28th May 2025

The dataset on the ECL5 fan stage open test case is now openly available on entrepot.recherche.data.gouv.fr

The ECL5 fan stage open test case

The fan stage ECL5 was designed by the Turbomachinery Department of the Ecole Centrale de Lyon to provide an open-test-case for the investigation of aerodynamic and aeroelastic phenomena that limit the operating range of modern fans and compressors. The main design intention of the fan stage was to be representative of near-future composite low-speed fans (so-called Ultra-High-Bypass Ratio ar-chitectures, characterized by increased fan diameters and bypass massflow rates and reduced pres-sure ratios and tip speeds) in terms of aerodynamic design parameters and flow structure due to their influence on instability mechanisms. Structurally, industrial guidelines for mode shape design and manufacturing procedures were followed.


The final stage consists of 16 carbon-fiber rotor blades and 31 aluminum outlet guide vanes (OGV). The fan diameter is around 50cm (to allow for the integration into the test facility ECL-B3/Phare-2) corre-sponding to a scale of approximately 1:4 compared to a real engine application. The aerodynamic de-sign point targets a standard mass flow rate of 36.0 kg/s at 11.000 rpm with a total pressure of 1.35 and an isentropic efficiency of 92 %.


The open-test-case was experimentally investigated within the European CleanSky-2 project CATANA on two different facilities. Experiments on the facility ECL-B3/Phare-2 were conducted with the goal to identify and characterize the multi-physical interactions between aerodynamics, acoustics, and struc-tural dynamics in the context of future Ultra-High Bypass Ratio (UHBR) engines. Additionally, experi-ments on the facility Phare-1 served for the structural characterization of the fan rotor under vacuum conditions.


Within 6 months, two major measurement campaigns have been conducted using two different rotor configurations. In addition, the influence of inlet turbulence, intake geometry and local tip clearance was studied on the facility Phare-2.


The two different rotor configurations have been assembled out of the 48 fabricated blades based on their frequency response determined using ping-tests. The blades for the reference configuration (CATREF) were chosen with the goal to assemble a structurally tuned rotor. The respective aerody-namic performance and aeroelastic stability are detailed in [1] and [2] and show that the tested fan stage is well in line with the intended numerical design. Thus, the ECL5 fan stage can be considered as a suitable standard test case for modern fan architectures.


To quantify the sensitivity of observed aerodynamic and aeroelastic phenomena to intentional struc-tural mistuning (i.e. increased variation of eigenfrequencies of mode 1, 2 and 3), the fan configuration CATMIS, was experimentally tested. The study presented in [3] provides a detailed comparison of both rotor configurations at highly throttled operating conditions at 80 % speed, highlighting the im-portance of geometric variations at the blade tip, which occur due to manufacturing inaccuracies. These observations promoted subsequent research with the open-test-case in the projects CONDOR and ATLANTIS.



[1] Schneider, A., A.-L. Fiquet, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy, and C. Brandstetter (2024). “Experiments on Tuned UHBR Open-Test-Case Fan ECL5/CATANA: Performance and Aerodynamics”. In: J. Turbomach. 146.8, p.081001. doi: 10.1115/1.4064231

[2] Fiquet, A.-L., A. Schneider, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy, and C. Brandstetter (2023). “Experiments on Tuned UHBR Open-Test-Case Fan ECL5/CATANA: Stability Limit”. In: J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power accepted manuscript. doi: 10.1115/1.4063717

[3] Brandstetter, C., A. P. Schneider, A.-L. Fiquet, B. Paoletti, and X. Ottavy (2024). “Experiments on structurally mistuned UHBR open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA”. In: J. Eng. Gas Turbines and Power. doi: 10.1115/1.4067221

Gallery

Publications

Project PHARE-2 : A High-Speed UHBR Fan Test Facility for a New Open-Test Case

C. Brandstetter, V. Pages, P. Duquesne, B. Paoletti, S. Aubert, X. Ottavy

J. Turbomach.. 2019, 141(10) - doi:10.1115/1.4043883

A Parametric Study on the LES Numerical Setup to Investigate Fan/OGV Broadband Noise

J. Al-Am, V. Clair, A. Giauque, J. Boudet

Int. J. Turbomach., Propulsion and Power. 2021, 6(2) - doi:10.3390/ijtpp6020012

UHBR open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA, Part 1 : Geometry and aerodynamic performance

C. Brandstetter, V. Pages, P. Duquesne, X. Ottavy, P. Ferrand, S. Aubert, L. Blanc

Proc. ETC14. 2021 - https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03257374

UHBR open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA, Part 2 : Mechanical and aeroelastic stability analysis

V. Pages, P. Duquesne, X. Ottavy, P. Ferrand, S. Aubert, L. Blanc, C. Brandstetter

Proc. ETC14. 2021 - https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03257377

Conception du fan UHBR ECL5 pour une analyse des mecanismes d'interactions multi-physiques a l'origine du flottement

Valdo Pages

PhD thesis, Ecole Centrale de Lyon. 2021 - http://www.theses.fr/2021LYSEC047/document

Broadband noise predictions of a fan stage using large eddy simulations

Jean Al Am

PhD thesis, Ecole Centrale de Lyon. 2022 - https://www.theses.fr/2022ECDL0021

On the effects of a separation bubble on fan noise

J. Al-Am, V. Clair, A. Giauque, J. Boudet, F. Gea-Aguilera

J. Sound and Vibration. 2022, 537 - doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2022.117180

Direct noise predictions of fan broadband noise using LES and analytical models

Jean Al-Am, Vincent Clair, Alexis Giauque, J Boudet

28th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference. 2022 - doi:10.2514/6.2022-2882

Non-synchronous phenomena in turbomachines

Christoph Brandstetter

HDR, Ecole Centrale de Lyon. 2022 - https://hal.science/tel-04728730v1

UHBR Open-Test-Case Fan ECL5/CATANA: Numerical Investigation Near The Stability Limit Including Aerodynamic Mistuning

A.-L. Fiquet, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

Proc. ASME Turbo Expo 2022. 2022 - doi:10.1115/GT2022-77992

UHBR Open-Test-Case Fan ECL5/CATANA

V. Pages, P. Duquesne, S. Aubert, L. Blanc, P. Ferrand, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

Int. J. Turbomach., Propulsion and Power. 2022, 7(2) - doi:10.3390/ijtpp7020017

Search for the origin of subsonic flutter on the UHBR ECL5 fan at partial speed

V. Pages, J.-F. Monier, P. Duquesne, S. Aubert, P. Ferrand

Proc. ISUAAAT16. 2022 - https://hal.science/hal-04015755v1

Aeroacoustic analysis of the tip-leakage flow of am ultrahigh bypass ratio fan stage

J. Al-Am, V. Clair, A. Giauque, J. Boudet, F. Gea-Aguilera

J. Physics of Fluids. 2023, 35(4) - doi:10.1063/5.0146143

Experiments on Tuned UHBR Open-Test-Case Fan ECL5/CATANA: Stability Limit

A.-L. Fiquet, A. Schneider, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. 2023, 146(5) - doi:10.1115/1.4063717

Direct-noise of an ultrahigh-bypass-ratio turbofan: Periodic sector vs. full annulus Large-Eddy Simulations

J. Al-Am, V. Clair, A. Giauque, J. Boudet, F. Gea-Aguilera

AIAA Journal. 2024, 62(8) - doi:10.2514/1.J063596

Experiment in tuned open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA: Structural characterization under vacuum conditions

K. Billon, L. Sanchez, G. Bouvard, C. Gibert, L. Blanc, F. Thouverez

Proc. ASME Turbo. 2024 - doi:10.1115/GT2024-127539

Experiments on structurally mistuned UHBR open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA

C. Brandstetter, A. P. Schneider, A.-L. Fiquet, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy

J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. 2024, 147(8) - doi:10.1115/1.4067221

Aeroacoustic performances of the ECL5 UHBR turbofan model with serrated OGVs: Design, predictions and comparison with measurements

M. Buszyk, C. Polacsek, T. Le Garrec, R. Barrier, E. Salze, J. Marjono

Proc. AIAA2024. 2024 - doi:10.2514/6.2024-3160

Developement and validation of a bayesian measurement technique for data-driven measurement reduction

Goncalo Cruz

PhD thesis, Ecole Centrale de Lyon. 2024 - https://theses.fr/2024ECDL0012

UHBR open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA: Non-linear analysis of non-synchronous blade vibration at part speed conditions

A.-L. Fiquet, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

J. Turbomach.. 2024, 146(7) - doi:10.1115/1.4064841

Modeling of turbulence and acoustics in complex compressible flows using theory, Large Eddy Simulation and Machine Learning

Alexis Giauque

HDR, Ecole Centrale de Lyon. 2024 - https://hal.science/tel-04660217v1

Noise reduction of aero-engines using innovative stators with leading edge features

E. Salze, A. Pereira, C. Brandstetter, V. Clair, F. Gea-Aguilera, D. Lamidel, J. Marjono, C. Buszyk

Proc. AIAA2024. 2024 - doi:10.2514/6.2024-3159

Experiments on tuned UHBR open-test-case fan ECL5/CATANA: Performance and aerodynamics

A. Schneider, A.-L. Fiquet, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

J. Turbomach.. 2024, 146(8) - doi:10.1115/1.4064231

Quantification of blade vibration amplitude in turbomachinery

A. Schneider, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

Int. J. Turbomach., Propulsion and Power. 2024, 9(1) - doi:10.3390/ijtpp9010010

Aerodynamic and aeroelastic investigation of a composite fan for ultra-high-bypass-ratio aircraft engines

A. P. Schneider

PhD thesis, Ecole Centrale de Lyon. 2024 - https://theses.fr/2024ECDL0018

Non-synchronous vibration: Characterization of the aerodynamic disturbance and its dependency on local tip clearance

P. Tharreau, M. Hardy-Falch, S. Stapelfeldt, C. Brandstetter

J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power. 2024, 147(5) - doi:10.1115/1.4067215

Identification of tip-leakage vortex wandering in Large-Eddy Simulation of ECL5/CATANA transonic fan stage

A. Beurville, V. Caries, J. Boudet, V. Clair, A. Giauque

Proc. ETC16 . 2025 - https://hal.science/hal-04943514/

ECL5/CATANA: Comparative analysis of advanced blade vibration measurement techniques

C. Brandstetter, A. P. Schneider, A.-L. Fiquet, B. Paoletti, K. Billon, X. Ottavy

Proc. ETC16. 2025 - accepted for publication in IJTPP

Flutter analysis of the ECL5 open fan testcase using harmonic balance

C. Frey, S. Aubert, P. Ferrand, A.-L. Fiquet

Proc. ETC16. 2025 -

ECL5/CATANA: Transition from non-synchronous vibration to rotating stall at transonic speed

A. P. Schneider, A.-L. Fiquet, N. Grosjean, B. Paoletti, X. Ottavy, C. Brandstetter

Proc. ETC16. 2025 - accepted for publication in IJTPP

Download the .bib file