JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER

Vol. 18, No. 4, July– August 2002

Inlet/Compressor System Response to Short-Duration

Acoustic Disturbances
Anthony B. Opalski¤ and Miklos Sajben†
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0070

Recent studies have shown that computations of unsteady high-speed inlet  ows produce results that strongly de-
pend on the compressor-face boundary condition. Traditionally applied boundary conditions have no experimental
veriŽ cation, which leads to uncertainty and signiŽ cant risks in development programs. Experimental information
is offered that can serve as a basis for constructing realistic boundary conditions. Short-duration transients were in-
vestigated in a constant-area circular inlet attached to an operating high-speed, single-stage, axial  ow compressor.
The transients were initiated by the generation of short-duration acoustic pulses within the inlet, using an exploding
wire method. Pulse duration was typically 2 ms, with a peak amplitude of 3% of the mean inlet static pressure mea-
sured at the compressor face. Fast-response wall-mounted pressure transducers were used to detect the incident,
re ected, and transmitted pulses. Data were obtained for axial compressor-face Mach numbers from 0.15 to 0.45.
Frequency-domain analysis was used to extract dimensionless transfer functions that may be viewed as frequency-
resolved re ection and transmission coefŽ cients. The information is appropriate for the characterization of the
compressor face for computationalpurposes. None of the customary boundary conditions predict the data obtained
in this study, highlighting the need to revise conventional methods of imposing out ow boundary conditions.

Nomenclature i = index value

a = speed of sound RRP = reference re ection plane value
C = capacitance 0 = undisturbed value at compressor face
d = duct diameter
E = initial energy level
f = frequency, Hz Introduction

H
H[ f ] = frequency-responsefunction, Z [ f ]=Y [ f ] IGHLY sophisticated and extensively tested computational
M = axial Mach number  uid dynamic (CFD) codes are available to simulate the
N = rotational speed, rpm steady/unsteady operation of inlets and compressors in airbreath-
P = static pressure ing propulsion devices. In contrast, the methods used to combine
P0 = perturbation in static pressure, P ¡ P0 these codes for predicting the unsteady behavior of a coupled inlet/
R = resistance compressor system are in a signiŽ cantly less advanced state, and
T = period engineering practice typically relies on single-component CFD
t = time codes. The work presented here addresses the problem of repre-
u = velocity senting the compressor as a boundary condition when using an inlet
V = initial voltage level code for simulating a rapid inlet/compressor system transient.
x = axial location, zero at leading edge of nose cone, Unsteady inlet  ows in gas-turbine engines are of concern to
positive in downstream direction aircraft designers for several reasons. Transients occur in normal
Y[ f ] = Fourier transform of input time history, y.t/; incident operation, induced by changes in aircraft speed or incidence angle,
acoustic disturbance and aircraft passage through gusts, shear layers, temperature stratiŽ -
Z[ f ] = Fourier transform of output time history, z.t /; re ected cations, or microscale turbulence.1;2 Disturbanceswithin the inlet of
or transmitted disturbance supersonic Ž ghter aircraft can be generated by rapid maneuvers, as
1t = time shift well as ingestion of combustibles from gun/missile Ž rings. Control
±¤ = displacement thickness system changes, including throttling and ramp angle adjustments,
¿ = time delay introduce perturbations,some of which can be very rapid.
Á[ f ] = phase angle, rad In all such processes, the inlet and engine dynamically in uence
Subscripts each other, and the correct prediction of the resultant system behav-
ior requires that this mutual interaction be considered. The difŽ cul-
CF = compressor face value ties of performing such a time-dependent numerical analysis of a
e = edge (or core  ow) value coupled inlet/compressor system are enormous and so far have been
Presented as Paper 2001-3885at the AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE 37th Joint performed only as research projects. Engine designers working in a
Propulsion Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, 8– 11 July 2001; received 14 development environment must utilize individual component codes
August 2001; revision received 7 February 2002; accepted for publication in which the adjacent componentsare representedvia boundarycon-
14 February 2002. Copyright ° c 2002 by Anthony B. Opalski and Miklos ditions. Figure 1 illustrates a typical computational domain utilized
Sajben. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronau- for unsteadyinlet  ow computations,with the engine dynamics rep-
tics, Inc., with permission. Copies of this paper may be made for personal resented via the compressor face boundary condition (CFBC).
or internal use, on condition that the copier pay the $10.00 per-copy fee to In the mid-1990s the increasing sophistication of CFD meth-
the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA
ods permitted systematic queries into this issue and veriŽ ed that
01923; include the code 0748-4658/02 $10.00 in correspondence with the
CCC. the choice of the CFBC does indeed have a major effect on the
¤ Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Aerospace Engineering and solution.3;4 From a programmatic point of view, answers that de-
Engineering Mechanics; opalskab@email.uc.edu. Student Member AIAA. pend strongly on questionable inputs represent signiŽ cant risks that
† Professor Emeritus, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engi- may mandate increased safety margins, which usually degrade the
neering Mechanics; mmsajben@fuse.net. Fellow AIAA. overall performance of the system.
922