Numerical analysis of aircraft flow exhaust gases to design a curved deflector for Mexico City international airport

Abstract

The numerical simulation results of the flow exhaust gases emitted by different aircraft engines are presented in this work. These results permitted the design of the most appropriate circular arc for a curved deflector to correctly direct the flow at the time planes are taking-off on the left runway number five of Mexico City International Airport (AICM) and not to affect the operability and route of the inter-terminal train, called as “Aerotren”. This train has four carriages of 25 passengers each and transports users of Mexico City International Airport from terminal T-1 to terminal T-2 and vice versa. For the numerical simulation, several engine models of different aircraft were used, including the Boeing 747-400, the Boeing 777-200LR/-300ER, the Airbus A340-600, and the McDonnell Douglas MD11. The results presented here are those from the McDonnell Douglas MD11 airplane, which is the most critical case since it has an engine in the rear part of the fuselage on the vertical empennage, and this causes the flow of exhaust gases to arrive in a direction from top to bottom on the upper part of the Aerotren, which for safety should not exceed 15.0 m/s (54 km/hr). The impact of the explosion of these engine models was used to choose the most appropriate deflector curvature angle in the take-off area. The numerical simulation was carried out through the Fluent CFD program, solving the Navier-Stokes equations, the standard model, turbulence, and atmospheric conditions in Mexico City. An experimental stage and the visualization of the behavior of the flow of exhaust gases within a wind tunnel are also presented. A 1: 125 scale model was used for both the deflectors with the radius of curvature obtained and the train car, in an area of one square meter and a grid background screen