No abstract

This paper reveals the influence of selected geometric parameters on the aerodynamic performance of circular variable aero engine inlets in transonic and supersonic civil aviation. The trade-off in inlet design and aerodynamic evaluation parameters are presented. The approach to investigate the dependencies between the aerodynamic and geometric parameters at different flight conditions by means of a parametric design study is introduced. The dependencies of inlet drag and efficiency from geometric parameters at flight speeds of Mach 0.95 up to Mach 1.6 are identified. Although entailing additional weight, the inlet length represents the parameter with the highest potential for drag reduction by up to 50% in the selected design space. Ideal geometries for variable pitot inlets are determined. After considering weight, their potential range benefit nearly disappears for subsonic applications, but remains above 20% for supersonic flight at Mach 1.6.

The paper is focusing on Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) process modelling to look for the aero-elastic equilibrium with commercial software packages. The center of intention is to prove whether Ansys Workbench is capable to handle industrial size FSI applications on the one side and to identify possible excitation regions in the example case on the other. The three steps taken to come to a thermal-enhanced bidirectional fluid-structure approach within a fully integrated (monolithic) multiphysics environment are explained: aerodynamic assessment, thermo-structure mechanical setup and unidirectional coupling, as well as bidirectional coupling. Each subchapter describes the specific challenges, how they are solved and which results can be obtained or expected. The paper is focusing on the setup of a bidirectional process chain and does not set the thematic priority on detailed modelling and its results.