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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2013

Model-Based Control of a Nonlinear Aircraft Engine Simulation using an Optimal Tuner Kalman Filter Approach

This paper covers the development of a model-based engine control (MBEC) methodology featuring a self tuning on-board model applied to an aircraft turbofan engine simulation. Here, the Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation 40,000 (CMAPSS40k) serves as the MBEC application engine. CMAPSS40k is capable of modeling realistic engine performance, allowing for a verification of the MBEC over a wide range of operating points. The on-board model is a piece-wise linear model derived from CMAPSS40k and updated using an optimal tuner Kalman Filter (OTKF) estimation routine, which enables the on-board model to self-tune to account for engine performance variations. The focus here is on developing a methodology for MBEC with direct control of estimated parameters of interest such as thrust and stall margins. Investigations using the MBEC to provide a stall margin limit for the controller protection logic are presented that could provide benefits over a simple acceleration schedule that is currently used in traditional engine control architectures.

Control Theory↗
NASA NTRS1976

Status of NASA aircraft engine emission reduction and upper atmosphere measurement programs

Advanced emission reduction techniques for five existing aircraft gas turbine engines are evaluated. Progress made toward meeting the 1979 EPA standards in rig tests of combustors for the five engines is reported. Results of fundamental combustion studies suggest the possibility of a new generation of jet engine combustor technology that would reduce oxides-of-nitrogen (NOx) emissions far below levels currently demonstrated in the engine-related programs. The Global Air Sampling Program (GAS) is now in full operation and is providing data on constituent measurements of ozone and other minor upper-atmosphere species related to aircraft emissions.

Rudey, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Application of a Bank of Kalman Filters for Aircraft Engine Fault Diagnostics

In this paper, a bank of Kalman filters is applied to aircraft gas turbine engine sensor and actuator fault detection and isolation (FDI) in conjunction with the detection of component faults. This approach uses multiple Kalman filters, each of which is designed for detecting a specific sensor or actuator fault. In the event that a fault does occur, all filters except the one using the correct hypothesis will produce large estimation errors, thereby isolating the specific fault. In the meantime, a set of parameters that indicate engine component performance is estimated for the detection of abrupt degradation. The proposed FDI approach is applied to a nonlinear engine simulation at nominal and aged conditions, and the evaluation results for various engine faults at cruise operating conditions are given. The ability of the proposed approach to reliably detect and isolate sensor and actuator faults is demonstrated.

Kobayashi, Takahisa↗
NASA NTRS2014

Chemistry Characterization of Jet Aircraft Engine Particulate by XPS: Results from APEX III

This paper reports XPS analysis of jet exhaust particulate from a B737, Lear, ERJ, and A300 aircraft during the APEX III NASA led field campaign. Carbon hybridization and bonding chemistry are identified by high-resolution scans about the C1s core-shell region. Significant organic content as gauged by the sp3/sp2 ratio is found across engines and platforms. Polar oxygen functional groups include carboxylic, carbonyl and phenol with combined content of 20 percent or more. By lower resolution survey scans various elements including transition metals are identified along with lighter elements such as S, N, and O in the form of oxides. Burning additives within lubricants are probable sources of Na, Ba, Ca, Zn, P and possibly Sn. Elements present and their percentages varied significantly across all engines, not revealing any trend or identifiable cause for the differences, though the origin is likely the same for the same element when observed. This finding suggests that their presence can be used as a tracer for identifying soots from aircraft engines as well as diagnostic for monitoring engine performance and wear.

soot↗
NASA NTRS1999

Air Force F-16 Aircraft Engine Aerosol Emissions Under Cruise Altitude Conditions

Selected results from the June 1997 Third Subsonic Assessment Near-Field Interactions Flight (SNIF-III) Experiment are documented. The primary objectives of the SNIF-III experiment were to determine the partitioning and abundance of sulfur species and to examine the formation and growth of aerosol particles in the exhaust of F-16 aircraft as a function of atmospheric and aircraft operating conditions and fuel sulfur concentration. This information is, in turn, being used to address questions regarding the fate of aircraft fuel sulfur impurities and to evaluate the potential of their oxidation products to perturb aerosol concentrations and surface areas in the upper troposphere. SNIF-III included participation of the Vermont and New Jersey Air National Guard F-16's as source aircraft and the Wallops Flight Facility T-39 Sabreliner as the sampling platform. F-16's were chosen as a source aircraft because they are powered by the modern F-100 Series 220 engine which is projected to be representative of future commercial aircraft engine technology. The T-39 instrument suite included sensors for measuring volatile and non-volatile condensation nuclei (CN), aerosol size distributions over the range from 0.1 to 3.0 (micro)m, 3-D winds, temperature, dewpoint, carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and nitric acid (HNO3).

Anderson, Bruce E.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Impact of future fuel properties on aircraft engines and fuel systems

From current projections of the availability of high-quality petroleum crude oils, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the specifications for hydrocarbon jet fuels may have to be modified. The problems that are most likely to be encountered as a result of these modifications relate to engine performance, component durability and maintenance, and aircraft fuel-system performance. The effect on engine performance will be associated with changes in specific fuel consumption, ignition at relight limits, at exhaust emissions. Durability and maintenance will be affected by increases in combustor liner temperatures, carbon deposition, gum formation in fuel nozzles, and erosion and corrosion of turbine blades and vanes. Aircraft fuel-system performance will be affected by increased deposits in fuel-system heat exchangers and changes in the pumpability and flowability of the fuel. The severity of the potential problems is described in terms of the fuel characteristics most likely to change in the future. Recent data that evaluate the ability of current-technology aircraft to accept fuel specification changes are presented, and selected technological advances that can reduce the severity of the problems are described and discussed.

Rudey, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Method of vibration isolating an aircraft engine

A method for coupling an engine to a support frame for mounting to a fuselage of an aircraft using a three point vibration isolating mounting system in which the load reactive forces at each mounting point are statically and dynamically determined. A first vibration isolating mount pivotably couples a first end of an elongated support beam to a stator portion of an engine with the pivoting action of the vibration mount being oriented such that it is pivotable about a line parallel to a center line of the engine. An aft end of the supporting frame is coupled to the engine through an additional pair of vibration isolating mounts with the mounts being oriented such that they are pivotable about a circumference of the engine. The aft mounts are symmetrically spaced to each side of the supporting frame by 45 degrees. The relative orientation between the front mount and the pair of rear mounts is such that only the rear mounts provide load reactive forces parallel to the engine center line, in support of the engine to the aircraft against thrust forces. The forward mount is oriented so as to provide only radial forces to the engine and some lifting forces to maintain the engine in position adjacent a fuselage. Since each mount is connected to provide specific forces to support the engine, forces required of each mount are statically and dynamically determinable.

Bender, Stanley I.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Fuel conservative aircraft engine technology

Technology developments for more fuel-efficiency subsonic transport aircraft are reported. Three major propulsion projects were considered: (1) engine component improvement - directed at current engines; (2) energy efficient engine - directed at new turbofan engines; and (3) advanced turboprops - directed at technology for advanced turboprop-powered aircraft. Each project is reviewed and some of the technologies and recent accomplishments are described.

Nored, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Development potential of Intermittent Combustion (I.C.) aircraft engines for commuter transport applications

An update on general aviation (g/a) and commuter aircraft propulsion research effort is reviewed. The following topics are discussed: on several advanced intermittent combustion engines emphasizing lightweight diesels and rotary stratified charge engines. The current state-of-the-art is evaluated for lightweight, aircraft suitable versions of each engine. This information is used to project the engine characteristics that can be expected on near-term and long-term time horizons. The key enabling technology requirements are identified for each engine on the long-term time horizon.

Willis, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Simulation of Aircraft Engine Blade-Out Structural Dynamics

A primary concern of aircraft structure designers is the accurate simulation of the blade-out event and the subsequent windmilling of the engine. Reliable simulations of the blade-out event are required to insure structural integrity during flight as well as to guarantee successful blade-out certification testing. The system simulation includes the lost blade loadings and the interactions between the rotating turbomachinery and the remaining aircraft structural components. General-purpose finite element structural analysis codes such as MSC NASTRAN are typically used and special provisions are made to include transient effects from the blade loss and rotational effects resulting from the engine's turbomachinery. The present study provides the equations of motion for rotordynamic response including the effect of spooldown speed and rotor unbalance and examines the effects of these terms on a cantilevered rotor. The effect of spooldown speed is found to be greater with increasing spooldown rate. The parametric term resulting from the mass unbalance has a more significant effect on the rotordynamic response than does the spooldown term. The parametric term affects both the peak amplitudes as well as the resonant frequencies of the rotor.

Lawrence, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2001

Simulation of Aircraft Engine Blade-Out Structural Dynamics

A primary concern of aircraft structure designers is the accurate simulation of the blade-out event and the subsequent windmilling of the engine. Reliable simulations of the blade-out event are required to insure structural integrity during flight as well as to guarantee successful blade-out certification testing. The system simulation includes the lost blade loadings and the interactions between the rotating turbomachinery and the remaining aircraft structural components. General-purpose finite element structural analysis codes such as MSC NASTRAN are typically used and special provisions are made to include transient effects from the blade loss and rotational effects resulting from the engine's turbomachinery. The present study provides the equations of motion for rotordynamic response including the effect of spooldown speed and rotor unbalance and examines the effects of these terms on a cantilevered rotor. The effect of spooldown speed is found to be greater with increasing spooldown rate. The parametric term resulting from the mass unbalance has a more significant effect on the rotordynamic response than does the spooldown term. The parametric term affects both the peak amplitudes as well as the resonant frequencies of the rotor.

Lawrence, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2009

Preliminary Axial Flow Turbine Design and Off-Design Performance Analysis Methods for Rotary Wing Aircraft Engines: Applications - Part 2

In this paper, preliminary studies on two turbine engine applications relevant to the tilt-rotor rotary wing aircraft are performed. The first case-study is the application of variable pitch turbine for the turbine performance improvement when operating at a substantially lower shaft speed. The calculations are made on the 75 percent speed and the 50 percent speed of operations. Our results indicate that with the use of the variable pitch turbines, a nominal (3 percent (probable) to 5 percent (hypothetical)) efficiency improvement at the 75 percent speed, and a notable (6 percent (probable) to 12 percent (hypothetical)) efficiency improvement at the 50 percent speed, without sacrificing the turbine power productions, are achievable if the technical difficulty of turning the turbine vanes and blades can be circumvented. The second casestudy is the contingency turbine power generation for the tilt-rotor aircraft in the One Engine Inoperative (OEI) scenario. For this study, calculations are performed on two promising methods: throttle push and steam injection. By isolating the power turbine and limiting its air mass flow rate to be no more than the air flow intake of the take-off operation, while increasing the turbine inlet total temperature (simulating the throttle push) or increasing the air-steam mixture flow rate (simulating the steam injection condition), our results show that an amount of 30 to 45 percent extra power, to the nominal take-off power, can be generated by either of the two methods. The methods of approach, the results, and discussions of these studies are presented in this paper.

Chen, Shu-cheng, S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Aircraft Engine Particle Emissions during the 2023 NASA-Boeing ecoDemonstrator Field Measurements

Aerosol aircraft emissions are responsible for the formation of contrail cirrus clouds which can alter Earth’s radiation and water budgets exerting substantial effects on climate. However, at present, the impact of aviation on climate forcing remaining uncertain. Recently, NASA has collaborated with Boeing ecoDemonstrator program to improve the understanding of air traffic emissions and the impact of different jet fuel compositions on contrail microphysics. As part of the program, in October 2023 the NASA DC-8 aircraft was used to sample engine exhausts emitted by a Boeing ecoDemonstrator Explorer 737-10 burning sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and conventional jet fuel over the north western US. In this study, we present unique observations of aerosols properties relevant for contrail-cirrus cloud formation collected during the 2023 ecoDemonstrator research flights and we will discuss the variations of key microphysical contrail parameters in function of different jet fuel compositions and engine conditions.

Francesca Gallo↗
NASA NTRS2007

Integration of On-Line and Off-Line Diagnostic Algorithms for Aircraft Engine Health Management

This paper investigates the integration of on-line and off-line diagnostic algorithms for aircraft gas turbine engines. The on-line diagnostic algorithm is designed for in-flight fault detection. It continuously monitors engine outputs for anomalous signatures induced by faults. The off-line diagnostic algorithm is designed to track engine health degradation over the lifetime of an engine. It estimates engine health degradation periodically over the course of the engine s life. The estimate generated by the off-line algorithm is used to update the on-line algorithm. Through this integration, the on-line algorithm becomes aware of engine health degradation, and its effectiveness to detect faults can be maintained while the engine continues to degrade. The benefit of this integration is investigated in a simulation environment using a nonlinear engine model.

Kobayashi, Takahisa↗
NASA NTRS1995

Thermal barrier coatings for aircraft engines: History and directions

Thin thermal barrier coatings for protecting aircraft turbine section airfoils are examined in this paper. The discussion focuses on those advances that led first to their use for component life extension, and more recently as an integral part of airfoil design. Development has been driven by laboratory rig and furnace testing corroborated by engine testing and engine field experience. The technology has also been supported by performance modeling to demonstrate benefits and life modeling for mission analysis. Factors which have led to the selection of the current state-of-the-art plasma sprayed and physical vapor deposited zirconia-yttria/MCrAlX TBC's are emphasized, as are observations fundamentally related to the their behavior. Current directions in research into thermal barrier coatings and recent progress at NASA are also noted.

Miller, Robert A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Thermal barrier coatings for aircraft engines: History and directions

Thin thermal barrier coatings for protecting aircraft turbine section airfoils are examined. The discussion focuses on those advances that led first to their use for component life extension and more recently as an integral part of airfoil design. It is noted that development has been driven by laboratory rig and furnace testing corroborated by engine testing and engine field experience. The technology has also been supported by performance modeling to demonstrate benefits and life modeling for mission analysis. Factors which have led to the selection of the current state-of-the-art plasma sprayed and physical vapor deposited zirconia-yttria/MCrAlY TBC's is emphasized in addition to observations fundamentally related to their behavior. Current directions in research into thermal barrier coatings and recent progress at NASA is also noted.

Miller, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Impact of future fuel properties on aircraft engines and fuel systems

The effect of modifications in hydrocarbon jet fuels specifications on engine performance, component durability and maintenance, and aircraft fuel system performance is discussed. Specific topics covered include: specific fuel consumption; ignition at relight limits; exhaust emissions; combustor liner temperatures; carbon deposition; gum formation in fuel nozzles, erosion and corrosion of turbine blades and vanes; deposits in fuel system heat exchangers; and pumpability and flowability of the fuel. Data that evaluate the ability of current technology aircraft to accept fuel specification changes are presented, and selected technological advances that can reduce the severity of the problems are described and discussed.

Rudey, R. A.↗