGV-Rotor two blade-row efficiency is 91.62% and the Rotor-OGV two blade-row efficiency is 90.37%. The IGV is necessary to support the nacelle in this configuration. It also allows for the rotor work distribution to be optimized. MAE as the objective function leads to a decrease in Kinetic Energy variation at the OGV exit.The final design presented is not an optimum and indicates flow separation near the trailing edge of the hub to mid-span region of the rotor and also at the trailing edge of OGV hub region. Future efforts on the design process are also presented that can lead to improvement in the MAE.
Mark Turner, Sc.D. (Committee Chair)
Michael Alexander-Ramos, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Milind Jog, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Paul Orkwis, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
117 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mandal, P. (2019). Design and Optimization of Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsor [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573812115023373

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mandal, Pritesh. Design and Optimization of Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsor. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573812115023373.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mandal, Pritesh. "Design and Optimization of Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsor." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573812115023373

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)