Propulsion assembly for an aircraft having a turbojet with a non-ducted fan and an attachment pylon

Abstract

A propulsion assembly for an aircraft, the assembly including a turbojet having at least one unducted propulsive propeller, and an attachment pylon for attaching the turbojet to a structural element of the aircraft, the pylon being positioned on the turbojet upstream from the propeller and having a streamlined profile defined by two opposite side faces extending transversely between a leading edge and a trailing edge. The pylon includes a plurality of blow nozzles situated in the vicinity of its trailing edge and configured to blow air taken from a pressurized portion of the turbojet, the blow nozzles being positioned over at least a fraction of the trailing edge of the pylon that extends longitudinally facing at least a portion of the propeller. A method of reducing the noise generated by a pylon attaching a turbojet to an aircraft is presented.

Claims

1. A propulsion assembly for an aircraft, the assembly comprising: a turbojet having at least one unducted propulsive propeller; and an attachment pylon for attaching the turbojet to a structural element of the aircraft, said attachment pylon being positioned on the turbojet upstream from the unducted propulsive propeller and having a streamlined profile defined by two opposite side faces extending transversely between a leading edge and a trailing edge; wherein the attachment pylon has a plurality of blow nozzles situated in the vicinity of its trailing edge and configured to blow air taken from a pressurized portion of the turbojet, said blow nozzles being positioned over at least a fraction of the trailing edge of the attachment pylon that extends longitudinally facing at least a portion of the unducted propulsive propeller, wherein each of the plurality of blow nozzles has a circular or elliptical outlet section, wherein the plurality of blow nozzles project out from the trailing edge of the attachment pylon, wherein the blow nozzles open out in line with the trailing edge of the attachment pylon, and wherein the blow nozzles are retractable into the inside of the attachment pylon.

2. A propulsion assembly according to claim 1, further comprising at least one valve configured to control an arrival of air at least one blow nozzle.

3. A method of reducing noise generated by an attachment pylon for attaching a turbojet to a structural element of an aircraft, the turbojet having at least one unducted propulsive propeller, the attachment pylon being positioned on the turbojet upstream from the unducted propulsive propeller and having a streamlined profile extending transversely between a leading edge and a trailing edge, the method comprising blowing air taken from a pressurized portion of the turbojet from the trailing edge of the attachment pylon via a plurality of blow nozzles positioned over at least a fraction of the trailing edge of the attachment pylon extending longitudinally facing at least a portion of the unducted propulsive propeller, wherein each of the plurality of blow nozzles has a circular or elliptical outlet section, wherein the plurality of blow nozzles project out from the trailing edge of the attachment pylon wherein the blow nozzles open out in line with the trailing edge of the attachment pylon, and wherein the blow nozzles are retractable into the inside of the attachment pylon.

4. A method according to claim 3, further comprising controlling the air blown by the blow nozzles as a function of a stage of flight of the aircraft.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the air blown by the blow nozzles is pulsed at a predefined frequency that is less than a passing frequency of a blade of the unducted propulsive propeller facing the attachment pylon.

6. A method according to claim 3, wherein the air blown by the blow nozzles is pulsed sequentially at different random frequencies that are less than a passing frequency of blades of a propeller facing the attachment pylon.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other characteristics and benefits of the present invention appear from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments having no limiting character. In the figures:

(2) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a propulsion assembly of an embodiment of the invention; and

(3) FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrammatic views of the attachment pylon of a propulsion assembly in different embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) In the present description, the terms longitudinal, transverse, and terms derived therefrom are defined relative to the main axis of the pylon extending between the turbojet and the aircraft; the terms upstream and downstream are defined relative to the flow direction of the fluid passing through the turbojet.

(5) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a propulsion assembly comprising a turbojet 1 attached to the fuselage 2 of an aircraft by means of an attachment pylon 3. The turbojet 1 is centered on an axis X-X and it has a pair of unducted propellers 4 constituted by a rotary upstream propeller 4a (having a blade set 40) and a downstream propeller 4b that is contrarotating relative to the upstream propeller 4a. The downstream propeller 4b could equally well be stationary and in the form of a variable pitch stator, as applies for example to so-called unducted single fan (USF) engines, or indeed it could be a stator without variable pitch. It should be observed that the turbojet 1 is in a so-called pusher configuration, i.e. the attachment pylon 3 is attached to the turbojet 1 upstream from the pair of propellers 4.

(6) The attachment pylon 3 comprises a streamlined profile 30 defined by two opposite side faces 33 and 34 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 4) extending transversely between a leading edge 31 and a trailing edge 32. In accordance with the invention, the attachment pylon 3 has a plurality of blow nozzles 36 distributed over at least a portion of the trailing edge 32 of the pylon extending longitudinally facing the propeller 4a. These nozzles 36 open out at the trailing edge 32 of the pylon and they extend it. They are configured to blow air coming from a pressurized portion of the turbojet 1 (e.g. from the high pressure compressor, or the low pressure compressor, depending on the architecture of the turbojet), and the flow of air that they eject may be controlled by means of one or more valves 38 controlling all or part of the flow of air reaching a nozzle 36, or a group of nozzles.

(7) The presence of one or more control valves 38 serves in particular to provide fine control over the portion of the pylon on which it is desired to blow air (for example, it is possible to concentrate blown air on the tip of the upstream propeller 4a), thereby reducing the quantity of air that is taken from the turbojet. A portion of the air circuit is shown diagrammatically in dashed lines in the figures, the air flow direction when blowing is active being represented by arrows.

(8) In general manner, the blowing from the nozzles can be controlled in particular by the controlled valve 38 suitable for controlling the flow rate of air reaching a nozzle (or a group of nozzles), as a function of stages of flight of the aircraft. For example, blowing may be activated only during stages of the aircraft taking off and landing.

(9) FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the FIG. 1, pylon 3 showing its trailing edge 32, which may indeed be truncated. It can be seen that the nozzles open out in the trailing edge 32 and extend it over a certain length a. It is also possible to envisage using blow nozzles 36 of length a that differs from one nozzle 36 to another, e.g. to provide shapes that are more complex in order to optimize the mixing in the wake downstream from the pylon 3. The length a of the nozzles 36 projecting out from the pylon 3 is, in an embodiment, of the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the boundary layer at the trailing edge 32 of the pylon when the aircraft is taking off (which corresponds to a Mach number of about 0.2). Generally, the boundary layer at the trailing edge 32 of the pylon under such conditions lies in the range 10 centimeters (cm) to 20 cm.

(10) The attachment pylon 3 of the invention may also include a system (not shown) enabling the nozzles 36 to be retracted into the pylon 3. By way of example, this system may consist in actuators mounted inside the pylon and capable of retracting the nozzles into tubes situated inside the pylon (not shown), these tubes being of diameter that is slightly greater than the diameter of the nozzles.

(11) The nozzles 36 have an outlet diameter d that may also vary, and it is desirable for the diameter to be determined so as to obtain jets that are sufficiently powerful to destabilize the flow as much as possible, while minimizing the amount of air taken off from the engine. It is also possible to envisage varying this diameter d from one nozzle 36 to another as a function of requirements. In an embodiment, the diameter d of the nozzles is of the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the shift in the boundary layer at the trailing edge 32 of the pylon when the aircraft is taking off (Mach number about 0.2), i.e. about 1.25 millimeters (mm) to 2.5 mm.

(12) Finally, the nozzles 36 may be spaced apart along the trailing edge 32 by a varying distance b, in an embodiment at most having the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the boundary layer at the trailing edge of the pylon 32 when the aircraft is taking off. For greater ease of integration and to reduce the complexity of the system, it may nevertheless be appropriate to increase the distance b between the nozzles 36, in particular as a function of the span of the pylon.

(13) FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a pylon 3 at its trailing edge 32, in another embodiment of the invention. It can be seen in this figure that the nozzles 36 open out on either side of the trailing edge 32 in the side faces 33 and 34 of the pylon 3, being flush with these faces (in other words, in this example, the length of the nozzles 36 is zero).

(14) In addition, the nozzles 36 are configured in such a manner that they make an angle with a plane of the pylon passing substantially through the trailing edge 32 and the leading edge 31. In this configuration, the blow nozzles 36 serve to compensate residual lift effects of the attachment pylon that might lead to asymmetry of the wake.

(15) FIG. 4 shows a variant of the FIG. 3 embodiment in which the angle defined between the nozzles 36 and the plane of the pylon passing through the trailing edge 32 and the leading edge 31 is greater than the above-specified angle .

(16) In the examples of FIGS. 3 and 4, the outlet diameter of the nozzles 36, 36, their length, and the distance between them may vary from one nozzle to another or may be of fixed value (e.g. having the same order as the thickness of the boundary layer at the trailing edge 32 while taking off, or the same order of magnitude as thickness of the shift of the boundary layer for the diameter of the nozzles), as described above for the example of FIG. 2.

(17) In the examples shown and described above, the nozzles 36, 36, 36 generally present respective outlet edges of the nozzles that are circular or elliptical in shape. In other words, the nozzles 36, 36, 36 present outlet sections that are circular or elliptical. It should be observed that by varying these edges (or in other words these nozzle outlet sections), it is possible to present shapes that are different, presenting portions in relief, e.g. so as to present sawteeth or undulations, that are distributed periodically or in random manner around the circumference of the outlet edges of the nozzles. When present, the noise specific to the nozzles associated with the blowing can be attenuated by modifying the shapes of the outlet edges of the nozzles 36, 36, 36, in this way.

(18) Finally, in a beneficial provision, the air may be blown in pulsed manner at a predetermined frequency, in particular in order to control the flow rate of the air blown through the nozzles. Nevertheless, care should be taken to ensure that the frequency at which the air is pulsed is less than the passing frequency of a blade of the propeller facing the pylon in order to avoid creating periodic turbulent structures in the wake. If the pulsed frequency is too high, a sound source of tonal monopole type (due to a periodic signal) might appear in the audible frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz). This phenomenon would create additional noise associated with blowing, which is not desirable.

(19) In a variant, the air may be pulsed in random manner, while still making sure that the frequency of the pulsing is less than the passing frequency of a blade of the propeller facing the pylon. Specifically, if the random frequency is too high, then a time correlation phenomenon can appear between the noise sources, and that would increase the overall noise, which is likewise not desirable.

(20) By way of example, the optionally random frequency at which the blown air is pulsed may be selected to be less than equal to 20 Hz, in order to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks.