Computational Aid to AEDsys for Designing a Variable-Area Gas Turbine Nozzle
This paper presents a practical approach to designing a gas turbine nozzle with the help of the Aircraft Engine Design textbook as well as the software program Nozzle, a subprogram within the Aircraft Engine Design System Analysis Software suite AEDsys. The current textbook and software allow for a variable wetted length of the converging and diverging nozzle sections. Critical feedback from industry experts has inspired an attempt to design a nozzle with fixed wetted material lengths. This paper is written to augment classroom treatment, but will also support others who use the Aircraft Engine Design text and software for a preliminary engine design capstone. This approach is further guided by the actual scaling of the Pratt & Whitney F100 variable geometry converging-diverging nozzle, where wetted lengths are fixed. The chief goal is to equip students at the United States Air Force Academy with a refined approach that is more realistic of a manufactured nozzle design, producing a graphical representation of a nozzle schedule at different speed and altitude flight conditions, both with and without afterburner.