What is it about?
More compact and short intakes can be a key enabler for the design of Ultra-High Bypass Ratio (UHBR) large civil aero engines. Under key design conditions such as crosswind significant flow distortion at the fan face can adversely affect the performance and engine compatibility. Shorter intakes may result in stronger intake-fan aerodynamic coupling, and the resulting unsteady interactions currently remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates how the intake length and crosswind direction can affect the intake-fan unsteady aerodynamics and distortion.
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Photo by Angel Sinigersky on Unsplash
Why is it important?
For the combination of research fan and intake analysed, the findings show that the fan proximity can reduce the onset of gross separation for shorter intake designs. This effect enables a reduction of intake length by about 25% while still meeting a crosswind operating condition requirement. Overall, while low-order fan models are useful for early-stage intake design evaluations, coupled unsteady simulations are required to fully capture the effects of crosswind direction and intake-fan interactions.
Perspectives
It is my hope that this article will appeal to those seeking a deeper understanding of the unsteady aerodynamics of intake-fan systems and will encourage further discussion on the implications for both intake and fan designs
Luca Lobuono
Cranfield University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effect of Intake Length on Flow Interactions in a Coupled Compact Intake-Fan in Crosswind, July 2025, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2025-3118.
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