Aerodynamic Shaping of a Propulsive Fuselage Concept

Abstract

Boundary layer ingestion is an airframe-propulsion integration technology capable of enhancing aircraft propulsive efficiency. The Propulsive Fuselage Concept, a tube-and-wing layout with an rear-fuselage-mounted propulsor in the boundary layer ingestion configuration, especially takes advantage this. However, the relation between physical shape and aerodynamic performance, resulting from the complex airframe-propulsor interaction, is not entirely understood. Also, contrary to long-haul aircraft, few studies have investigated the application of the concept on medium-haul aircraft with only 10% cruise thrust contribution coming from the boundary layer ingestion propulsor, which is a top-level requirement of the APPU project. To facilitate parametric studies regarding these research gaps, a parametric model is developed and implemented in an engineering design application that automates aerodynamic analysis to high degree.
This thesis presents a methodology to numerically analyze axisymmetric propulsive fuselage concept designs; an engineering design application using the knowledge based engineering technology is presented that facilitates the implementation of complex engineering design rules in the construction of the parametric model. The application consist of three components.
Firstly, a flexible geometric parameterization in 2D is developed that is proven capable of constructing well-performing designs. A translation mechanism is developed between these geometric input parameters and input parameters for class shape transformation curves, which form the mathematical basis for the geometry.
Secondly, the construction of a C-shaped domain and a multi-block structured mesh are also automated in the application. The mesh density for this application was verified through a mesh convergence study, and can be adjusted to fit other mesh requirements through various mesh control capabilities.
Lastly, the scripted interaction between the application and ANSYS Fluent software is automated. A fan modeling methodology was developed using boundary conditions that requires only fan pressure ratio as input, while mass flow continuity through the fan is ensured. The meshing and simulation routines are validated by comparing the results of the presented routine to that of a status-quo numerical simulation. All relevant aerodynamic output parameters show agreement in a range of 3.3%.
The working of the engineering design application is demonstrated in a design space exploration based on the hypothesis that increased conicity of the rear fuselage and nacelle shape with respect to the longitudinal axis can reduce the required fan power in cruise conditions. To isolate the effect of conicity, a parameter sweep was conducted. Results show that with increasing conicity, the overall viscous dissipation was continuously reduced. Also the total pressure recovery at the fan inlet face increases up to a nacelle conical angle of 11 degrees, after which this decays due to increased wetted area. At 11 degrees conicity, the aerodynamic efficiency (defined as fan power required for a given net propulsive force) was increased by 0.81% relative to a less conical status-quo baseline design with 6 degrees conicity.
The increased fuselage volume and wetted area due to increased conicity introduced the opportunity to shorten the fuselage without decreasing fuselage volume. This increased aerodynamic efficiency by 1.65% relative to the baseline. Also, as the intake diffusion functionality was redundant in this flow field, a third design was constructed with a 29% shorter intake duct, which increased aerodynamic efficiency by 1.81% compared to the baseline.
Demonstrated by these unoptimized designs and the observed physical mechanisms, it is concluded that aerodynamic efficiency could benefit from the direct and indirect effects of an increase in conicity of the propulsive fuselage concept.