Simulation of Propulsion Integration of Rear Mounted Electric Engine Simulators for Wind Tunnel Testing

Novel ways of engine integration have been proposed as one of the sustainable ways of increasing overall efficiency. The concept of boundary layer ingestion (BLI) is applied to a standard tube-and-wing configuration and a wind tunnel experiment, which captures the key flow phenomena of this technology is derived. We introduce an electrical propulsor simulator into our model, in order to replicate the interactions between the flow field and the fan intake and suggest a scaling approach to overcome geometric limitations of power density for the experiment. Using CFD simulations and design adaptations, we enable our model to represent the intake flow of a full-scale reference case within the wind tunnel conditions. This enables us to replicate the distortion behavior at the fan face at an aerodynamic flow regime comparable to that of an ultra high bypass ratio (UHBR) engine, and evaluate BLI-specific flow phenomena and benefits using exergy loss analysis methods.