First full engine computation with Large-Eddy Simulation

Our project shows the Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) of a gas-turbine engine. Optimizing the design of aviation propulsion systems using computational fluid dynamics is essential to increase their efficiency and reduce pollutant as well as noise emissions. In the design process, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been progressively adopted from two-dimensional simulations of blade profiles to a more accurate three-dimensional representation of a component. Simulations with the Reynolds-Averaged NavierStokes (RANS) method have been the industry’s primarily choice, especially for the design of individual components since their computational cost is limited and results are acceptable at nominal conditions Today, as a result of the increase and easier accessibility to computing power, higher fidelity methods such as unsteady RANS (URANS) and Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) are gradually being used. However, the components of an engine are still mostly designed, optimized and manufactured individually by different departments and then assembled together resulting in loss of performance to each of the individual component optimizations, as an effect of the integration and possibly requiring additional costly processes due to redesign of the latter. Numerical simulations of the integrated components are thus necessary to further optimize the system. Some mixed RANS and unsteady RANS (URANS) simulations can be found in the literature but they are not yet fully implemented within the industry. Our approach, performed using a higher fidelity method (LES), could potentially guide the industry in the construction of the engines of the future. Authors: Carlos PEREZ ARROYO (CERFACS), Jérôme DOMBARD (CERFACS), Gabriel STAFFELBACH (CERFACS), Florent DUCHAINE (CERFACS) Nicolas ODIER (CERFACS), Nabil BEN NASR (SAFRAN)