Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Contra Rotating Open-Rotor Flowfield

Contrarotating open rotor propulsion systems have seen renewed interest as a possible economic and environmentally friendly powerplant for future transport aircraft. While the potential efficiency benefits are well accepted, concerns persist regarding the probable rotor-to-rotor interaction-driven n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of aircraft 2012-11, Vol.49 (6), p.1868-1877
Main Authors: Stürmer, Arne, Gutierrez, Carlos O. Marquez, Roosenboom, Eric W. M, Schröder, Andreas, Geisler, Reinhard, Pallek, Dieter, Agocs, Janos, Neitzke, Klaus-Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerodynamics
Aerospace engines
Air transportation and traffic
Aircraft
Applied sciences
Blades
Design engineering
Economics
Exact sciences and technology
Ground, air and sea transportation, marine construction
Mathematical models
Navier-Stokes equations
Propellers
Reynolds equation
Rotors
Simulation
Visualization
Wind tunnels
Wing tip vortices
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Summary:Contrarotating open rotor propulsion systems have seen renewed interest as a possible economic and environmentally friendly powerplant for future transport aircraft. While the potential efficiency benefits are well accepted, concerns persist regarding the probable rotor-to-rotor interaction-driven noise penalty this type of engine would have in comparison to modern ducted turbofan engines. This paper presents results of a collaborative experimental and numerical study to quantify and study in-depth the complex flowfield of a generic contrarotating open rotor model at wind-tunnel scale. The model has 10 front blades and 8 aft blades, with blade design similar to modern propellers for high-disk loadings. The comparison of flow visualization results obtained through the use of modern stereoscopic particle image velocimetry and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations helps to improve understanding of the interactions of front-rotor-blade wakes and tip vortices with the aft rotor, which is an important aspect to guide the design of future efficient and quiet contrarotating open rotor engines. The generally good match between the experimental and numerical slipstream results gives confidence in the utility for their analysis capabilities in this field.
ISSN:0021-8669
1533-3868
DOI:10.2514/1.C031698