Our technical paper is concerned with the aerodynamic penalties associated with the inevitable steps and gaps that are present in the flow path through real aero-engine compressors.  

Dr John Longley

The Global Power and Propulsion Society (GPPS) presented Dr John Longley, Senior Lecturer in Engineering at the Whittle Laboratory, and former PhD student Dr Derek Taylor with its 2019 Best Paper Award for their paper titled Effects of stator platform geometry features on blade row performance. The award was given in recognition of the researchers’ ‘outstanding technical and professional contributions’ to the global power and propulsion industry. 

Internationally there is a growing incentive among the air transport industry to take steps to reduce fuel consumption. Improvements in aero-engine efficiency can help in this respect through more efficient combustion and improved component efficiencies. Dr Longley’s and Dr Taylor’s research paper investigates, from an aerodynamic standpoint, the impact of leakage flow rates that exist within axial compressor blade rows. 

Dr Longley said: “Our technical paper is concerned with the aerodynamic penalties associated with the inevitable steps and gaps that are present in the flow path through real aero-engine compressors.  

“It presents both experimental and computational investigations of these non-ideal, ‘real-geometry’ features along with estimates of the associated aerodynamic losses, therefore enabling aero-engine manufacturers to more accurately predict aero-engine performance and to focus attention on areas where advanced manufacturing techniques may produce beneficial improvements.”