SBIR-STTR Award

A new CFD software technology is proposed for the simultaneous analysis of fluid flow and wall heat conduction in propulsion systems components. In gas turbine engines, the proposed software will be particularly useful for analyzing turbine blades. Using the proposed software, designers will be able to design better turbine blade cooling techniques which will increase engine efficiency by allowing higher turbine entry temperatures and/or by requiring less compressed air. The design of other hot gas section components will similarly benefit. The proposed software will be unique in that it will simultaneously solve for combusting flow within the hot gas section, coolant flow in the geometrically complex coolant passages, and heat conduction through the wall. Also unique will be the use of hybrid structured/unstructured grids, which will simplify the generation of grids for complex geometries. Implicit solution procedures will be used for all modules. During Phase I, a 2D wall heat conduction module will be developed and coupled with the existing hybrid structured-unstructured modules, and time preconditioning will be added to accelerate Navier-Stokes solver convergence for low Mach number flows. The new analysis system will allow designers to quickly analyze flow and heat transfer for propulsion system components. The code will be marketable to the aerospace industry and other industries.

Keywords:
Phase_I, NASA, Abstract, FY94