2016/04/08 by Pranay Seshadri, Seshadri, Pranay, Geoffrey T. Parks +4
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows #Turbomachinery Performance and Optimization #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1604.02345
arxiv created 2016/04/08 · openalex publication_date 2016/04/08 · arxiv updated 2016/04/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This paper documents results from a recent computational study aimed at de-sensitizing fan stage aerodynamics---in a modern, high bypass ratio aero-engine---to the effects of rear-seal leakage flows. These flows are the result of seal erosion between a rotor and stator disk in an engine, and deterioration over the life of an engine. The density-matching technique for optimization under uncertainty was applied to this problem. This involved RANS and adjoint flow solves of a full fan stage carried out at two different leakage conditions. Here a detailed analysis of the fan stage aerodynamics is carried out to determine why exactly the new design is more insensitive to the effects of leakage flows. Specifically, it is shown that this insensitivity is attributed to three main factors: a slight rearward shift in loading, and thus a reduction in incidence; a reduction in the cross-passage pressure gradient; and a re-acceleration of the flow towards the trailing edge, which prevented any corner separation.