Aerodynamic and Mechanical Optimization of CF/PEEK Blades of a Counter Rotating Fan
Since the development of the CRISP [1–3], a counter rotating integrated shrouded propfan, within a MTU-DLR program between 1985 and 2000, huge improvements in fan technologies have been made. In 2010 DLR launched an initiative to redesign the existing fan blades, taking advantage the latest developments in the field of material and manufacturing technology as well as numerical methods. The new fan blades will be made of a carbon fiber reinforced PEEK material. Compared to the so called “onion skin configuration” of CRISP-1m, the layers of the CRISP2 lamina setups are parallel to each other. In contrast to metals, carbon fiber reinforced plastics have an orthotropic material behavior and a higher stiffness mass ratio, which have to be taken into account. The existing shaft and bearing system of the CRISP-1m-model [1–3] will be reused. The blades are mounted in titanium clevises by bolting. To achieve an optimal design, it is necessary to optimize the aerodynamic performance together with the mechanical behavior within a multidisciplinary automated optimization process. The optimization featured approximately one hundred free design variables, two objective functions (maximal displacement for respectively Rotor 1 and Rotor 2), as well as a high number of aerodynamic and mechanical constraints (efficiency, total pressure ratio, axial Mach number, stress, strain, eigenfrequencies, etc.). This work shows how the challenge to integrate the modeling of CF/PEEK blades in a multidisciplinary design process were met in terms of the methods and optimization strategies involved. The major results of this optimization will be presented. This design approach will give a new CRISP blade design ready for a planned rig test in the axial compressor test rig at the DLR in Cologne.