H2020 ASTORIA - Advanced Steady and unsTeady distORtion sImulAtor
Reducing distortion levels in next-generation aircraft propulsion systems
Next-generation aircraft design focuses on highly integrated airframe-engine architectures to further reduce fuel burn. One such design concept incorporates boundary layer ingestion – a new propulsor concept where the fan is embedded in the aircraft body at the back of the fuselage and ingests the slower boundary layer air flow. However, this may bring a high distortion level into the fan, which can impact efficiency, fatigue life and noise. The EU-funded ASTORIA project will develop and test devices replicating total pressure and swirl distortions with high fidelity in a test rig. It will exploit the potential of computational fluid dynamics, reduced-order models and rapid prototyping techniques. Project results will pave the way for creating new robust integrated engine/airframe designs.
During the course of the project, new numerical and experimental techniques will be developed. Together with a detailed reference validation database on simplified geometries, these improved techniques will provide a significant contribution to future scientific research on particle separators and particulate flows in general.
Objectives
Fully answering the requirements of topic JTI-CS2-2018-CfP09-LPA-01-59, the ASTORIA project aims at developing a demonstrated set of tools and methodologies in order to design and test devices replicating complex, steady and unsteady, total pressure and swirl combined distortion profiles with high fidelity in a test rig environment. Software and methodologies will be developed that will enable the definition of tailored multi-component devices, based on extensive exploitation of CFD, reduced-order models and optimization, harnessing the potential offered by rapid prototyping. Steady and unsteady patterns design methodologies will be validated through extensive experimental reduced-scale testing in precisely controlled conditions.
The software toolset will be highly modular and flexible. The objective is to combine into a new multi-component distortion generator generic total pressure distortion generating screens and aerodynamic turning vanes assemblies, with limitless possibilities in vane shapes, distribution and size for complex swirl pattern replication. Several assembly solutions are envisaged, which will allow to jointly rotate parts (swirl frame and base distortion) or, conversely, preserve a fixed baseline steady distortion pattern and limit periodic position variation to a subset of turning vanes and/or screen. The integrated toolset will provide an unprecedented capability for combined arbitrarily complex total pressure and swirl distortion simulation, including the minimization of the undesirable influence of the device and directly integrating mechanical and manufacturability into the design intent. It will also seamlessly allow to integrate the potential effect of the fan.
ASTORIA is specifically linked with LPA-IADP-WP1.1.3.6, will directly be applicable for specific fan designs to be tested within the SA²FIR rig and will serve the “DX2 Boundary Layer Ingestion” demonstrator, paving the way for new robust integrated engine/airframe design practices.
Partners
The project is coordinated by CENAERO with the partnership of the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics and Numeca
Project Stats
Duration: 4 years (1 October 2019 - 31 August 2023)
Budget: € 2 378 125
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under Grant Agreement no. 864831