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Mullican, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Mullican, A..

The WINCOF-I code: Detailed description

The performance of an axial-flow fan-compressor unit is basically unsteady when there is ingestion of water along with the gas phase. The gas phase is a mixture of air and water vapor in the case of a bypass fan engine that provides thrust power to an aircraft. The liquid water may be in the form of droplets and film at entry to the fan. The unsteadiness is then associated with the relative motion between the gas phase and water, at entry and within the machine, while the water undergoes impact on material surfaces, centrifuging, heat and mass transfer processes, and reingestion in blade wakes, following peal off from blade surfaces. The unsteadiness may be caused by changes in atmospheric conditions and at entry into and exit from rain storms while the aircraft is in flight. In a multi-stage machine, with an uneven distribution of blade tip clearance, the combined effect of various processes in the presence of steady or time-dependent ingestion is such as to make the performance of a fan and a compressor unit time-dependent from the start of ingestion up to a short time following termination of ingestion. The original WINCOF code was developed without accounting for the relative motion between gas and liquid phases in the ingested fluid. A modification of the WINCOF code was developed and named WINCOF-1. The WINCOF-1 code can provide the transient performance of a fan-compressor unit under a variety of input conditions.

Murthy, S. N. B.↗

Transient performance of fan engine with water ingestion

In a continuing investigation on developing and applying codes for prediction of performance of a turbine jet engine and its components with water ingestion during flight operation, including power settings, and flight altitudes and speed changes, an attempt was made to establish the effects of water ingestion through simulation of a generic high bypass ratio engine with a generic control. In view of the large effects arising in the air compression system and the prediffuser-combustor unit during water ingestion, attention was focused on those effects and the resulting changes in engine performance. Under all conditions of operation, whether ingestion is steady or not, it became evident that water ingestion causes a fan-compressor unit to operate in a time-dependent fashion with periodic features, particularly with respect to the state of water in the span and the film in the casing clearance space, at the exit of the machine. On the other hand, the aerodynamic performance of the unit may be considered as quasi-steady once the distribution of water has attained an equilibrium state with respect to its distribution and motion. For purposes of engine simulation, the performance maps for the generic fan-compressor unit were generated based on the attainment of a quasi-steady state (meaning steady except for long-period variations in performance) during ingestion and operation over a wide enough range of rotational speeds.

Murthy, S. N. B.↗

WINCOF-I code for prediction of fan compressor unit with water ingestion

The PURDUE-WINCOF code, which provides a numerical method of obtaining the performance of a fan-compressor unit of a jet engine with water ingestion into the inlet, was modified to take into account: (1) the scoop factor, (2) the time required for the setting-in of a quasi-steady distribution of water, and (3) the heat and mass transfer processes over the time calculated under 2. The modified code, named WINCOF-I was utilized to obtain the performance of a fan-compressor unit of a generic jet engine. The results illustrate the manner in which quasi-equilibrium conditions become established in the machine and the redistribution of ingested water in various stages in the form of a film out of the casing wall, droplets across the span, and vapor due to mass transfer.

Murthy, S. N. B.↗