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Progress in Open Rotor Research: A U.S. PerspectiveIn response to the 1970s oil crisis, NASA created the Advanced Turboprop Project (ATP) to mature technologies for high-speed propellers to enable large reductions in fuel burn relative to turbofan engines of that era. Both single rotation and contra-rotation concepts were designed and tested in ground based facilities as well as flight. Some novel concepts configurations that were not well publicized at the time, were proposed as part of the effort. The high-speed propeller concepts did provide fuel burn savings, albeit with some acoustics and structural challenges to overcome. When fuel prices fell, the business case for radical new engine configurations collapsed and the research emphasis returned to high bypass ducted configurations. With rising oil prices and increased environmental concerns there is renewed interest in high-speed propeller based engine architectures. Contemporary analysis tools for aerodynamics and aeroacoustics have enabled a new era of blade designs that have both high efficiency and acceptable noise characteristics. A recent series of tests in the U.S. have characterized the aerodynamic performance and noise from these modern contra-rotating propeller designs. Additionally the installation and noise shielding aspects for conventional airframes and blended wing bodies have been studied. Historical estimates of propfan performance have relied on legacy propeller performance and acoustics data. Current system studies make use of the modern propeller data with higher fidelity installation effects data to estimate the performance of a contemporary aircraft system with favorable results. This paper presents the current state of high-speed propeller open rotor research within the U.S. from an overall viewpoint of the various efforts ongoing. The current projections for the technology are presented.
Document ID
20150022118
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Van Zante, Dale E.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Date Acquired
December 1, 2015
Publication Date
June 15, 2015
Subject Category
Aerodynamics
Acoustics
Report/Patent Number
GRC-E-DAA-TN23332
GT2015-42203
Meeting Information
Meeting: ASME Turbo Expo 2015
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Country: Canada
Start Date: June 15, 2015
End Date: June 19, 2015
Sponsors: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 338881.02.07.03.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
Aerodynamics
Fuel Burn
High-Speed Propellers
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