Estudio de un sistema de propulsión distribuida de un vehículo aéreo no tripulado con ingestión de la capa límite, aplicado en la región andina

Abstract

In previous work, a preliminary configuration with distributed propulsion using a blended wing body (BWB) aircraft was assessed using a parametric analysis. From this study, intake pressure losses greatly affect the propulsor’s performance. This work aims to refine the model developed previously for distributed propulsion performance assessment using different approaches to model intake pressure losses. For this purpose, semi-empirical correlations for incompressible flow, were utilized, which relate the duct geometry with flow characteristics to calculate the intake friction coefficient. Furthermore, the suitability of implementing boundary layer ingestion (BLI) with thrust split over the distributed propulsion configuration has been evaluated. The case of study takes place in the Andean region and hence the cruise altitude for the study has been set at 3000 m above sea level. Preliminary results show that the intake losses based on the taken approaches are small for the case of no BLI configurations. However, in the case of BLI, where more sophisticated intake configurations to re-arrange the flow are needed the current model is not able to capture their performance. In the case of BLI and thrust split their design space was examined. From this analysis improvements of around 0,2% in propulsive efficiency and a increase in power consumed of 19% due to distortion because of BLI implementation were found.