Evaluation of the aerodynamic performance of the counter rotating turbo fan COBRA by means of experimental and numerical data

In the present study, steady numerical simulations performed on the counter rotating turbo fan (CRTF) COBRA are compared with experimental data carried at the CIAM C-3A test-bench in Moscow. For this purpose, a systematic analysis of the measurement uncertainties was performed for the global aerodynamic performances of the CRTF, namely, the massflow, the total pressure ratio, the isentropic efficiency, as well as the torque ratio applied on both fan rows. Several numerical models are investigated to highlight their effects on the aforementioned predicted quantities. Differences in modeling consist in grid resolutions and the use of two turbulence models popular in the turbomachinery community. To match as much as possible the experiment running conditions, the performance map of the CRTF is simulated using the exact measured speed ratio and massflow. The comparisons show good estimations of the numerical simulation over the entire performance map. The main differences between the turbulence models occur at part-speed close to stall conditions. More surprisingly at aerodynamic design point, the importance of the turbulence modeling on the predicted torque ratio has been pointed out.