Effect of Inlet Distortion Features on Transonic Fan Rotor Stall

The effect of inlet distortion from curved intake ducts on jet engine fan stability is an important consideration for next-generation passenger aircraft such as the boundary layer ingestion (BLI) "silent aircraft." Highly complex inlet flows which occur can significantly affect fan stability. Future aircraft designs are likely to feature more severe inlet distortion, pressing the need to understand the important factors influencing design. This paper presents the findings from a large computational fluid dynamics (CFD) investigation into which aspects of inlet distortion cause the most significant reductions in stall margin and, therefore, which flow patterns should be targeted by mitigating technology. The study considers the following aspects of distortion commonly observed in intakes: steady vortical distortion due to secondary flow, unsteady vortical distortion due to vortex shedding and mixing, static pressure distortion due to curved streamlines, and low momentum endwall flow due to thickened boundary layers or separation. Unsteady CFD was used to determine the stall points of a multipassage transonic rotor geometry with each of the inlet distortion patterns applied. Interesting new evidence is provided, which suggests that low momentum flow in the tip region, rather than distortion in the main body of the flow, leads to damaging instability.