Advanced Prediction Software for Augmentor Heat Release

Advanced augmentor performance problems such as flame instability, low efficiency, and screech require accurate heat release prediction for mitigation. Because these phenomena are the usual causes of failure, reduced thrust, increased fuel consumption, and reduced life cycle of aircraft engines, the potential for their occurrence must be anticipated in new designs. Unfortunately, their elimination through costly, iterative re-design and testing is likely to become more of an issue as engines are pushed to higher levels of performance. The innovative research proposed by Thaerocomp Technical Corporation (TTC) will result in the development and validation of an advanced software package for heat release prediction in single-phase and liquid-fueled spray combustors and advanced augmentors. Preliminary work in Phase I provided some vital information on heat release in related geometries. The Phase II effort will complete the implementation of the highly accurate large eddy simulation based unsteady flamelet model. Our successful coupling of the proposed code with CHEMKIN-III has led to easy and robust modeling with detailed chemistry, which is required for accurate calculations of heat release and most unsteady phenomena. The benefits of the proposed product include improved engine safety, faster turn-around in the analysis cycle, and significant savings in the cost of analysis.