Bio-Inspired Delayed Stall Fan/Compressor for Increased Performance

Current turbomachinery designs have been optimized, for the most part, using "average flow" design concepts and tools. Future advances in engine performance, especially with regard to increasing per stage pressure ratio, stall margins, and reduced sensitivity to inlet distortion in fans/compressors, must come from innovative technologies which move beyond the current "steady flow" design space. The new frontier lies in the design of systems which harness and exploit unsteady phenomena. Recent research in biological motion has identified three new unsteady lift enhancement mechanisms used in nature: delayed stall, rotational lift, and vortex capture. With these unsteady mechanisms, biological flyers routinely generate lift and maneuvering forces which far exceed levels possible under steady flow conditions. The focus of this SBIR effort is to develop a new bio-inspired delayed stall fan/compressor (BDSFC) concept, employing delayed stall unsteady lift enhancement in a passive (non-actuated) way, to provide increased stage performance, and increased stall margins leading to reductions in the number of compressor stages (reduction in engine weight, part count, and cost).