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At least 397 records · Page 22

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.↗

Method and system for monitoring and displaying engine performance parameters

The invention is a method and system for monitoring and directly displaying the actual thrust produced by a jet aircraft engine under determined operating conditions and the available thrust and predicted (commanded) thrust of a functional model of an ideal engine under the same determined operating conditions. A first set of actual value output signals representative of a plurality of actual performance parameters of the engine under the determined operating conditions is generated and compared with a second set of predicted value output signals representative of the predicted value of corresponding performance parameters of a functional model of the engine under the determined operating conditions to produce a third set of difference value output signals within a range of normal, caution, or warning limit values. A thrust indicator displays when any one of the actual value output signals is in the warning range while shaping function means shape each of the respective difference output signals as each approaches the limit of the respective normal, caution, and warning range limits.

Abbott, Terence S.↗

Optimization of Turbine Engine Cycle Analysis with Analytic Derivatives

A new engine cycle analysis tool, called Pycycle, was built using the OpenMDAO framework. Pycycle provides analytic derivatives allowing for an efficient use of gradient-based optimization methods on engine cycle models, without requiring the use of finite difference derivative approximation methods. To demonstrate this, a gradient-based design optimization was performed on a turbofan engine model. Results demonstrate very favorable performance compared to an optimization of an identical model using finite-difference approximated derivatives.

OpenMDAO↗

Effect of Various Methods of Boundary-Layer Control on Performance of V-1710-93 Engine-Stage Supercharger

Four methods of boundary-layer control were tried during an investigation to improve the flow in the impeller passages of a V-1710-93 engine-stage supercharger. The boundary layer along the impeller front shroud was removed by suction. In one method the removal was accomplished by recirculation of the air to the impeller inlet; in another method, by external removal. In the other methods, slots were cut through the impeller-blade faces first at 30 percent and then at 30 and 70 percent of the mean-flow-path length measured from leading edges of the rotating inlet guide vanes to introduce air from the high-pressure side of the blades into the region where stagnation and separation were suspected. A slight improvement in performance was obtained when the boundary layer was removed through the impeller front shroud. In general, this improvement become more pronounced as the amount of air removed was increased even though the excessive impeller frontal clearance maintained for these tests, together with an exaggerated negative pressure gradient, apparently induced flow separation on the diffuser front and rear walls as well as on the impeller front shroud. The use of slots in the impellers at the locations selected had a detrimental effect on the supercharger performance characteristics.

Kohl, Robert C.↗

Proof Mate: An Interactive Proof Helper for PVS

This paper presents Proof Mate, an interactive proof helper for the PVS verification system. The helper is integrated in VSCode-PVS, the Visual Studio Code extension for PVS. It extends the capabilities of VSCode-PVS by introducing new functionalities for suggesting proof commands, sketching proof attempts, and repairing broken proofs during interactive proof sessions. This work further aligns VSCode-PVS to the functionalities provided by modern development tools, with the ultimate aim to facilitate the adoption of formal methods in engineering practices and education.

Formal Methods↗

Generation of an Aerothermal Data Base for the X33 Spacecraft

The X-33 experimental program is a cooperative program between industry and NASA, managed by Lockheed-Martin Skunk Works to develop an experimental vehicle to demonstrate new technologies for a single-stage-to-orbit, fully reusable launch vehicle (RLV). One of the new technologies to be demonstrated is an advanced Thermal Protection System (TPS) being designed by BF Goodrich (formerly Rohr, Inc.) with support from NASA. The calculation of an aerothermal database is crucial to identifying the critical design environment data for the TPS. The NASA Ames X-33 team has generated such a database using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses, engineering analysis methods and various programs to compare and interpolate the results from the CFD and the engineering analyses. This database, along with a program used to query the database, is used extensively by several X-33 team members to help them in designing the X-33. This paper will describe the methods used to generate this database, the program used to query the database, and will show some of the aerothermal analysis results for the X-33 aircraft.

Roberts, Cathy↗

An analysis of turbojet-engine-inlet matching

A method of presenting turbojet-engine air-flow requirements and inlet-system air-flow capacities in identical though independent parametric terms is developed. The application of the air-flow representation technique to the analysis of engine-inlet matching conditions is demonstrated. Several examples are presented to illustrate the application of the method to the explicit determination of inlet geometric variations required to improve the power-plant performance of supersonic airplanes.

Wyatt, Demarquis↗

Active Suppression of Instabilities in Engine Combustors

A method of feedback control has been proposed as a means of suppressing thermo-acoustic instabilities in a liquid- fueled combustor of a type used in an aircraft engine. The basic principle of the method is one of (1) sensing combustor pressure oscillations associated with instabilities and (2) modulating the rate of flow of fuel to the combustor with a control phase that is chosen adaptively so that the pressure oscillations caused by the modulation oppose the sensed pressure oscillations. The need for this method arises because of the planned introduction of advanced, lean-burning aircraft gas turbine engines, which promise to operate with higher efficiencies and to emit smaller quantities of nitrogen oxides, relative to those of present aircraft engines. Unfortunately, the advanced engines are more susceptible to thermoacoustic instabilities. These instabilities are hard to control because they include large dead-time phase shifts, wide-band noise characterized by amplitudes that are large relative to those of the instabilities, exponential growth of the instabilities, random net phase walks, and amplitude fluctuations. In this method (see figure), the output of a combustion-pressure sensor would be wide-band-pass filtered and then further processed to generate a control signal that would be applied to a fast-actuation valve to modulate the flow of fuel. Initially, the controller would rapidly take large phase steps in order to home in, within a fraction of a second, to a favorable phase region within which the instability would be reduced. Then the controller would restrict itself to operate within this phase region and would further restrict itself to operate within a region of stability, as long as the power in the instability signal was decreasing. In the phase-shifting scheme of this method, the phase of the control vector would be made to continuously bounce back and forth from one boundary of an effective stability region to the other. Computationally, this scheme would be implemented by the adaptive sliding phaser averaged control (ASPAC) algorithm, which requires very little detailed knowledge of the combustor dynamics. In the ASPAC algorithm, the power of the instability signal would be calculated from the wide-bandpass- filtered combustion-pressure signal and averaged over a period of time (typically of the order of a few hundredths of a second) corresponding to the controller updating cycle [not to be confused with the controller sampling cycle, which would be much shorter (typically of the order of 10(exp -4) second)].

Kopasakis, George↗

The revolutionary impact of evolving aeronautical technologies

Recent advances in aeronautical technologies which could produce revolutionary changes in transport aircraft if fully implemented are delineated. Laminar flow control offers a L/D improvement from the current 18 to 22 if used with a 767 configuration. Higher aspect and thickness/chord ratios could yield more efficient structural designs and further drag reduction. High-strength, fiber-reinforced composite structures can reduce structural weight by 10-30 percent. Improved engine cooling methods, higher stage loadings and exhaust temperatures can lower the SFC by 15 percent, engine weight by 15 percent, and the parts count by 50 percent. Aft-mounted counterrotating propellers can potentially decrease the SFC an additional 15-20 percent. Supersonic transport aircraft with L/D ratios of 18 and 70 seat miles/gal fuel efficiency can now be built that weigh half as much as the Concorde and carry the same load. The new SST would have superplastic-molded Al alloy structures.

Kayten, G. G.↗

MBSE (SysML) and Digital Twin Integration to Support Engineering Analysis & Design

Problem Statement: The complexity of Gateway systems and of managing the integrated safety analysis have made traditional methods of engineering analysis and design increasingly challenging. To address these challenges, a prototype that integrate Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) with Digital Twin technology has been developed to demonstrate the utilities and functions. Project Goal: Develop a prototype of a Digital Twin Of Gateway ECLSS IMV system to enhance fault management analysis through collaboration, visualization, and simulation. Overall Project Results / Accomplishments: - Developed extension to streamline the integration of SysML models with the Digital Twin platform - Demonstrated the capability to aggregate any relevant information and provide simulation integration within the DT prototype. - Generated digital twin simulation using SysML Activity Diagrams - Implemented a complex trade study use case based on the integrated SysML-Digital Twin infrastructure

MBSE↗

A Scalable Method for Thickness and Lateral Engineering of 2D Materials

The physical properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials depend strongly on the number of layers. Hence, methods for controlling their thickness with atomic layer precision are highly desirable, yet still too rare, and demonstrated for only a limited number of 2D materials. Here we present a simple and scalable method for the continuous layer-by-layer thinning that works for a large class of 2D materials, notably layered germanium pnictides and chalcogenides. It is based on a simple oxidation/etching process, which selectively occurs on the topmost layers. Through a combination of atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments we demonstrate the thinning method on germanium arsenide (GeAs), germanium sulfide (GeS) and germanium disulfide (GeS 2 ). We use first-principles simulation to provide insights into the oxidation mechanism. Our strategy, which could be applied to other classes of 2D materials upon proper choice of the oxidation/etching reagent, could pave the way for the realization of 2D material-based devices, such as electronic or optoelectronic ones, where a precise control over the number of layers (hence over the material’s physical properties) is needed. We also show that when used in combination with lithography, our method can be used to make precise patterns in the 2D materials.

2D materials↗

A program for calculating load coefficient matrices utilizing the force summation method, L218 (LOADS). Volume 1: Engineering and usage

The LOADS program L218, a digital computer program that calculates dynamic load coefficient matrices utilizing the force summation method, is described. The load equations are derived for a flight vehicle in straight and level flight and excited by gusts and/or control motions. In addition, sensor equations are calculated for use with an active control system. The load coefficient matrices are calculated for the following types of loads: translational and rotational accelerations, velocities, and displacements; panel aerodynamic forces; net panel forces; shears and moments. Program usage and a brief description of the analysis used are presented. A description of the design and structure of the program to aid those who will maintain and/or modify the program in the future is included.

Miller, R. D.↗

NASA Subsonic Rotary Wing Project - Structures and Materials Discipline

The Structures & Materials Discipline within the NASA Subsonic Rotary Wing Project is focused on developing rotorcraft technologies. The technologies being developed are within the task areas of: 5.1.1 Life Prediction Methods for Engine Structures & Components 5.1.2 Erosion Resistant Coatings for Improved Turbine Blade Life 5.2.1 Crashworthiness 5.2.2 Methods for Prediction of Fatigue Damage & Self Healing 5.3.1 Propulsion High Temperature Materials 5.3.2 Lightweight Structures and Noise Integration The presentation will discuss rotorcraft specific technical challenges and needs as well as details of the work being conducted in the six task areas.

Halbig, Michael C.↗

Uncertainty Analysis of the CE-22 Advanced Nozzle Test Facility

This paper presents methods and results of a detailed measurement uncertainty analysis that was performed for the Advanced Nozzle Test Facility, CE-22, located at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Results for the uncertainty in thrust and flow coefficients, in addition to other variables of interest, are provided. Results are presented separately as random uncertainty (characterizing errors inherent to instrument or measurement environment, impacting repeatability), systematic uncertainty (capturing inaccuracies due to measurement process, calibration, installation effects or other sources which may introduce bias), and total combined uncertainty. The statistical methods and engineering judgments used to estimate elemental uncertainties are described. The analysis tool MANTUS (Measurement Analysis Tool for Uncertainty in Systems) was used to quantify instrumentation system uncertainty, and statistical analysis and engineering judgment were used to quantify other random and systematic uncertainty sources. The Monte Carlo method was used to propagate systematic and random elemental uncertainties to determine the uncertainties of various calculated variables of interest.

data quality↗

Uncertainty Analysis of the NASA Glenn 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel 2019 Characterization Test 14-Foot, 5.8 Percent Test Section Porosity

This paper presents methods and results of a measurement uncertainty analysis that was performed for the 8- by 6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel located at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The uncertainty analysis is based on data collected during a characterization test following major structural modifications to the facility and upgrades to the facility’s data and control systems. The statistical methods and engineering judgments used to estimate elemental uncertainties are described in this report. The Monte Carlo method of propagating uncertainty was selected to determine the uncertainty of calculated variables of interest. A description of the Monte Carlo method as applied for this analysis is provided. The primary variable of interest (VOI) for this facility is free stream Mach number. In addition to determining the uncertainty in Mach number, the uncertainty in free stream values of static pressure, total pressure, dynamic pressure, total temperature, static temperature, Reynolds number, and air speed were also calculated. Uncertainty results are presented as random (unpredictable variation in repeated measurements), systematic (potential offset between observed and true value), and total (random and systematic combined) uncertainty for Mach number. Systematic uncertainty results are presented for the other VOIs. Individual uncertainty sources are presented both dimensionally and as percent contributions to uncertainty in all VOIs, to aid in the identification of primary uncertainty sources.

Uncertainty Analysis↗