Session: 31-06 Fan & Propulsor Design

Paper Number: 153875

Design and Testing of a TRL-3 Open Rotor for Aeroacoustics and Aeromechanics Research 

Aeroacoustics and aeromechanics represent significant challenges for the open-rotor engine architecture and will require both fundamental and applied research. The NASA Advanced Noise Control Fan facility (ANCF) has been used with a new single-stage, open-rotor configuration. The goal was to understand the test article design space such that the salient aeroacoustic and aeromechanical characteristics of a modern design are represented. A design loop for the test article was developed with increasing levels of fidelity. The design loop evolves the test article design from 1D actuator disk analysis into 3D modal, stress, and CFD analysis.

The open-rotor studies will be conducted in an outdoor environment where the ambient conditions are uncontrollable. Uncontrollable ambient conditions prevent the acquisition of data at all values of advance ratio and angle of attack. A Neural Network will provide regression between radiated sound and blade vibration as a function of rotor speed, rotor pitch angle, wind speed and direction, and turbulence characteristics.

Results from outdoor experiments involving the rotor blades only will be presented. The experiments consisted of fixed rotor blade pitch angle and varying advance ratio and angle of attack. Results from far-field acoustic measurements and rotor blade strains will be described. Comparisons to predictions from the computational aeroacoustics software ANOPP2 will also be described.

Presenting Author: Kelvin Figueroa-Ibrahim NASA Glenn Research Center

Presenting Author Biography: The presenter currently works for NASA Glenn Research Center as a postdoctoral researcher. Acquired his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame which included work with the ANCF facility. The Ph.D. research involved traveling to Ireland to conduct experiments involving the acoustic impedance of liners. He acquired his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. The presenter has an accent that is a mix of Puerto Rican, Irish, and Midwesterner English.

Authors:

Kelvin Figueroa-Ibrahim NASA Glenn Research Center
Jacob Gold NASA Glenn Research Center
Daniel Sutliff NASA Glenn Research Center
Clifford Brown NASA Glenn Research Center
Ryne Wang Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory
Ian Martin Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory
Mark Ross Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory
Scott Morris Notre Dame Turbomachinery Laboratory