Project description
Optimising novel engine designs to reduce fuel consumption, noise and emissions
Decreasing aircraft fuel consumption reduces emissions and operating costs. One of the most promising solutions is the ultra-high bypass ratio (UHBR) turbofan engine. The bypass ratio of a turbofan engine is the ratio of air bypassing the engine core versus going through it and, subsequently, the contribution of each of these to thrust. Increasing the bypass flux has generally involved larger diameter engine housings, which can increase drag as well as vibration and noise in the airframe, and negate some of the benefits of the additional thrust. The EU-funded ODIN project is characterising aerodynamic flows in compact UHBR engine models during various flight conditions and scenarios using computational and experimental methods.
Objective
Ultra-high bypass ratio engines offer propulsive efficiency improvements and potential fuel burn reduction. The associated larger diameter can lead to an increase in nacelle drag that can erode the expected cycle benefits. Also, larger engines are likely to be closely coupled with the aircraft. Consequently, compact nacelles are needed to counter these aspects and to translate cycle fuel burn benefits into combined engine-airframe performance. An objective of ODIN is to develop design capability and detailed aerodynamic knowledge for installed compact nacelles to operate at off-design conditions such as take-off high lift, windmill and idle. Within a wider context of future power-plant integration, ODIN’s objectives include the improved understanding of exhaust suppression and jet-flap interaction noise. The viable design space for compact nacelles will be determined, across cruise and off-design conditions, with a multi-objective, multi-point optimisation method. High fidelity computations, and state-of-the-art high-resolution measurements with a novel section test rig, will reveal detailed aerodynamics of the design-limiting flow separation mechanisms. A synthesis of the multi-fidelity computational and experimental data will provide a calibration of the medium fidelity methods required for industrial design. An advanced dual-stream exhaust rig test will quantify installed exhaust suppression and jet-flap interaction noise and provide unique data to calibrate the computational methods at design and off-design conditions. Design constraints imposed by noise levels will be identified through experiments and high fidelity acoustic computations, which will also propose acoustic sensor layouts for the UHBR flight test demonstrator. Overall, ODIN will deliver validated design guidelines for novel nacelles to ensure cruise and off-design performance as well as the validation of computational methods for jet noise and exhaust suppression modelling.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaircraft
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencescomputational science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringaeronautical engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
Keywords
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
MK43 0AL Cranfield - Bedfordshire
United Kingdom