Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI) is currently being researched as a potential method to improve efficiency and decrease emissions for the next generation of commercial aircraft.  While re-energizing the boundary layer formed over the fuselage of an aircraft has many system level benefits, ingesting the low velocity boundary layer flow through a serpentine inlet into a turbofan engine adversely affects the performance of the engine.  The available literature has only yielded studies of the effects of this specific type of inlet distortion on engine performance in the form of numerical simulations.  This work seeks to provide an experimental analysis of the effects of BLI-type distortion on a turbofan engine's performance.  A modified JT15D-1 turbofan engine was investigated in this study.  Inlet flow distortion was created by a layered wire mesh distortion screen designed to create a total pressure distortion profile at the aerodynamic interface plane (AIP) similar to NASA's Inlet A boundary layer ingesting inlet flow profile.  Results of this investigation showed a 15.5% decrease in stream thrust and a 14% increase in TSFC in the presence of BLI-type distortion. Flow measurements at the AIP and the bypass nozzle exit plane provided information about the losses throughout the fan flow path.  The presence of the distortion screen resulted in a 24% increase in mass-averaged entropy production along the entire fan flow path compared to the non-distorted test.  A mass-averaged fan flow path efficiency was also calculated assuming an isentropic process as ideal.  The non-distorted fan flow path efficiency was computed to be 60%, while the distorted fan flow path efficiency was computed to be 50.5%, a reduction in efficiency of 9.5%.  The entropy generation between ambient conditions and the AIP was compared to the entropy production along the entire fan flow path.  It was found that the majority of entropy generation occurred between the AIP and bypass nozzle exit.  Based on flow measurements at the bypass nozzle exit plane, it was concluded that inlet flow distortion should be located away from the tip region of the fan in order to minimize losses in a very lossy region.  It was also determined that the fan and bypass duct process the different regions of the total pressure distortion in different ways.  In some regions the entropy production decreased for the distorted test compared to the clean test, while in other regions the entropy production increased for the distorted test compared to the clean test.  Finally, it was found that small improvements in total pressure and total temperature variation at the bypass nozzle exit plane will greatly improve the fan flow path efficiency and entropy generation, thereby decreasing performance losses. / Master of Science

Highly integrated airframe-propulsion systems featuring ingestion of the airframe boundary layer offer reduced noise, emissions, and fuel consumption. Embedded engine systems are envisioned which require boundary layer ingesting (BLI) serpentine inlets to provide the needed air ow to the engine. These inlets produce distorted flow profiles that can cause aeromechanical, stability, and performance changes in embedded engines. Proper design of embedded engine systems requires understanding of the underlying fluid dynamics that occur within serpentine inlets. A serpentine inlet was tested in a specially designed wind tunnel that simulated boundary layer ingestion in a full-scale realistic environment. The measured total pressure proles at the inlet and exit planes of the duct, and the static pressure distributions along the walls provided useful data related to the flow in BLI serpentine inlet systems. A bleed ow control system was tested that utilized no more than 2% of the total inlet ow. Two bleed slots were employed, one near the first bend of the S-duct and one near second. The bleed system successfully reduced inlet distortions by as much as 30%, implying improvements in stall margin and engine performance. Analysis of the wake shape entering the S-duct showed that the airframe and inlet duct are both important components of a wake-ingesting inlet/diffusion system. Shape effects and static pressure distributions determined flow transport within the serpentine inlet. Flow separation within the S-duct increased distortion at the engine inlet plane. Discussion of airframe/inlet/engine compatibility demonstrates that embedded engine systems require multi-disciplinary collaborative design efforts. An included fundamental analysis provides performance estimates and design guidelines. The ideal airframe performance improvement associated with wake-ingestion is estimated. / Master of Science

The effect of humps on the stability of subsonic boundary layers over an airfoil is investigated. The mean flow is calculated by using an interacting boundary-layer solver which accounts for strong viscous/inviscid interaction and separation bubbles. The code is capable of solving compressible as well as incompressible flows. Then, the two-dimensional mean flow is fed into a stability program which is capable of doing two-and three-dimensional analysis. The output of this stability program is the growth rates which are integrated along a prescribed path to yield the amplification factor (i.e., N-factor), which is used to predict transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The analysis is performed for different heights and locations of the hump and for different Mach numbers. The results show that compressibility stabilizes the flow and that the most dangerous frequency decreases as the Mach number increases for a fixed location of the hump. Also this most dangerous frequency decreases as the hump is moved downstream. Moreover, the amplification factor increases as the hump height increases and as the hump is moved downstream. The influence of suction and heat-transfer strips on controlling the destabilizing influence of the hump is investigated. The results show that cooling and suction strips stabilize the flow and therefore delay transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Moreover, a heating strip destabilizes the flow in the presence of a hump. Applying suction through multiple strips can be as effective as continuous suction. Also the total flow rate required using multiple strips is less than that required using a single strip. We optimize the locations of these strips for a certain hump location. Moreover, cooling through multiple strips is as effective as cooling through a single strip. We optimize the locations and levels of these cooling strips for a certain hump location. / Master of Science

<p> An implicit finite difference technique has been developed for the solution of the steady two dimensional boundary layer equations. </p> <p> The numerical method is free of stability limitations and similarity assumptions. Use has been made of Wu-type starting profiles which enable one to start the calculation from the leading edge. </p> <p> Attractive features of the technique are its simplicity, flexibility and applicability to a wide range of boundary layer problems. In addition, results obtained from several case studies indicate that the numerical procedure is both accurate and fast. </p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

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The Turbulent Heat Transfer Test Facility (THTTF) has been refurbished and the data acquisition system upgraded. The THTTF is now controlled by a LabView 4.1 program which replaces the old program in BASIC. Heat transfer data acquired using this new program is presented as Stanton number distributions. The new data set is compared to previously reported data obtained with this facility and other wellepted published data. This project has successfully qualified the THTTF for zero-pressure gradient, isothermal wall temperature, incompressible boundary-layer flow over smooth flat plates without transpiration. The THTTF is now set to accommodate modifications which will facilitate heat transfer investigations with high freestream turbulence.

The discrete-element method for predicting skin friction for turbulent flow over rough surfaces considers the drag on the surface to be the sum of the skin friction on the flat part of the surface and the drag on the individual roughness elements that protrude into the boundary layer. The discrete-element method considers heat transfer from a rough surface to be the sum of convection through the fluid on the flat part of the surface and the convection from each of the roughness elements. The discrete-element method has been widely used and validated for roughness composed of sparse, ordered, and deterministic elements. Modifications made to the discrete-element roughness method to extend the validation to real surface roughness are detailed. These modifications include accounting for the deviation of the roughness element cross sections from circular configurations, determining the location of the computational "surface" that differs from the physical surface, and accounting for temperature changes along the height of the roughness elements. Two randomly-rough surfaces found on high-hour gas-turbine blades were characterized using a Taylor-Hobson Form Talysurf Series 2 profilometer. A method for using the three-dimensional profilometer output to determine the geometry input required in the discrete-element method for randomly-rough surfaces is presented. Two randomly-rough surfaces, two elliptical-analog surfaces, and two cone surfaces were generated for wind-tunnel testing using a three-dimensional printer. The analog surfaces were created by replacing each random roughness element from the original randomly-rough surface with an elliptical roughness element with the equivalent planorm area and eccentricity. The cone surfaces were generated by placing conical roughness elements on a flat plate to create surfaces with equivalent values of centerline-averaged height or root-mean-square (RMS) height as the randomly-rough surfaces. The results of the wind tunnel skin friction coefficient and Stanton number measurements and the discrete-element method predictions for each of the six surfaces are presented and discussed. For the randomly-rough surfaces studied, the discrete-element method predictions are within 7% of the experimentally measured skin friction coefficients. The discrete-element predictions are within 16% of the experimentally measured Stanton numbers for the randomly-rough surfaces.

In an effort to understand the behavior of the laminar separation bubbles on NACA 0012 and Liebeck LA2573a airfoils at different Reynolds numbers and angles of attack, the boundary layers on the solid airfoils were investigated by measuring the mean and fluctuating components of the velocity profiles over the upper surfaces of the airfoils. Surface pressure measurements were carried out to complete the mapping of the laminar separation bubble and to calculate the lift generated by the airfoils. The experiments were carried out at Reynolds numbers of 150,000 and 250,000. The locations of separation, transition and reattachment were determined as functions of angle of attack and Reynolds number for the two airfoils. The drag was estimated from wake pressure measurements and was based on the momentum deficit generated by the airfoil. The size and location of the laminar separation bubble did not show significant changes with Reynolds number and angle of attack for values of the angle of attack between 0 and 6 d grees. The baseline results of the size and location of the laminar separation bubble on the LA2573a airfoil were used to design a suction distribution. This suction distribution was designed based on Thwaites’ criterion of separation. The effects of applying suction on the size and location of the laminar separation bubble were investigated. The results showed that the suction distribution designed in this work was effective in controlling the size of the laminar separation bubble, maintaining an un-separated laminar boundary layer to the transition point, and controlling the location of transition. The effects of different suction rates and distributions on the drag were investigated. Drag reductions of 14-24% were achieved. A figure of merit was defined as drag reductions divided by the equivalent suction drag to assess the worthiness of the utilizing suction on low Reynolds number flows. The values of the figure of merit were around 4.0 which proved that the penalty of using suction was significantly less than the gain obtained in reducing the drag.

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No description available.