Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Boundary Layer Ingestion for Aircraft Application

This thesis presents research on Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI). BLI is an unconventional aircraft-engine integration technique which aims at integrating the aircraft and the propulsion system such that the overall aircraft fuel consumption can be reduced.This research begins with a literature survey on propulsion integration. The literature is not only limited to recent work on novel aircraft concepts utilizing BLI but also covers the previous studies on ship propellers and pusher propellers used for aircraft. Various studies in the literature show that BLI and/or similar configurations can effectively reduce the total power consumption of the propulsion system. However, discrepancies can be identified amongst various research with respect to the improvements that BLI could provide in terms of reduction in the power consumption. Different research methods have been used to investigate and study this phenomenon in the literature. In particular, the various research methods give an indication that the physics involved in BLI might not be well understood. As a result, the current research aims to enhance the fundamental understanding of BLI. The main research questions are identified below:- What are the mechanisms of BLI for the provided benefit?- How large is the benefit of BLI?Flight Performance and Propulsio