Dr Martin Goodhand

Martin Goodhand works on the internal aerodynamics for aircraft jet-engines; his aim is to improve engine efficiencies in order to reduce the economic and environmental cost of aviation.

One area where significant improvements are possible is in the compressor; this part of the engine is made up of many individual aerofoils (around 4000 in large civil engines) with the purpose of increasing the air pressure prior to combustion. In his PhD, Martin showed that the flow over each of these aerofoils is very sensitive to the geometry of the leading edge (first 2% of the aerofoil). By ensuring the flow in this region remained laminar it was demonstrated that reductions in fuel burn of greater than 1% were possible. During his Research Fellowship Martin aims to develop new aerofoil geometries that can better utilise this laminar flow. In practice this requires aerofoils that are not only good when new, but that are robust to the harsh environment of an engine where erosion by ingested particles, such as volcanic ash, can cause significant performance deterioration.