The simulation software will help the aircraft to consume less – ictBusiness

The technology not only helps the data center to contain the overheating, reducing energy consumption: even the world of air transport is looking for solutions that allow us to obtain more efficiency, and thus reduce costs and pollution. L ‘ Stanford University is working with Ansys, a company specializing in simulation software, and Honeywell, among whose clients within companies from different industrial sectors, including aerospace. In this case, we find two different technologies: on the one hand that “material” for a long time widely used in engineering, the film cooling ; the other one totally immaterial of ‘ processing software , programs for simulation and data analysis can produce predictive models.

Stanford University is not new the theme of the film cooling, for many years the center of his research. This technique, explained to the uninitiated, consists of take advantage of the air leaving the compressor to cool the turbine blades , thus limiting the engine to overheat. More precisely, the cooled air is first diverted around the combustor then ejected from the holes positioned on the surface of the turbine. The difficulty, in this process, is to employ the right amount of air, sufficient to achieve its purpose without reducing the efficiency of the engine.

Up to today to optimize the generation of the layer of air cold on the surface of the turbine has been used in complex experiments, sometimes a real test of the engine expensive in terms of time and money. Now Stanford University, with the support of Honeywell and Ansys is creating an new type of magnetic resonance velocimetry test with 3-D , able to measure the speed and direction taken by the jet of air under different conditions (ie, with different configurations and orientations of the jet.)

By collecting and comparing these results we obtain a benkmark that can then be compared with the wide range of turbulence models and computational methods of Ansys. The goal is develop models, methods and best practices validated for the prediction of film cooling , thus avoiding the margin of unpredictability and calibration errors, which for decades has reduced the effectiveness of this technique (and thus the efficiency of the aircraft in flight).

“This is the first time that a software company supports a long series of tests like this, demonstrating its commitment to continuous updating of turbulence models” , said John K. Eaton , Charles Lee Powell Foundation Professor of the Stanford School of Engineering. “Our joint efforts aim to validate a combination of turbulence models for these tools of complex flow fields, enterprise never accomplished before. Conduct this test on a wide range of conditions of film cooling provides a comprehensive test of the predictive capabilities. “” A 30 thousand feet above sea level, the margin of error must be minimized, “ added Brad Hutchinson , global industry director for industrial equipment and rotating machinery in Ansys.