Performance assessment of low-by-pass turbofan engines for low-boom civil supersonic aircraft

Abstract

Abstract. This paper presents an approach to evaluate the performance of low-bypass turbofan engines without afterburner for a low-boom supersonic aircraft operating at Mach 1.5. The proposed method focuses on optimizing the propulsive performance by minimizing fuel consumption while meeting mission profile requirements. The study contributes to the MORE&LESS project, providing methods for rapidly designing novel supersonic propulsion concepts with improved environmental performance. The research conducts a thermodynamic analysis for on-design engine conditions based on the Modified Specific Heat (MSH) gas model. Specific non-installed thrust and fuel consumption are estimated for cruise phase. Then, the engine cycle analysis is also performed to study off-design performance, including simplified models to account for engine drag and calculate installed thrust and fuel consumption. MATLAB simulations are employed to determine thrust and consumption based on the specific mission profile of the Mach 1.5 case-study, allowing for comparison of different engine types. Ongoing work involves the optimization of engine parameters such as compression ratio, bypass ratio, and turbine inlet temperature, targeting further fuel consumption reduction and pollutant emission estimations.