Effects of Crosswind on Nacelle Inlet Performance Under Ground Conditions
- Publicado
- Servidor
- Preprints.org
- DOI
- 10.20944/preprints202509.0981.v1
This study employs parametric modeling and numerical simulations to investigate the influences of key geometric parameters on the flow characteristics of a nacelle inlet under ground crosswind conditions. The effects of mass flow rate and crosswind ve-locity on the inlet performance are thoroughly analyzed, as well as the synergistic im-pacts of throat axial location, fan face radius, and lip leading-edge radius. The results indicate that both mass flow rate and crosswind velocity significantly affect the flow separation and reattachment behavior, with the critical mass flow for the disappear-ance of separation being particularly sensitive to crosswind intensity. Regarding the geometric influences, variations in the inner contour leading-edge radius exert a more substantial influence on the flow separation characteristics than the outer contour. The lip leading-edge radius predominantly governs the peak distortion level and critical separation mass flow. Changes in the throat axial location moderately influence both distortion and total pressure recovery, while the fan face radius mainly affects the to-tal pressure recovery with negligible impacts on the distortion. This study concludes that optimizing the inner contour leading-edge geometry is the most effective strategy among all the investigated factors for enhancing nacelle performance in crosswind conditions. This study may provide some instructive supports for the design of high-performance nacelle inlets adaptive to wide-range operating regimes.