Asbestos Exposure during Gasket Removal from Aircraft Engine

We have previously evaluated asbestos exposure associated with various maintenance procedures on light aircraft. The purpose of this study was to evaluate asbestos exposure during engine maintenance on light aircraft. This test was designed to evaluate the potential for asbestos exposure to mechanics and others who remove asbestos-containing engine gaskets from reciprocating style aircraft engines. Utilized in this test was an air cooled, horizontally opposed, aviation gasoline burning engine, assembled during 1986 and operated intermittently up into 2015, having accumulated 1680 hours run time. Nearly 75% of the asbestos-containing gaskets installed during 1986 were still in place at the time of testing. Chrysotile asbestos contents of such gaskets ranged from 55% to 60% by area, for those of sheet style and 5% by area, for the spiral wound metal/asbestos style. Despite the levels of effort required to effect gasket removals, the professional aircraft mechanic was not exposed to airborne asbestos fibers at the lower limits of sampling and analytical detection achieved;all of which were substantially less than the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible Exposure Limits for asbestos. The results of this testing indicate an absence of gasket related asbestos exposure risk to mechanics who work with light aircraft engines, including those having asbestos-containing gaskets. These results are consistent with the findings of Mlyarek and Van Orden who studied the asbestos exposure risk occasioned during overhaul of larger radial style reciprocating aircraft engines [1].

Computation of the Matching Performance of Diesel Engine with Variable Geometry Turbocharger

To compute the matching performance of diesel engine with variable geometry turboeharger（VGT）, the formerly used program is improved through adjustment of turbine mass flow rate and efficiency characteristics. The calculation result is applied to forecast the performance of J6110Z diesel engine with rotary-vaned VGT70, and to guide the improvement of engine fuel supply. The computed engine performance curve coincides with the experiment result well： the low-speed torque, fuel economy, exhaust temperature and boost pressure of the VGT engine are all improved.

Harmony search optimization applied to reservoir engineering assisted history matching

Based on the analysis of characteristics and advantages of HSO(harmony search optimization) algorithm, HSO was used in reservoir engineering assisted history matching of Kareem reservoir in Amal field in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. HSO algorithm has the following advantages:(1) The good balance between exploration and exploitation techniques during searching for optimal solutions makes the HSO algorithm robust and efficient.(2) The diversity of generated solutions is more effectively controlled by two components, making it suitable for highly non-linear problems in reservoir engineering history matching.(3) The integration between the three components(harmony memory values, pitch adjusting and randomization) of the HSO helps in finding unbiased solutions.(4) The implementation process of the HSO algorithm is much easier. The HSO algorithm and two other commonly used algorithms(genetic and particle swarm optimization algorithms) were used in three reservoir engineering history match questions of different complex degrees, which are two material balance history matches of different scales and one reservoir history matching. The results were compared, which proves the superiority and validity of HSO. The results of Kareem reservoir history matching show that using the HSO algorithm as the optimization method in the assisted history matching workflow improves the simulation quality and saves solution time significantly.

Component Matching Based on Low Bypass Ratio Mixed Exhaust Turbofan Engine

In order to study component matching which exists in off-design situation at the initial design stage of turbine engine,by establishing performance analysis model of low bypass ratio mixed flow turbofan engine and components characteristic data,and by applying Newton-Raphson method to solve the nonlinear equations of offdesign points in flying envelop,the factors which affect matching between engine components are studied.The results show that low pressure turbine(LPT)must not operate in a critical condition,and the partial derivative(slope)of pressure ratio to similitude mass flow ratio of working point in LPT characteristic map affects the stability of engine.The smaller the slope is,the more stable the engine is.In addition,the engine is more stable when the fan characteristic map is steep.

Matching between mechanics and thermodynamics among 4 individual strokes in a 4-stroke engine by non-circular gear mechanism

The relationship between engine mechanics and thermo-dynamics has been investigated by means of numerical simulation.The inherent mismatching between the mechanical behaviors and the thermodynamic process in internal combustion engine is identified,which is believed to be one of the important limiting factors of energy efficiency for conventional engines available in the current market.An approach for engine efficiency improvement through optimal matching between mechanics and thermodynamics(OMBMT)is proposed.An ideal matching model is defined and the conflicts due to the constraints among the mapping strokes in a 4-stroke engine are analyzed.A novel mechanical model is built for approaching optimal matching among all 4 individual strokes in a 4-stroke spark-ignition engine,which is composed of non-circular gears(NCG)and integrated with conventional slider crank engine mechanism.By means of digital mechanical model and numerical simulation,the matching gains among all 4 strokes are defined and calculated for quantifying the NCG engine efficiency improvement by comparing with a baseline engine.The potentials with the OMBMT implemented and the enhancements made by NCG mechanism for engines in terms of overall engine efficiency are reported.Based on the results achieved,it is recommended that the feasibility studies and the experimental validations should be conducted to verify the engine matching concept and effectiveness of the NCG mechanism engine model proposed,and the engine performance and NCG design parameters should be further optimized.

GRADE-LIFE PROGNOSTIC MODEL OF AIRCRAFT ENGINE BEARING

Research on practical and verifiable prediction methods for the service life of bearings plays a critical role in improving the reliability and safety of aircraft engines. The concept of grade-life （GL） is introduced to de- scribe the service life of bearings. A GL prognostic model for aircraft engine bearings is proposed based on sup- port vector machine （SVM） and fuzzy logic inference. Firstly, the mathematical model is discussed to predict the physics-based GL （PGL）. Then, the diagnostic estimation model based on SVM is presented in detail to predict the empirical GL （EPL）. Thirdly, a fuzzy logic inference is adopted to fuse two GL predicted results. Finally, the GL prognostic model is verified by the run-to-failure data acquired from an accelerated life test of an aircraft bearing. The results show that the model provides a more practical and reliable prediction for the service life of bearings.

RELIABILITY EVALUATION MODEL BASED ON DATA FUSION FOR AIRCRAFT ENGINES

Reliability evaluation for aircraft engines is difficult because of the scarcity of failure data. But aircraft engine data are available from a variety of sources. Data fusion has the function of maximizing the amount of valu- able information extracted from disparate data sources to obtain the comprehensive reliability knowledge. Consid- ering the degradation failure and the catastrophic failure simultaneously, which are competing risks and can affect the reliability, a reliability evaluation model based on data fusion for aircraft engines is developed, Above the characteristics of the proposed model, reliability evaluation is more feasible than that by only utilizing failure data alone, and is also more accurate than that by only considering single failure mode. Example shows the effective- ness of the proposed model.

Interface Engineering of Titanium Nitride Nanotube Composites for Excellent Microwave Absorption at Elevated Temperature

Currently,the microwave absorbers usually suffer dreadful electromagnetic wave absorption(EMWA)performance damping at elevated temperature due to impedance mismatching induced by increased conduction loss.Consequently,the development of high-performance EMWA materials with good impedance matching and strong loss ability in wide temperature spectrum has emerged as a top priority.Herein,due to the high melting point,good electrical conductivity,excellent environmental stability,EM coupling effect,and abundant interfaces of titanium nitride(TiN)nanotubes,they were designed based on the controlling kinetic diffusion procedure and Ostwald ripening process.Benefiting from boosted heterogeneous interfaces between TiN nanotubes and polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS),enhanced polarization loss relaxations were created,which could not only improve the depletion efficiency of EMWA,but also contribute to the optimized impedance matching at elevated temperature.Therefore,the TiN nanotubes/PDMS composite showed excellent EMWA performances at varied temperature(298-573 K),while achieved an effective absorption bandwidth(EAB)value of 3.23 GHz and a minimum reflection loss(RLmin)value of−44.15 dB at 423 K.This study not only clarifies the relationship between dielectric loss capacity(conduction loss and polarization loss)and temperature,but also breaks new ground for EM absorbers in wide temperature spectrum based on interface engineering.

From VIB‑to VB‑Group Transition Metal Disulfides:Structure Engineering Modulation for Superior Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

The laminated transition metal disulfides(TMDs),which are well known as typical two-dimensional(2D)semiconductive materials,possess a unique layered structure,leading to their wide-spread applications in various fields,such as catalysis,energy storage,sensing,etc.In recent years,a lot of research work on TMDs based functional materials in the fields of electromagnetic wave absorption(EMA)has been carried out.Therefore,it is of great significance to elaborate the influence of TMDs on EMA in time to speed up the application.In this review,recent advances in the development of electromagnetic wave(EMW)absorbers based on TMDs,ranging from the VIB group to the VB group are summarized.Their compositions,microstructures,electronic properties,and synthesis methods are presented in detail.Particularly,the modulation of structure engineering from the aspects of heterostructures,defects,morphologies and phases are systematically summarized,focusing on optimizing impedance matching and increasing dielectric and magnetic losses in the EMA materials with tunable EMW absorption performance.Milestones as well as the challenges are also identified to guide the design of new TMDs based dielectric EMA materials with high performance.

Aircraft Engine Gas Path Fault Diagnosis Based on Hybrid PSO-TWSVM

Twin support vector machine(TWSVM)is a new development of support vector machine(SVM)algorithm.It has the smaller computation scale and the stronger ability to cope with unbalanced problems.In this paper,TWSVM is introduced into aircraft engine gas path fault diagnosis.The generalization capacity of Gauss kernel function usually used in TWSVM is relatively weak.So a mixed kernel function is used to improve performance to ensure that the TWSVM algorithm can better balance a strong generalization ability and a good learning ability.Experimental results prove that the cross validation training accuracy of TWSVM using the mixed kernel function averagely increases 2%.Grid search is usually applied in parameter optimization of TWSVM,but it heavily depends on experience.Therefore,the hybrid particle swarm algorithm is introduced.It can intelligently and rapidly find the global optimum.Experiments prove that its training accuracy is better than that of the classical particle swarm algorithm by 5%.

Numerical Analysis and Verification of the Gas Jet from Aircraft Engines Impacting a Jet Blast Deflector

The process of the gas jet from aircraft engines impacting a jet blast deflector is not only a complex fluid–solid coupling problem that is not easy to compute, but also a safety issue that seriously interferes with flight deck envi?ronment. The computational fluid dynamics(CFD) method is used to simulate numerically the impact e ect of gas jet from aircraft engines on a jet blast deflector by using the Reynolds?averaged Navier?Stokes(RANS) equations and turbulence models. First of all, during the pre?processing of numerical computation, a sub?domains hybrid meshing scheme is adopted to reduce mesh number and improve mesh quality. Then, four di erent turbulence models includ?ing shear?stress transport(SST) k-w, standard k-w, standard k-ε and Reynolds stress model(RSM) are used to compare and verify the correctness of numerical methods for gas jet from a single aircraft engine. The predicted values are in good agreement with the experimental data, and the distribution and regularity of shock wave, velocity, pressure and temperature of a single aircraft engine are got. The results show that SST k?w turbulence model is more suitable for the numerical simulation of compressible viscous gas jet with high prediction accuracy. Finally, the impact e ect of gas jet from two aircraft engines on a jet blast deflector is analyzed based on the above numerical method, not only the flow parameters of gas jet and the interaction regularity between gas jet and the jet blast deflector are got, but also the thermal shock properties and dynamic impact characteristics of gas jet impacting the jet blast deflector are got. So the dangerous activity area of crew and equipments on the flight deck can be predicted qualitatively and quantitatively. The proposed research explores out a correct numerical method for the fluid–solid interaction during the impact process of supersonic gas jet, which provides an e ective technical support for design, thermal ablation and structural damage analysis of a new jet blast deflector.

Prediction of Aircraft Engine Health Condition Parameters Based on Ensemble ELM

In view of aircraft engine health condition parameters prediction,an ensemble ELM based prediction approach is proposed in this paper. In the approach,the AdaBoost. RT algorithm is improved to adjust its threshold adaptively,and is utilized as the basic framework to establish the ensemble learning model using ELM as weak learners. The proposed approach is evaluated through the prediction of the actual engine fuel flow deviation time series,and the results demonstrate that this approach is feasible for the prediction of aircraft engine health condition parameters. The performance of the proposed approach is compared with single ELM, single process neural network ( PNN) ,and a similar ensemble ELM based approach using AdaBoost. RT as basic framework. The results show that,the proposed approach is more accurate than single ELM and single PNN,and no worse than the ensemble prediction approach for contrast,furthermore,the given approach is more convenient for practical application. Therefore,the proposed approach is better suited to the prediction of aircraft engine health parameters.

A Generative Adversarial Nets Method for Monitoring Data Generation on Aircraft Engines

A sufficient sample size of monitoring data becomes a key factor for describing aircraft engines state.Generative adversarial nets(GAN)can be used to expand the sample size based on the existing state monitoring information.In the paper,a GAN model is introduced to design an algorithm for generating the monitoring data of aircraft engines.This feasibility of the method is illustrated by an example.The experimental results demonstrate that the probability density distribution of generated data after a large number of network training iterations is consistent with the probability density distribution of monitoring data.The proposed method also effectively demonstrates the generated monitoring data of aircraft engine are in a reasonable range.The method can effectively solve the problem of inaccurate performance degradation evaluation caused by the small amount of aero?engine condition monitoring data.

THE ENGINEERING PREDICTION FOR AIRCRAFT NOISE

The acoustic emission from an aircraft during the flight is a dynamic process. The emitting acoustic power and received mean square acoustic pressure are functions of time. The paper deals with this problem as a quasi-steady one. The whole process is resolved into several elementary procedures, for example, the flight trajectory, the geometric relation between the noise sources and observers, the noise source characteristics, the air propagation and ground effect. Two calculation examples are given in the paper, one for a long-range passenger with high bypass-ratio turbofan engine, and the other for a 3-leaved propeller. The composition of aircraft noise, its time history, frequency spectrum and directivity can be clearly described by these curves. It may be useful for the designer to perform the acoustic design of his aircraft layout.

Ensemble Recurrent Neural Network-Based Residual Useful Life Prognostics of Aircraft Engines

Residual useful life(RUL)prediction is a key issue for improving efficiency of aircraft engines and reducing their maintenance cost.Owing to various failure mechanism and operating environment,the application of classical models in RUL prediction of aircraft engines is fairly difficult.In this study,a novel RUL prognostics method based on using ensemble recurrent neural network to process massive sensor data is proposed.First of all,sensor data obtained from the aircraft engines are preprocessed to eliminate singular values,reduce random fluctuation and preserve degradation trend of the raw sensor data.Secondly,three kinds of recurrent neural networks(RNN),including ordinary RNN,long shortterm memory(LSTM),and gated recurrent unit(GRU),are individually constructed.Thirdly,ensemble learning mechanism is designed to merge the above RNNs for producing a more accurate RUL prediction.The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated using two characteristically different turbofan engine datasets.Experimental results show a competitive performance of the proposed method in comparison with typical methods reported in literatures.

Engine-Out Takeoff Path Optimization for Large Civil Aircraft

Maximum regulated takeoff weights and hence payloads of large commercial jets are limited by government regulations which take into account local airport conditions as well as a variety of safety factors. One of the challenging conditions that must be met is linked to a minimum obstacle clearance in the unlikely event of an engine failure on the runway at the worst possible time. This requirement becomes an overriding factor for airports surrounded by challenging terrain, and therefore a well defined takeoff path out of these airports has the potential to transform a financially unsustainable operation into a commercially viable one. The research described in this paper represents an ongoing attempt to resolve this important problem and makes use of recent advances in robot path planning techniques.

The Effect of Ignition Parameters on the Combustion Characteristics of an Aviation Piston Engine

A cylinder combustion simulation model was established for a two-stroke aviation piston engine used in a small unmanned aerial vehicle. The influence of different ignition system parameters on the combustion process of aviation kerosene was studied using this model. The research results showed that under the working conditions of 5500 r/min and 50% throttle opening, as the ignition energy increased, the peak values of average cylinder pressure and average temperature increased, and the combustion duration shortened, The advance of the combustion center of gravity increases the tendency of the engine to knock. Under the same operating conditions, as the ignition timing advances, the peak values of average pressure and average temperature in the cylinder increase, gradually approaching the top dead center, and the tendency of engine detonation increases more significantly.

REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN METHOD FOR MATCHING AIRCRAFT GUNS WITH THEIR SUPPORTING STRUCTURE

In aircraft structural dynamic design the matching of guns with their supporting structure is one of the most important tasks on which hinges the success or failure of the structural design. The design curves for matching guns with their supporting structure can be obtained from response calculations of the plate-spring system supporting the gun on the ground,the model structure tested on the ground and the actual structure.A set of matching curves is given for engineering application.Then,the matching design can be accomplished by means of impact load spectrograms so as to perform an optimal structural design and to make further improvements on dynamic design program.

面向对象的航空发动机总体仿真程序Digital Engine

基于面向对象的程序设计思路,设计开发了一套航空发动机总体性能仿真程序Digital Engine,并就其稳态和过渡态计算能力,与业内知名软件Gas Turb进行了初步对比。对比结果表明,Digital Engine与Gas Turb软件的计算结果基本吻合,能够满足实际工程中对航空发动机工作特性及性能的仿真与预测需求。

CONDITION-BASED MAINTENANCE DECISION MAKING METHODS FOR CIVIL AEROENGINE

To provide some feasible condition-based maintenance （CBM） decision making methods for civil aeroengine, firstly, the theory of aeroengine CBM decision making is described. The proportional intensity（PI） model is established based on the reliability and condition monitoring data. According to the model, the decision making methods are proposed for the optimal preventive maintenance（PM） interval and removal. Then, the time on wing （TOW） is predicted by collecting actual data based on the engine age and operating conditions. Finally, an example of a fleet for CF6-80C2 engines is illustrated. It shows that sufficient engine operation data are the key of accurate decision making. Results indicate that the CBM decision making methods are helpful for engineers in airlines to control engine maintenance actions and TOW, thus decreasing risks and maintenance costs.