Events Calendar

AME PhD Student Seminar

Speaker: Andrew Dorsey, USC AME PhD Student

Talk Title: Design Space Exploration of Future Open Rotors

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to determine whether an open rotor aircraft configuration has the potential to provide fuel-burn benefits relative to a conventional turbofan aircraft, and if so in which regions of the payload range design space adopting an open rotor technology would be most advantageous. A design space exploration focused on the major trends and design drivers is carried out for open rotor aircraft with aft mounted and wing mounted engines, and their performance compared to a turbofan baseline. We consider transport aircraft with ranges between 1000 and 7000 nautical miles and 50 to 400 passengers, and introduce a modeling approach for open rotor engines into a conceptual design and optimization framework. For each range-passenger requirement, aircraft are optimized for minimum fuel burn on an economic range mission. It is found that open rotor configurations are best suited for short range missions with large passenger counts, and that aft mounted open rotors outperfor
m wing mounted ones. The optimum open rotor engine design sacrifices engine and aerodynamic efficiency in order to limit integration penalties and propulsion system weight.

Biography: Andrew Dorsey is a PhD student under Professor Uranga. His research focuses on conceptual aircraft design, aircraft optimization, and exploring future aircraft technologies. Andrew works full time in the Advanced Concepts group of Boeing Commercial Airplanes as a conceptual aircraft designer. He is currently on a rotation supporting 737 MAX Return to Service and 777x Entry into Service. Andrew has a B.S. from the University of Michigan, a M.S. from USC, and is a certified flight instructor.

Host: AME Department

Webcast: https://usc.zoom.us/j/92144809085

WebCast Link: https://usc.zoom.us/j/92144809085

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Christine Franks