Session: 22-02 Fan Aerodynamic Excitation and Inlet Distortion 2

Paper Number: 124102

124102 - Flutter Parameter Study on a Complex Inlet Swirl Distortion Generator 

StreamVane devices consist of a custom designed complex vane pack that is used to produce inlet swirl distortion for fan tests, compressor tests, and ground testing of jet engines. Due to being placed upstream of these expensive test rigs, their structural integrity is very important. Since very little research has been conducted on flutter of complex vane packs like StreamVanes, this work focused on studying the effects of various parameters on the critical flutter speed, and frequency of these devices. A quad swirl StreamVane that was previously tested was selected as the basis for a series of small-scale flutter tests where multiple parameters were examined including chord length, vane thickness, blockage effects, and turning angle variation. To further analyze any potential causes of the excitation, oil flow visualization was conducted and found to show some leading-edge separation and minor corner separation. Unsteady CFD with periodic mesh deformation based off the mode shape was then run and showed the flow in the passage between the fluttering vanes switching between a choked state and a subsonic state as the vanes moved together and apart from each other. The results in this paper provide insight into the flutter behavior of these complex vane packs.

Presenting Author: Cole Hefner Techsburg Inc.

Presenting Author Biography: Cole received his Masters of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech where he conducted both computional and experimental research on inlet swirl distortion generators called StreamVanes in conjunction with Techsburg. Upon graduating, he has been employed with Techsburg and continued some of the research from his masters degree.

Authors:

Cole Hefner Techsburg Inc.
Stephen Guillot Techsburg Inc.
John Gillespie Virginia Tech
Andrew Hayden Virginia Tech
Todd Lowe Virginia Tech
Alexandrina Untaroiu Virginia Tech