One of the key technologies to enable efficient Ultra-High By-Pass ratio geared turbofans is the low-pressure turbine (LPT). While the geared engine architecture allows a large reduction in LPT stage count and weight, the LPT operates at transonic exit Mach numbers and low-Reynolds numbers. Within this range of operating conditions, there is a critical shortage of aerodynamic and performance measurements. A lack of relevant experimental data in these engine-like conditions also concerns the interaction of the secondary-air and leakage flows with the mainstream. SPLEEN aims at filling up this gap with an extensive experimental undertaking that investigates the aerodynamics of high-speed LP turbines of geared-fan propulsion systems. The project focuses on the interaction of cavity purge and leakage flows with the mainstream and its impact on the turbine performance. SPLEEN addresses this challenge with detailed flow measurements in two world-class turbine rigs: a large scale, transonic, low-Reynolds number linear cascade including periodic incoming wakes, and a high-speed 1.5 stage turbine rig. The project first investigates the effect of cavity geometries and purge flow rates on the local flow features and turbine performance in the linear cascade. A new technology for the reduction of leakage-induced losses will be proposed, designed and tested in the cascade facility. In the second part of SPLEEN, a 1.5 LP turbine stage is tested at scale 1 in the rotating rig. The flow structures, turbine global performance and the unsteady leakage/purge flow interactions are measured at fully representative engine conditions. Turbine experiments are carried out at different operating conditions for two sets of hub and shroud cavity configurations. The SPLEEN project will validate new high-speed LPT technologies in engine-relevant environments (TRL up to 5) delivering new critical knowledge and unique experimental databases of major importance for turbomachinery designs.

Civil structures and infrastructures in desert environments and sandy coastal regions are sensitive to windblown sand. Even if the problem was first tackled in the fifties, it has emerged as a key scientific, technical and economic issue in the last decade. Indeed, windblown sand effects can lead to several incremental costs in infrastructure management, and also disastrous events. The demand for the design of Sand Mitigation Measures (SMM) has grown in the last decade and it is expected to further increase in the next years. However, the rigorous performance assessment of SMMs is still missing in the scientific literature and technical practice. On the one hand, the multiphysics and multiscale nature of the involved phenomena make analytical approaches inapplicable. On the other hand, current experimental physical and computational approaches do not fulfill alone modelling requirements and practical needs of infrastructure designers. The HyPer SMM project aims at finding a way forward by developing an innovative hybrid approach, as a brand-new design-and-assessment methodology in the field. It combines innovative Wind-Sand Computational Simulations (WSCS) and highly reliable Wind-Sand Tunnel Test (WSTT). The main scientific and training objectives of the project include: - the development of highly reliable WSTT to assess SMM performance; - the extension of WSTT-based SMM performance from scale to full-scale conditions by means of WSCS; - the drafting of best practices/guidelines to SMM performance assessment; - enrich Experience Researcher’s (ER) scientific competences on the specific topic; - enforce ER’s management skills and professional independence. In order to guarantee the multidisciplinary and intersectoral objectives, the layout of the project envisages the ER hosting at a research center in fluid dynamics (Von Karman Institute, BE) and the ER secondment at a consulting company in computational simulations (Optiflow, FR).

FAST TAPS aims at designing, validating and put in operation 8 cooled fast-response wall pressure taps for combustion chamber measurements. The project is based upon a three steps approach, the three technical work packages of the project, with two distinct iterative design and validation loops. In the first step, the measurement devices will be designed according to the desired measurement performance (i.e. the required bandwidth), the environmental conditions (high-temperature and high-pressure flow) and the structural and mechanical constraints. The design candidates will undergo an internal experimental and numerical validation process prior to the submission to the topic leader. In the second step, prototypes will be built according to the final design candidate and tested in engine-representative conditions. The analysis of the results will either provide the final approval for the machining of the final measurement devices or highlight some modifications to be further implemented. The third step deals with the final manufacturing of the cooled fast-response wall pressure taps and their qualification tests (static and dynamic calibrations). From a scientific point of view, FAST TAPS targets the definition of a new, complete and robust design methodology for fast-response pressure probes. Such knowledge is doomed to be made available to the scientific community through the FAST TAPS dissemination activities.