Neal Deore advised by Professor Eric Loth (MAE)

Investigation of Inertial Particle Separator Geometry for Helicopter Engines

Objective Test a 2D IPS geometry that

separates particle flow from airflow.

Design IPS Geometry is a flow splitter

design with a core region for airflow and a scavenge region for sand flow.

Senior Project | Aerospace Engineering | May 2018

Methods Sand particle behavior was categorized through shape

characterizations which was done with use of a profilometer and particle imaging software. 2D

airflow through the IPS geometry was simulated by Computational

Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with ANSYS Fluent.

Results

Findings •  2D CFD validates efficacy of

90% airflow through core and 10% airflow through scavenge

•  Changes in splitter geometry affect size of recirculation zone

Introduction Helicopters operating in the desert

ingest sand into their engines damaging them and decreasing their

longevity. An Inertial Particle Separator (IPS) may mitigate this

problem.

1st Lt. Katherine Kaliski via army.mil

Core

Scavenge

Recirculation Zone

Barone, Dominic (2013, December). Inertial Particle Separator Multiphase Dynamics.