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Lee, B. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Lee, B. J..

Aerodynamic Conceptual Design of Boundary Layer Ingestion Propulsor Systems: A Quasi-2D Through Flow Analysis Method and Multi-Fidelity Propulsor Design Framework

A propulsor design framework for maximizing the benefits of boundary layer ingestion is presented. The performance of BLI is strongly affected by all propulsor components, including the boundary layer characteristics (displacement thickness and form factor) of the ingested boundary layer at the inlet, the radical loading characteristics if the fan and exit guide vane (EGV), the area contraction from inlet to nozzle, and flow expansion at the exhaust cone. A strategy and it's associated multi-fidelity design framework are proposed for an efficient conceptual design of the BLI proplusor which inherently differs from the conventional engine. In the frame work, a quasi-2D through flow model served as the underlying fidelity model is introduced to incorporate the radial effect of the boundary layer entering the propulsor. Multi-fidelity design work is conducted to maximize the predefined performance metrics. On top of this efficient quasi-2D model. computational fluid dynamics based 3-D propulsor models are implemented to refine and validate the design. A BLI propulsion system integrated with fuselage is designed to showcase the framework. The performance of the resulting BLI propulsor system is evaluated via body-force model in unstructured Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stoke (RANS) CFD and improvement is presented.

Lee, B. J.

Conceptual Aerodynamic Design of a Tail-Cone Thruster System Under Axi-Symmetric Inlet Distortion

This paper presents a conceptual design of a tail-cone thruster system which is operating under an axisymmetric inlet distortion. An effort to realize the targeted fuel burn saving that was proposed in NASA's STARC_ABL aircraft design is made through a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)-based design approach. This method employs three iterative steps to exploit the CFD tools until the design requirements are met: a quasi-2D through-flow model to design the fan/EGV (Exit Guide Vane), a 3-D RANS (Reynolds Averaging Navier-Stokes) simulation of the single blade row to account for the inlet/fan and the EGV/nozzle interaction, and a 3-D RANS simulation of the airframe with a propulsor installed - propulsion airframe integration (PAI). The design requirements which include the thrust, and shaft power of the propulsor are matched throughout the evaluations coming from two CFD domains, i.e., the turbo-machinery and the PAI. During the switch between these different computational domains, the inlet and exit profiles are matched via the correction factors of the body-force model. The present tail-cone thruster (TCT) aerodynamic design leverages a low-pressure ratio fan (FPR=1.2 to approximately 1.25) of which the camber-line angles are predicted by a quasi-2D through-flow model. The quasi-2D model is derived to analyze the radially distorted flow resulting from the ingested boundary layer at the inlet. It also estimates the appropriate velocity vectors of the metal angles of the fan and EGV which is subjected to different types of vortex at the fan exit. The baseline geometry is revisited and its internal flow-path and exhaust cone are redesigned to illustrate the strong correlation among the components of the propulsor in the PAI domain. The peak efficiency point of the fan/EGV with respect to the blade counts, also known as solidity, and rotational speed is chosen for the cruise condition via parametric studies. The corresponding performance maps are presented. The resulting performance metrics of the new conceptual design of the BLI (Boundary Layer Ingestion) propulsor are analyzed and compared with these of the baseline in the PAI aspect. Finally, ideas of the CFD based design of a BLI propulsor are discussed based on the observations drawn from the numerical results.

Inlet

Aerodynamic Design of Integrated Propulsion-Airframe Configuration of the Hybrid Wing-Body Aircraft

Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft is characterized by a flattened and airfoil-shaped body, which produces a substantial portion of the total lift. The body form is composed of distinct and separate wing structures, though the wings are smoothly blended into the body. This concept has been studied widely and results suggest remarkable performance improvements over the conventional tube and wing transport1,2. HWB incorporates design features from both a futuristic fuselage and flying wing design, which houses most of the crew, payload and equipment inside the main centerbody structure.

airfoil