This work presents the development of an Automatic Design Optimization tool, with the declared objective that it be actually practical in the context of aerodynamic design of turbomachinery components. For that, the requirements are: that it solves a realistic design problem fulfilling stringent quality criteria, that the results can be readily integrated in daily workflow, that the turnaround times are faster than conventional human driven designs, and that is robust enough that is does not need human intervention once the procedure is initiated. The starting point has been the existence of a set of validated design tools used routinely in the usual human driven process, comprising geometry generation, flow analysis, and

The formation of a ground vortex and its ingestion into an aero-engine intake under crosswind conditions play a significant role in the aerodynamic excitation of the fan. Using steady and unsteady numerical simulations, an analysis of the dynamics of several distortion features is presented. For a simplified intake at high crosswind velocities, there is a substantial movement of the ingested ground vortex at the aerodynamic interface plane (AIP). The ingested ground vortex follows a specific trajectory while varying both in size and strength. The transition from a periodic to an aperiodic regime of the intake distortion at the AIP occurs as the crosswind velocity is increased. Circumferential mode decomposition shows that the largest amplitude of the distortion occurs at the first circumferential mode, and the amplitudes of the higher modes decrease monotonically. Furthermore, the amplitude of the spatial harmonics is time-dependent, which may be an influential feature at the time of assessing fan forced response.