Evaluation of nacelle drag using Computational Fluid Dynamics
doi: 10.5028/jatm.2010.02026410

Luis Gustavo Trapp*
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica
S.A. São José dos Campos – Brazil
gustavo.trapp@embraer.com.br

Henrique Gustavo Argentieri
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica
S.A. São José dos Campos – Brazil
henrique.argentieri@embraer.com.br

*author for correspondence

Abstract:

Thrust and drag components must be defined and properly accounted in order to estimate aircraft performance, and this hard task is particularty essential for propulsion system where drag components are functions of engine operating conditions. The present work describes a numerical method used to calculate the drag in different nacelles, long and short ducted. Two- and three-dimensional calculations were performed, solving the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code. It is then possible to obtain four drag components: wave, induced, viscous and spurious drag using a far-field formulation. An expression in terms of entropy variations was shown and drag for different nacelle geometries was estimated.

Keywords:

CFD, Drag, Engine, Nacelle, Propulsion.

J. Aerosp.Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.2, No.2, pp. 145-154, May-Aug., 2010
Received: 04/04/10
Accepted: 27/04/10