BOUNDARY LAYER CONTROL DEVICES FOR GAS TURBINE ENGINES

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP STATE-OF-THE-ART VORTEX GENERATORS FOR SUPPRESSION OF BOUNDARY LYER SEPARATION ON COMPRESSOR BLADES OPERATING UNDER TRANSONIC, HIGH LOAD CONDITIONS. THE COMBINED PHASE I/PHASE II PROGRAM WOULD BE PERFORMED BY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATES IN COOPERATION WITH PRATT & WHITNEY AIRCRAFT AND UNITED TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH CENTER. THE APPROACH WOULD USE A STATE-OF-THE-ART THREE-DIMENSIONAL NAVIER-STOKES COMPUTER CODE TO ASSESS CANDIDATE VORTEX GENERATOR DESIGNS AND CHOOSE THOSE DEEMED MOST PROMISING FOR EXPERIMENTAL TESTING. UNDER THE PHASE I EFFORT THE ABILITY OF THE NAVIER-STOKES CODE TO SIMULATE THE THREEDIMENSIONAL PATTERN RESULTING FROM THE VORTEX GENERATOR WOULD BE CONFIRMED VIA COMPARISON OF COMPUTED RESULTS WITH EXPERIMENTAL DATA. PHSE II WOULD ASSESS CNDIDATE DESIGNS, CHOOSE SPECIFIC GENERATOR GEOMETRIES AND CONFIRM THE SEPARATION SUPPRESSION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VORTEX GENERATORS THROUGH AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST PROGRAM. FINALLY, THE NAVIER-STOKES AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS WOULD BE USED TO INCORPORATE A MODEL INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF VORTEX GENERATORS WITHIN AN EXISTING DESIGN CODE.