Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Open-Rotor Engines Using an Actuator Disk Model

A computational fluid dynamics analysis of open rotor engines using an a actuator disk model was studied. The goal is to develop a simple numerical model to study the performance of CRORs (counter-rotating open rotors). The CROR geometry used in this study is the General Electric F31/A31 pylon mounted setup. The mesh is created using ANSYS's ICEM software. simple structured mesh is created to allow the solution to converge quickly. The actuator disks are constructed as two line segments perpendicular to the hub. Their x coordinates are chosen to match the coordinate of the leading edge of the blades in the wind-tunnel setup. The boundary conditions at the three major boundaries are set using the wind-tunnel data. The excellent agreement with the experimental data using the actuator disk model of the CROR shows that, although it is a very simple model and does not contain the details of the rotor blades and associated physics, it is still very useful as a quick design tool in predicting the performance of the CROR. It accurately predicts the static pressure distribution on the rotor hub caused by the two coaxial rotors.