Axisymmetric Aerodynamic Numerical Analysis of a Turbofan Engine

Abstract

An equation and numerical solution procedure for a steady-state aerodynamic analysis of a turbofan engine in the meridional plane is presented. An axisymmetric average of the three-dimensional fluid flow equations within the engine is presented. The equations simultaneously represent the major engine components and include terms for blade forces, loss, combustor heat addition, blockage, bleeds and convective mixing in the mixer. These general equations are specialized with modeled terms and advanced to a steady-state with a time-marching scheme on a multi-block grid. The procedure is verified with comparisons to one-dimensional analytic solutions and a compressor stage. How this procedure can capture component interactions is demonstrated with a solution for General Electric’s Energy Efficient engine, which is representative of modern turbofan engines.