Engineering topics

Stefko, G. L.

Publications and source records attributed to Stefko, G. L..

16 records

NASA NTRS2018

Cyclic Symmetry Finite Element Forced Response Analysis of a Distortion-Tolerant Fan with Boundary Layer Ingestion

Accurate prediction of the blade vibration stress is required to determine overall durability of fan blade design under Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI) distorted flow environments. Traditional single blade modeling technique is incapable of representing accurate modeling for the entire rotor blade system subject to complex dynamic loading behaviors and vibrations in distorted flow conditions. A particular objective of our work was to develop a high-fidelity full-rotor aeromechanics analysis capability for a system subjected to a distorted inlet flow by applying cyclic symmetry finite element modeling methodology. This reduction modeling method allows computationally very efficient analysis using a small periodic section of the full rotor blade system. Experimental testing by the use of the 8-foot by 6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel Test facility at NASA Glenn Research Center was also carried out for the system designated as the Boundary Layer Ingesting Inlet/Distortion-Tolerant Fan (BLI2DTF) technology development. The results obtained from the present numerical modeling technique were evaluated with those of the wind tunnel experimental test, toward establishing a computationally efficient aeromechanics analysis modeling tool facilitating for analyses of the full rotor blade systems subjected to a distorted inlet flow conditions. Fairly good correlations were achieved hence our computational modeling techniques were fully demonstrated. The analysis result showed that the safety margin requirement set in the BLI2DTF fan blade design provided a sufficient margin with respect to the operating speed range.

forced response analysis↗

NASA NTRS2006

Rapid Aeroelastic Analysis of Blade Flutter in Turbomachines

The LINFLUX-AE computer code predicts flutter and forced responses of blades and vanes in turbomachines under subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flow conditions. The code solves the Euler equations of unsteady flow in a blade passage under the assumption that the blades vibrate harmonically at small amplitudes. The steady-state nonlinear Euler equations are solved by a separate program, then equations for unsteady flow components are obtained through linearization around the steady-state solution. A structural-dynamics analysis (see figure) is performed to determine the frequencies and mode shapes of blade vibrations, a preprocessor interpolates mode shapes from the structural-dynamics mesh onto the LINFLUX computational-fluid-dynamics mesh, and an interface code is used to convert the steady-state flow solution to a form required by LINFLUX. Then LINFLUX solves the linearized equations in the frequency domain to calculate the unsteady aerodynamic pressure distribution for a given vibration mode, frequency, and interblade phase angle. A post-processor uses the unsteady pressures to calculate generalized aerodynamic forces, response amplitudes, and eigenvalues (which determine the flutter frequency and damping). In comparison with the TURBO-AE aeroelastic-analysis code, which solves the equations in the time domain, LINFLUX-AE is 6 to 7 times faster.

Trudell, J. J.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Probabilistic Aeroelastic Analysis of Turbomachinery Components

A probabilistic approach is described for aeroelastic analysis of turbomachinery blade rows. Blade rows with subsonic flow and blade rows with supersonic flow with subsonic leading edge are considered. To demonstrate the probabilistic approach, the flutter frequency, damping and forced response of a blade row representing a compressor geometry is considered. The analysis accounts for uncertainties in structural and aerodynamic design variables. The results are presented in the form of probabilistic density function (PDF) and sensitivity factors. For subsonic flow cascade, comparisons are also made with different probabilistic distributions, probabilistic methods, and Monte-Carlo simulation. The approach shows that the probabilistic approach provides a more realistic and systematic way to assess the effect of uncertainties in design variables on the aeroelastic instabilities and response.

Reddy, T. S. R.↗

NASA NTRS2004

LINFLUX-AE: A Turbomachinery Aeroelastic Code Based on a 3-D Linearized Euler Solver

This report describes the development and validation of LINFLUX-AE, a turbomachinery aeroelastic code based on the linearized unsteady 3-D Euler solver, LINFLUX. A helical fan with flat plate geometry is selected as the test case for numerical validation. The steady solution required by LINFLUX is obtained from the nonlinear Euler/Navier Stokes solver TURBO-AE. The report briefly describes the salient features of LINFLUX and the details of the aeroelastic extension. The aeroelastic formulation is based on a modal approach. An eigenvalue formulation is used for flutter analysis. The unsteady aerodynamic forces required for flutter are obtained by running LINFLUX for each mode, interblade phase angle and frequency of interest. The unsteady aerodynamic forces for forced response analysis are obtained from LINFLUX for the prescribed excitation, interblade phase angle, and frequency. The forced response amplitude is calculated from the modal summation of the generalized displacements. The unsteady pressures, work done per cycle, eigenvalues and forced response amplitudes obtained from LINFLUX are compared with those obtained from LINSUB, TURBO-AE, ASTROP2, and ANSYS.

Reddy, T. S. R.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Flutter Analysis of a Transonic Fan

This paper describes the calculation of flutter stability characteristics for a transonic forward swept fan configuration using a viscous aeroelastic analysis program. Unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved on a dynamically deforming, body fitted, grid to obtain the aeroelastic characteristics using the energy exchange method. The non-zero inter-blade phase angle is modeled using phase-lagged boundary conditions. Results obtained show good correlation with measurements. It is found that the location of shock and variation of shock strength strongly influenced stability. Also, outboard stations primarily contributed to stability characteristics. Results demonstrate that changes in blade shape impact the calculated aerodynamic damping, indicating importance of using accurate blade operating shape under centrifugal and steady aerodynamic loading for flutter prediction. It was found that the calculated aerodynamic damping was relatively insensitive to variation in natural frequency.

Srivastava, R.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Aeroelastic Stability Computations for Turbomachinery

This paper describes an aeroelastic analysis program for turbomachines. Unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are solved on dynamically deforming, body fitted, grid to obtain the aeroelastic characteristics. Blade structural response is modeled using a modal representation of the blade and the work-per-cycle method is used to evaluate the stability characteristics. Nonzero interblade phase angle is modeled using phase-lagged boundary conditions. Results obtained showed good correlation with existing experimental, analytical, and numerical results. Numerical analysis also showed that given the computational resources available today, engineering solutions with good accuracy are possible using higher fidelity analyses.

Srivastava, R.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Cascade flutter analysis with transient response aerodynamics

Two methods for calculating linear frequency domain aerodynamic coefficients from a time marching Full Potential cascade solver are developed and verified. In the first method, the Influence Coefficient, solutions to elemental problems are superposed to obtain the solutions for a cascade in which all blades are vibrating with a constant interblade phase angle. The elemental problem consists of a single blade in the cascade oscillating while the other blades remain stationary. In the second method, the Pulse Response, the response to the transient motion of a blade is used to calculate influence coefficients. This is done by calculating the Fourier Transforms of the blade motion and the response. Both methods are validated by comparison with the Harmonic Oscillation method and give accurate results. The aerodynamic coefficients obtained from these methods are used for frequency domain flutter calculations involving a typical section blade structural model. An eigenvalue problem is solved for each interblade phase angle mode and the eigenvalues are used to determine aeroelastic stability. Flutter calculations are performed for two examples over a range of subsonic Mach numbers.

Bakhle, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Wind tunnel results of advanced high speed propellers in the takeoff, climb, and landing operating regimes

Low speed wind tunnel performance tests of two advanced propellers were completed. The 62.2 cm diameter adjustable pitch models were tested at Mach numbers typical of takeoff, initial climbout, and landing speeds in the 10 by 10 ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Both models had eight blades and a cruise design point operating condition of 0.80 Mach number, 10.668 km S.A. altitude, 243.8 m/s tip speed and a high power loading of 301 kW sq m. No adverse or unusual low speed operating conditions were found during the test with either the straight blade SR-2 or the 45 deg swept SR-3 propellers. The 45 deg swept propeller efficiency exceeded the straight blade efficiency by 4 to 5 percent. Typical net efficiencies of the straight and 45 deg swept propeller at a Mach 0.20 takeoff condition were 50.2 and 54.9 percent respectively. At a Mach 0.34 climb condition, the efficiencies were 53.7 and 59.1 percent. Reverse thrust data indicates that these propellers are capable of producing more reverse thrust at Mach 0.20 than a high bypass turbofan engine at Mach 0.20.

Stefko, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Wind tunnel results of advanced high speed propellers in the takeoff, climb and landing operating regimes

Low speed wind tunnel performance tests of two advanced propellers were completed. The 62.2 cm diameter adjustable pitch models were tested at Mach numbers typical of takeoff, initial climbout, and landing speeds in the 10 by 10 ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Both models had eight blades and a cruise design point operating condition of 0.80 Mach number, 10.668 km S.A. altitude, 243.8 m/s tip speed and a high power loading of 301 kW sq m. No adverse or unusual low speed operating conditions were found during the test with either the straight blade SR-2 or the 45 deg swept SR-3 propellers. The 45 deg swept propeller efficiency exceeded the straight blade efficiency by 4 to 5%. Typical net efficiencies of the straight and 45 deg swept propeller at a Mach 0.20 takeoff condition were 50.2 and 54.9% respectively. At a Mach 0.34 climb condition, the efficiencies were 53.7 and 59.1%. Reverse thrust data indicates that these propellers are capable of producing more reverse thrust at Mach 0.20 than a high bypass turbofan engine at Mach 0.20.

Stefko, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Application of an optimization method to high performance propeller designs

The application of an optimization method to determine the propeller blade twist distribution which maximizes propeller efficiency is presented. The optimization employs a previously developed method which has been improved to include the effects of blade drag, camber and thickness. Before the optimization portion of the computer code is used, comparisons of calculated propeller efficiencies and power coefficients are made with experimental data for one NACA propeller at Mach numbers in the range of 0.24 to 0.50 and another NACA propeller at a Mach number of 0.71 to validate the propeller aerodynamic analysis portion of the computer code. Then comparisons of calculated propeller efficiencies for the optimized and the original propellers show the benefits of the optimization method in improving propeller performance. This method can be applied to the aerodynamic design of propellers having straight, swept, or nonplanar propeller blades.

Li, K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Application of an optimization method to high performance propeller designs

Li, K. C.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Noise of the SR-6 propeller model at 2 deg and 4 deg angles of attack

The noise generated by supersonic-tip-speed propellers creates a cabin noise problem for future airplanes powered by these propellers. Noise of a number of propeller models were measured in the NASA Lewis 8- by 6-Foot Wind Tunnel with flow parallel to the propeller axis. In flight, as a result of the induced upwash from the airplane wing, the propeller is at an angle of attack with respect to the incoming flow. Therefore, the 10-blade SR-6 propeller was operated at angle of attack to determine its noise behavior. Higher blade passage tones were observed for the propeller operating at angle of attack in a 0.6 axial Mach number flow. The noise increase was not symmetrical, with one wall of the wind tunnel showing a larger noise increase than the other wall. No noise increase was observed at angle of attack in a 0.8 axial Mach number flow. For this propeller the dominance of thickness noise, which does not increase with angle of attack, explains the lack of noise increase at the higher 0.8 Mach number.

Dittmar, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Noise of the 10-bladed 60 deg swept SR-5 propeller in a wind tunnel

Noise generated by supersonic helical tip speed propellers is a possible cabin environment problem for future airplanes powered by these propellers. Noise characteristics of one of these propellers, designated SR-5, are presented. A matrix of tests was conducted to provide as much acoustic information as possible. During aerodynamic testing it was discovered that the propeller had an aeroelastic instability which prevented testing the propeller at its design advance ratio of 4.08 at axial Mach numbers over 0.7. Plots of the variation of the maximum blade passage tone with helical tip Mach number indicate that, at higher helical tip Mach numbers, the propeller operated on sharply increasing portion of the noise curve; therefore, extrapolations to the design condition would not be accurate. A possible extrapolation indicated that SR-5 at its design point should be quieter than SR-3 at its design point. Directivity plots at the higher helical tip Mach numbers indicate a lobed directivity pattern as was observed previously on the SR-3 propeller.

Dittmar, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1983

New test techniques and analytical procedures for understanding the behavior of advanced propellers

Analytical procedures and experimental techniques were developed to improve the capability to design advanced high speed propellers. Some results from the propeller lifting line and lifting surface aerodynamic analysis codes are compared with propeller force data, probe data and laser velocimeter data. In general, the code comparisons with data indicate good qualitative agreement. A rotating propeller force balance demonstrated good accuracy and reduced test time by 50 percent. Results from three propeller flow visualization techniques are shown which illustrate some of the physical phenomena occurring on these propellers.

Stefko, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Propeller flow visualization techniques

Propeller flow visualization techniques were tested. The actual operating blade shape as it determines the actual propeller performance and noise was established. The ability to photographically determine the advanced propeller blade tip deflections, local flow field conditions, and gain insight into aeroelastic instability is demonstrated. The analytical prediction methods which are being developed can be compared with experimental data. These comparisons contribute to the verification of these improved methods and give improved capability for designing future advanced propellers with enhanced performance and noise characteristics.

Stefko, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Noise of the 10-bladed, 40 deg swept SR-6 propeller in a wind tunnel

The noise generated by supersonic helical-tip-speed propellers is a likely cabin environment problem for future airplanes powered by these propellers. Three propeller models with different tip sweeps. SR-1M, SR-2, and SR-3, designed for 244 m/sec (800 ft/sec) tip speed at a flight Mach number of 0.8 were previously tested in the NASA Lewis 8- by 6-Foot Wind Tunnel. In order to investigated another design point condition, the SR-6 propeller was designed for 213 m-sec (700 ft/sec) tip speed at a flight Mach number of 0.8. The noise data from this propeller are reported herein. Curves of blade passing frequency noise versus tip Mach number (at constant advance ratio) showed that the SR-6 propeller behaved similarly to the SR-1M propeller. The noise of the SR-6 propeller at its design condition, helical tip Mach number of 1.07, is approximately 3 dB quieter than the SR-2 propeller at its higher design helical tip Mach number of 1.15, but about 2.5 dB noisier than SR-3 at its design condition. The helical tip Mach number shift of the steep noise rise followed the same progression as the blade sweep angle for all of the propellers. When operated at the SR-3 design point, the SR-6 propeller was approximately 1.5 dB quieter than SR-2 and 4 dB noisier than SR-3.

Dittmar, J. H.↗