An experimental investigation was conducted in a static ground test facility to determine the flow quality of a serpentine inlet duct incorporating active flow control for several simulated flight conditions. The total pressure distortion at the aerodynamic interface plane (AIP) was then used to predict the resulting stability for a compression system. This study was conducted using a model of a compact, low observable, engine inlet duct developed by Lockheed Martin. A flow control technique using air injection through microjets at 1% of the inlet mass flow rate was developed by Lockheed Martin to improve the quality of the flow exiting the inlet duct. Both the inlet duct and the flow control technique were examined at cruise condition and off-design simulated flight conditions (angle of attack and asymmetric distortion). All of the experimental tests were run at an inlet throat Mach number of 0.55 and a resulting Reynolds number of 1.76*105 based on the hydraulic diameter at the inlet throat. For each of the flight conditions tested, the flow control scheme was found to improve the flow uniformity and reduce the inlet distortion at the AIP. For simulated cruise condition, the total pressure recovery was improved by ~2% with the addition of flow control. For the off-design conditions of angle of attack and asymmetric distortion, the total pressure recovery was improved by 1.5% and 2% respectively. All flight conditions tested showed a reduction in circumferential distortion intensity with flow control. The cruise condition case showed reduced maximum circumferential distortion of 70% with the addition of flow control. A reduction in maximum circumferential distortion of 40% occurred for the angle of attack case with flow control, and 30% for the asymmetric distortion case with flow control. The inlet total pressure distortion was used to predict the changes in stability margin of a compression system due to design and off-design flight conditions and the improvement of the stability margin with the addition of flow control. A parallel compressor model (DYNTECC) was utilized to predict changes in the stability margin of a representative compression system (NASA Stage 35). Without flow control, all three cases show similar reduced stability margins on the order of 30% of the original stability margin for NASA Stage 35 at 70% corrected rotor speed. With the addition of flow control, the cruise condition tested improved the stability margin to 80% of the original value while the off-design conditions recover to 60% of the original margin. Overall, the flow control has been found to be extremely beneficial in improving the operating range of a compression system for the same inlet duct without flow control. / Ph. D.

In this thesis, the benefits of boundary layer control (BLC) in improving aerodynamic performance and engine stability were examined in a compact, serpentine inlet exhibiting flow separation. A 1/14-scale turbofan engine simulator provided the flow through the inlet. The inlet's mass flow was measured to be 759 scfm (0.939 lbm/s) with an average throat Mach number of 0.23 when the simulator speed was 40 krpm. Boundary layer suction, blowing, and their combination were used to minimize the inlet's flow separation. The effectiveness of the suction alone and the blowing alone was shown to be approximately equivalent, and the effectiveness of the combined use of both was seen to be better than either one by itself. With blowing and suction flowrates around 1% of the simulator's core flow, the inlet's distortion was lowered by 40.5% (from 1.55% to 0.922%) while the pressure recovery was raised by 9.7% (from 87.2% to 95.6%). With its reduction in distortion, BLC was shown to allow the simulator to steadily operate in a range that would have otherwise been unstable. Minimizing the flow separation within the inlet was shown to directly relate to measurements from flush-mounted microphones along the inlet wall: as the exit distortion decreased the microphone spectrum also decreased in magnitude. The strong relationship between the aerodynamic profiles and the microphone signal suggests that microphones may be used in an active flow control scheme, where the BLC effort can be tailored for different engine operating conditions. Unfortunately, the sensing scheme used in this experiment showed the microphone signal to continue to decrease even when the separation is overly compensated; therefore refinements must be made before it would be practical in a real application. / Master of Science

An innovative experimental facility was developed for testing flush-mounted, diffusing serpentine inlets intended for use on blended-wing-body aircraft. The static ground test facility was able to simulate the boundary layer profile expected to be ingested by inlets mounted on the aft sections of these aircraft. It generated Mach numbers ranging from 0.19 to 0.4 and boundary layer thicknesses between 36% and 45%. The circumferential distortions at the aerodynamic interface plane of the serpentine inlet were also calculated, and ranged between 0.0042 for the lowest Mach number, to 0.0098 for the highest Mach number. Reynolds numbers for the tests ranged between 1.2 million and 2.4 million depending on engine speed and Mach number. The results of the experiment were compared to a previous NASA report, and showed close agreement in distortion patterns and pressure losses at a Mach number of 0.25. / Master of Science