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NASA - Owens Et Al 2012 Ultra High Bypass Turbofan Technologies
NASA - Owens Et Al 2012 Ultra High Bypass Turbofan Technologies
AIAAISAUASMVASEE
26th Joint Propulsion Conference
Y July 16-18, 1990 / Orlando, FL
For permission to copy or republish, contact the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024
ULTRA HIGH BYPASS TURBOFAN TECHNOLOGIES
FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Abstract
0.4
level of technology. The benefits of advanced 1960 1970 1980 1990
cycles and technologies were assessed through
comparison with a current technology conventional Engine certification year
turbofan with the same thrust capability as the
advanced study engines. This study also explored Fig. 1. Historical Cruise Fuel Consumption Trend.
innovative engine arrangements and design concepts Advances in technology have reduced turbo
affecting the weight, cost, and/or maintenance engine specific fuel consumption by 40%
cost. The designs addressed noise and emissions in 30 years.
which are expected to continue as serious concerns
in the future.
Fin. 2 defines these parameters. Overall efficien-
This paper summarizes the cycle selection cy-is the product of ihermal efficiency times pro-
process and the configuration options studied. pulsive efficiency. The thermal efficiency relates
Benefits defined for the advanced aircraft the energy made available for propulsion by the
systems relative to the baseline turbofan are core to the energy added from the fuel. Thermal
identified along with the key technologies efficiency is a function of the core component
required to achieve these benefits. efficiencies, core cycle parameters [combustor
. . and o v e r a l l Dressure ratio
exit temerature (TY)
(OPR)], and turbine cooling and secondary flow
Introduction systems.
Thrvrt energy rsalized
Over the past several decades, commercial air- 'i P,OP",ri"B Energy available
craft turbine engine propulsion technology has
experienced significant advances. Propulsive /
cycles have progressed from turbojets to high
bypass ratio turbofans while core cycle pressure
ratios and temperatures have been constantly
increasing. Component aerodynamic improvements
have increased the efficiency and work capability
for each stage. Material advances and mechanical
design innovations, as well as improved turbine
airfoil cooling schemes, have allowed operation
a t higher gas temperatures and shaft rotational
speeds while reducing weight. The integration of
these advances has resulted in a trend toward
improved thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC)
as shown in Fig. 1. Recent NASA-sponsored studies
on advanced subsonic propulsion systems technology Fig. 2. Definition of Thermal and Propulsive
have identified significant potential for further Efficiency. TSFC is inversely Propor-
fuel consumption improvements into the early tional to the product of thermal and
twenty-first century. propulsive efficiency.
Although TSFC is commonly used to measure an The propulsive efficiency then is defined as
engine's performance level, other fundamental the ratio of propulsive power ( r e a l i z e d as thrust)
efficiency parameters such as thermal efficiency to the energy available for propulsion from the
-
can be studied to understand performance trends. core. Propulsive efficiency includes the effects
of the propulsive cycle parameters fan pressure
~- ~
1
Performance improvements from early turbojets Baseline
through current generation turbofans (Fig. 3 ) were
realized through approximately equal increases in In order to assess the benefit of advanced
thermal and propulsive efficiency. Advanced pro- cycles and technologies, a current technology
pulsion system cycle and configuration analyses baseline engine was defined (designated a s
identified the potential of another 10 - 15% im- STF940). This engine is a conventional turbofan
provement in each of these areas for large, com- with 1.65 FPR at cruise, 35 OPR at climb and v
mercial transport, ducted engines targeted for 2500°F T4 at takeoff with the Same thrust
service in the years 2015 to 2 0 2 0 . capability 88 the advanced study engines. The
turbomachinery staging and design were defined
with technologies currently available today.
IS, gonsmtion
furboirtr and furbolanl Performance Studies
2
fan, resulted in a net improvement of 18% TSFC at
cruise relative to the baseline turbofan at the
same cycle OPR and T4.
Far the cycle study, component efficiency and
turbine cooling levels were adjusted as the cycle
__ was varied to account for realistic effects at
constant technology levels. The efficiency levels
Were adjusted as a function of the turbomachinery
flow size; traditionally there are efficiency
variations with flow size because airfoil clear-
ance levels cannot be scaled down as the turbo-
machine is scaled. As a result, endwall losses of
turbines and compressors increase as their flow
size decreased. This scaling effect on efficiency - 0.5 0.75 1.0 1.25 1.5
is nonlinear as illustrated in Figure 5 . Similar-
ly, the turbine cooling flow level was adjusted Relative turbine cooling air
in the cycle study as 8 function of local turbine
gaspath and turbine cooling source temperatures Fig. 7. Turbine Cooling Effect. Increasing
in order to maintain consistent airfoil life for cooling a i r reduces turbine efficiency.
advanced metallic materials. Bath diffuser and
HPC interstage air was used for turbine cooling. Using these component efficiency and turbine
Turbine efficiency levels were also adjusted as a cooling projections, a cycle matrix of four T4
function of the turbine cooling flow level to ac- and five OPR levels was evaluated. In addition,
count far mixing losses associated with turbine the impact of a more aggressive materials technol-
Downloaded by ETH Zuerich on April 4, 2024 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/6.1990-2397
cooling. Figure 6 illustrates the variation in ogy allowing operation with no turbine cooling air
turbine cooling air and Figure 7 shows the vari- was evaluated at one T4 level. The resulting TSFC
ation in turbine efficiency with turbine cooling potentials for these cycles are illustrated in
a i r used in the cycle study. Fig. 8.
+2 -
-1Or
c
-a"
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
-4
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 Overall pressure ratio
Relative core size
Fig. 8. Cycle Selection. TWO cycles were chosen
Fig. Scaling Effect. Decreasing core airflow for further study.
size degrades component efficiency.
1A
--I
Confiauration S t u d i e s 101 .
6.itags
4
low compressor. To do this most efficiently, the
low compressor would have required the addition
of an intermediate turbine between the high and
TABLE ZA low turbines, and hence, a third shaft under the
SELECTED CONFIGURATIONS burner. While this was an attractive approach in
the case of the off axis STS97OB, where the high
pressure spool did not have to fit around the
intermediate shaft, space considerations under
the inline high spool made it unattractive for
the STS970A. Instead, a two-stage high turbine
was chosen, driving a 24:l high compressor and
allowing use of a 2 spool arrangement.
6.0 3.2 14.0 As noted in the cycle studies, all of the
10.0 11.4 6.0
advanced engines studied have the same propulsor,
Oxpm'io" rdlrio. a 1.3:l pressure ratio, single stage, variable
4.3 3.6 52 2.1
High
lOtLrrnediate . - - 2.8 pitch fan driven through an inline gearbox.
LOW 4.7 I7.5 16 2 1q.6 Reverse thrust is provided by the fan itself,
eliminating the need for a reverser and thus,
simplifying its design. This propulsor is shown
installed an the STS964A in Fig. 11.
Downloaded by ETH Zuerich on April 4, 2024 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/6.1990-2397
5
tools; 3 ) Development of swept rotors which could Advanced combustors must operate with reduced
result in lighter, more efficient, and quieter fan emissions at higher temperatures than today's
designs by allowing operation at high tip speeds combustors. Reducing the NOx emissions will be
and reduced fan diameter without the efficiency particularly challenging because of the high
losses and noise typically associated with shocks; overall pressure ratio and turbine temperature
and 4) Reduction of blade weight through better cycle. Some type o f low emissions combustor needs
materials and blade manufacturing technologies to to developed in time for commercial operation in
v
allow operation at high tip speeds. the 2010 time frame. High temperature materials
such as refractory or ceramics will be required
for operation at the advanced cycle turbine
temperatures.
6
TABLE 3 In order to size the engines and evaluate their
PROPULSION SYSTEM COMPARISON fuel burn and economic benefits, a 21st century
4-engine commercial transport was selected. This
Isolated pod aircraft incorporates advanced structural and
aerodynamic technologies judged to be represent-
Engine STS964A ative of an entry into service date of 2015 as
L
In serviceyear 1989 2015 that of the advanced engine. The aircraft was
sized to carry 600 passengers in a two-class
Cruise TSFC' Base - 24% seating configuration over 7000 nautical miles at
Weight a cruise speed of Mach 0 . 8 6 . Both advanced and
Engine Base - 13% baseline engines are used to power the airplane.
Nacelle Base -13% For the evaluations, the airplane was assumed t o
Total Base - 13% be "rubber", meaning the design takeoff gross
cost weight and the empty weight were scaled to produce
Engine Base + 17% a constant design range and payload with each
Nacelle Base - 22% engine. Wing and empennage areas were also scaled
Total Base + 6% as required with takeoff gross weight. Engine size
was scaled to maintain constant takeoff and
'M-8L15.000 11
drag.
including n 8 ~ a l l s BLD 8 HPX initial cruise altitude capability.
for
STS964A 2o
relative
to
Fig. 14. Advanced Configuration Materials. STF940 io
Advances in materials, especially high
temperature materials, are necessary to -.
achieve the potential of the advanced 0
Fuel
engine. burned
@
3000 nm
In spite of a much larger fan diameter (130 v8
94 inches), the STS964A offers a nacelle weight
advantage, due in part to the extensive use of Fig. 15. Benefits of the Advanced Technology
Engine. The large TSFC and weight
lightweight materials, but primarily because the advantages translate into greatly
advanced engine does not have a nacelle mounted
reduced trip fuel and DOC.
thrust reverser. Instead, the advanced engine uses
a variable pitch fan to provide reverse thrust.
The two major environmental issues facing civil
while it is difficult to predict the fuel con- aviation are noise and gaseous emissions. In ultra
sumption and weight for an engine 25 years in the high bypass ratio engines, noise is primarily a
future, predicting cost is even more challenging. function of the propulsor. while gaseous emission
Not only must strengths, densities, etc., be is most affected by engine thermal efficiency.
accounted for, but also how a material would be Engine overall pressure ratio has a direct effect
manufactured, and how innovative constructions on the formation of nitrogen oxides (Nor). All
might be fabricated. Given this caveat, the cost else being equal, increasing the pressure ratio
of the advanced engine is predicted to be compet- increases NOx. Using the overall pressure ratio
itive with the baseline engine. The reduction in to increase cycle thermal efficiency requires
core size, number Of stages, and airfoils in the that other schemes be Considered to keep NOx
advanced engine tends to offset the predicted emissions low. Table 4 shows NOx, as well as CO
higher costs of the advanced materials. However, and HC, of the advanced engine with both current
reaching these cost levels will require signifi- and advanced burners compared to the baseline
cant development in production fabrication tech- engine. An advanced burner (in this case a rich
niques for advanced materials. b u m , quick quench concept derived from industrial
engines and used in the High Speed Transport
Research Program) is required to make high pres-
sure ratios an acceptable way to increase engine
efficiency, while keeping NOx low.
7
TABLE 4
BENEFIT ANALYSIS - EMISSIONS
TABLE 5
BENEFIT ANALYSIS - NOISE
Relative to St%gelJ
Current technology engine 0 to -5 EPNdB
2015 tech engine potential -5 to -10 EPNdB
Conclusions