A Coupling Method for the Design of Shape-Adaptive Compressor Blades

Abstract

The design of flexible and efficient aircraft engines and propulsion systems plays a crucial role in the development of future low-emission aircraft. Implementing shape-variable blades to compressor front stage rotors presents a high potential for increasing efficiency, since through adaptation, the blades are capable of optimizing their shape for different flight phases and aerodynamic conditions. Modifying the shape of the blades by using structurally integrated actuators allows this adaptation and therefore helps enhance their aerodynamic behavior for different flight regimes. Since up to now no morphing compressor or any other aircraft engine blades exist, here a multidisciplinary method for their design is introduced. This new method brings together existing structural and aerodynamic design methodologies, couples them together already at the earliest stages of the design process, while addressing the challenges that arise with a tightly coupled multidisciplinary design. As a result, first performance gain evaluations applied to the NASA 67 rotor test case are presented, showing the potential of morphing compressor blades and the potential of the introduced design methodology.