Experimental study on the improvement of spray characteristics of aero-engines using gliding arc plasma

A gliding arc plasma fuel atomization actuator suitable for aeroengines was designed,and a gliding arc plasma fuel spray experimental platform was built to address the fuel atomization problem in aeroengine combustion chambers.The spray characteristics for different airflows,fuel flows,and discharge voltages were analyzed using laser particle size analysis.The research shows that the fuel atomization effect is improved from the increased airflow.The decreased fuel flow not only reduces the injection pressure of the fuel but also changes the discharge mode of the gliding arc,which affects reductions in the discharge power and inhibits fuel atomization.Gliding arc discharges accelerate the breaking,atomization,and evaporation of fuel droplets while reducing the particle size,which increases the proportion of small droplets.Compared with the working conditions of plasma-assisted atomization without the gliding arc,the D0.5,D0.9,and average particle size of the fuel droplets are reduced by 4.7%,6.5%,and 4.1%,respectively,when the modulation voltage of the gliding arc power supply is 200 V.

Experimental Investigation on Convective Heat Transfer Characteristics in Ribbed Channel

The heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics on a square channel with two opposite surfaces roughened by high blockage ratio ribs are measured by systematic experiments.Reynolds numbers studied in the channel range from 1 400 to 8 000.The ratios of rib height to hydraulic diameter (e/D) are 0.2and 0.33,respectively.The ratio of rib spacing to height (P/e) ranges from 5to 15.The rib orientations in the opposite surfaces are symmetrical and staggered arrangements.The results show that the heat transfer coefficients are increased with the increase of rib height and Reynolds number,though at the cost of higher pressure losses.When the rib spacing to height ratio is 10,it keeps the highest heat transfer coefficient in three kinds of rib spacing to height ratios 5,10 and 15.The heat transfer coefficient of symmetrical arrangement ribs is higher than that of the staggered arrangement ribs,but the pressure loss of the symmetrical arrangement ribs is larger than that of the staggered arrangement ribs.

Application of Small Sample Analysis in Life Estimation of Aeroengine Components

The samples of fatigue life tests for aeroengine components are usually less than 5,so the evaluation of these samples belongs to small sample analysis. The Weibull distribution is known to describe the life data accurately,and the Weibayes method （developed from Bayesian method） expands on the experiential data in the small sample analysis of fatigue life in aeroengine. Based on the Weibull analysis,a program was developed to improve the efficiency of the reliability analysis for aeroengine compgnents. This program has complete functions and offers highly accurate results. A particular turbine disk＇s low cycle fatigue life was evaluated by this program. From the results,the following conclusions were drawn：（a） that this program could be used for the engineering applications,and （b） while a lack of former test data lowered the validity of evaluation results,the Weibayes method ensured the results of small sample analysis did not deviate from the truth.

Prediction Approach to Life on Wing for Civil Aeroengine

To reduce engine maintenance cost and support safe operation, a prediction method of engine life on wing was proposed. This method is a kind of regression model which is a function of the condition monitoring and failure data. Key causes of engine removals were analyzed, and the life limit due to performance deterioration was predicted by proportional hazards model. Then the scheduled removal causes were considered as constraints of engine life to predicte the finai life on wing. Application of the proposed prediction method to the case of CF6-80C2A5 engine fleet in an airline proved its effectiveness.

Aeroengine Nonlinear Sliding Mode Control Based on Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm

For a class of aeroengine nonlinear systems,a novel nonlinear sliding mode controller(SMC)design method based on artificial bee colony(ABC)algorithm is proposed.In view of the strong nonlinearity and uncertainty of aeroengines,sliding mode control strategy is adopted to design controller for the aeroengine.On basis of exact linearization approach,the nonlinear sliding mode controller is obtained conveniently.By using ABC algorithm,the parameters in the designed controller can be tuned to achieve optimal performance,resulting in a closedloop system with satisfactory dynamic performance and high steady accuracy.Simulation on an aeroengine verifies the effectiveness of the presented method.

Fault diagnosis method for an Aeroengine Based on Independent Component Analysis and the Discrete Hidden Markov Model

The vibration signals of an aeroengine are a very important information source for fault diagnosis and condition monitoring. Considering the nonstationarity and low repeatability of the vibration signals, it is necessary to find a corresponding method for feature extraction and fault recognition. In this paper, based on Independent Component Analysis （ICA） and the Discrete Hidden Markov Model （DHMM）, a new fault diagnosis approach named ICA-DHMM is proposed. In this method, ICA separates the source signals from the mixed vibration signals and then extracts features from them, DHMM works as a classifier to recognize the conditions of the aeroengine. Compared with the DHMM, which use the amplitude spectrum of mixed signals as feature parameters, experimental results show this method has higher diagnosis accuracy.

Thermodynamic Modeling and Simulation of Air System Control Device

This paper aims to obtain the thermodynamic characteristics of the air system control device sealing part in different compressor bleed air and ambient temperature.On the basis of considering the main factors affecting the heat exchange process and simplifying the physical model of the air system control device,the thermodynamic model of air system control device is established based on the basic theory of laminar flow heat transfer and heat conduction theory.Then the piston motion characteristics and the thermodynamic characteristics of the air system control device seal are simulated.The simulation results show that the valve actuation dynamic time of piston is about 0.13 s in the actual working conditions,and the temperature effect on the dynamic response of the piston rod is only 5 ms when the inlet air temperature at 300 ℃ and 370 ℃.The maximum temperature of the air system control device sealing part is not more than 290 ℃ under long time working condition of compressor air entraining.The highest temperature of the sealing part can reach up to 340 ℃ when the air flow temperature reaches the limit temperature of 370 ℃,and the longest duration working temperature limit is not more than 14 s.Therefore,the selection of control device sealing material should consider the work characteristic of instantaneous temperature limit.

Application study on plasma ignition in aeroengine strut–cavity–injector integrated afterburner

To increase the thrust-weight ratio in next-generation military aeroengines,a new integrated afterburner was designed in this study.The integrated structure of a combined strut–cavity–injector was applied to the afterburner.To improve ignition characteristics in the afterburner,a new method using a plasma jet igniter was developed and optimized for application in the integrated afterburner.The effects of traditional spark igniters and plasma jet igniters on ignition processes and ignition characteristics of afterburners were studied and compared with the proposed design.The experimental results show that the strut–cavity–injector combination can achieve stable combustion,and plasma ignition can improve ignition characteristics.Compared with conventional spark ignition,plasma ignition reduced the ignition delay time by 67 ms.Additionally,the ignition delay time was reduced by increasing the inlet velocity and reducing the excess air coefficient.This investigation provides an effective and feasible method to apply plasma ignition in aeroengine afterburners and has potential engineering applications.

Bearing loads of dual rotor-bearing system under stationary and transient conditions

Aimed at aeroengine vibration failure, bearing loads of dual rotor-bearing system caused by unbalance are calculated under stationary and transient conditions. The three-dimensional （3-D） finite element method （FEM） model of dual rotor-bearing system was established. Applying the ro- tor dynamics function of Ansys 12.0, bearing loads were calculated under various unbalance force in stationary condition, and the transient vibration characteristics and the effect of acceleration on bearing loads were discussed. On the basis of simulation results, the influence disciplines of unbal- ance on bearing loads and theoretic reference for reducing bearing loads during start-up were ob- tained.

Extrapolation for Aeroengine Gas Path Faults with SVM Bases on Genetic Algorithm

Mining aeroengine operational data and developing fault diagnosis models for aeroengines are to avoid running aeroengines under undesired conditions.Because of the complexity of working environment and faults of aeroengines,it is unavoidable that the monitored parameters vary widely and possess larger noise levels.This paper reports the extrapolation of a diagnosis model for 20 gas path faults of a double-spool turbofan civil aeroengine.By applying support vector machine(SVM)algorithm together with genetic algorithm(GA),the fault diagnosis model is obtained from the training set that was based on the deviations of the monitored parameters superimposed with the noise level of 10%.The SVM model(C=24.7034;γ=179.835)was extrapolated for the samples whose noise levels were larger than 10%.The accuracies of extrapolation for samples with the noise levels of 20%and 30%are 97%and 94%,respectively.Compared with the models reported on the same faults,the extrapolation results of the GASVM model are accurate.

Application of Interval Multi-attribute Decision-Making Method to Aeroengine Performance Ranking

In view of the uncertainty of the monitored performance parameters of aeroengines, the fluctuating scope of the monitored infurmation during a period is taken as interval numbers, and the interval multi-attribute decision-making method is employed to predict the performance of aeroengine, The synthetic weights of interval numbers are obtained by calculating deviation degree and possibility degree. As an example of application, 5 performance parameters monitored on 10 CF6 aeroengines of China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd are adopted as decision attributes to verify the algorithm. The obtained synthetic ranking result shows the effectiveness and rationality of the proposed method in reflecting the performance stares of aeroengins.

Design Technology Research of Aircraft Engine Health Management (EHM) Technologies

Aircraft engine is an important guarantee for aircraft safety, and its failure mode and health management have become the top priority. However, there are very few researches on aircraft engine health management. This article mainly summarizes the current research status of aircraft engine health management (EHM) from the aspect of aircraft electronic system, focuses on the overall structure, functional areas and key technologies of EHM system design, points out the design requirements of EHM system, and finally proposes EHM system. The design must improve the monitoring accuracy of the sensor to meet the monitoring requirements of more than 0.1%. High-precision monitoring data is more conducive to engine fault detection and processing, and EHM will therefore develop in the direction of real-time, intelligent, integrated and networked.

Research on Time-Synchronization-Based Test and Control System of Aeroengine

This paper presents a method of NTP-based time synchronization and a strategy of master-slave server structured time synchronization to ensure the test and control system of aeroengine to be time-synchronized. Based on time synchronization, the hierarchy and the integration of the measurement and control system of aeroengine are investigated. In result, our method is successfully applied for multiple front-end tests in a simulative altitude test facility of aeroengine.

Knowledge and data jointly driven aeroengine gas path performance assessment method

Aeroengines,as the sole power source for aircraft,play a vital role in ensuring flight safety.The gas path,which represents the fundamental pathway for airflow within an aeroengine,directly impacts the aeroengine's performance,fuel efficiency,and safety.Therefore,timely and accurate evaluation of gas path performance is of paramount importance.This paper proposes a knowledge and data jointly driven aeroengine gas path performance assessment method,combining Fingerprint and gas path parameter deviation values.Firstly,Fingerprint is used to correct gas path parameter deviation values,eliminating parameter shifts caused by non-component performance degradation.Secondly,coarse errors are removed using the Romanovsky criterion for short-term data divided by an equal-length overlapping sliding window.Thirdly,an Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Non-Local Means(EEMD-NLM)filtering method is designed to“clean”data noise,completing the preprocessing for gas path parameter deviation values.Afterward,based on the characteristics of gas path parameter deviation values,a Dynamic Temporary Blended Network(DTBN)model is built to extract its temporal features,cascaded with Multi-Layer Perceptron(MLP),and combined with Fingerprint to construct a Dynamic Temporary Blended AutoEncoder(DTB-AutoEncoder).Eventually,by training this improved autoencoder,the aeroengine gas path multi-component performance assessment model is formed,which can sufficiently decouple the nonlinear mapping relationship between aeroengine gas path multi-component performance degradation and gas path parameter deviation values,thereby achieving the performance assessment of engine gas path components.Through practical application cases,the effectiveness of this model in assessing the aeroengine gas path multi-component performance is verified.

Analysis of oil shedding and ligaments formation on bearing rotary elements

For designing efficient lubrication system of an aeroengine bearing chamber,sufficient knowledge on oil/air two-phase flow characteristics is required.When analyzing bearing chamber two-phase flow,the essential prerequisite is quantifying the oil ligaments,which are detached from bearing rotary elements and shed into the bearing chamber.Related investigations are mainly targeted at liquid shedding on the rotating disk as opposed to the bearing rotary elements.Moreover,the research based on bearing rotary elements is conducted by experiment.Due to the limited operating conditions,experimental studies cannot guide engineering applications.To overcome these limitations,a theoretical model is established in this paper,for revealing the mechanism of oil shedding from bearing rotary elements and quantifying the shedding ligaments.The theoretical model is validated against experimental results from classical studies.In addition,the correlation for shedding ligaments number based on aeroengine bearing structural and operational parameters is obtained via theoretical analysis.The analytical results demonstrate that oil shedding and ligaments formation appear at the edge of bearing inner race outer-periphery.The number of shedding ligaments increases with the rise of shaft rotational speed while decreases with the growth of oil viscosity.

Pneumatic pressure control based on improved NMPC and its application to aeroengine surge simulation

In the semi-physical simulation of aeroengines,using the pneumatic pressure servo control technology to provide realistic pneumatic excitation to the sensors and electronic controller can improve the confidence of the simulation and reduce the test cost and risk.However,the existing methods could not satisfy the precise simulation of large-amplitude and high-frequency pulsating pressure during aeroengine surge.In this paper,a pneumatic pressure control system with asymmetric groups of the High-Speed on–off Valve(HSV)is designed,and an Improved Nonlinear Model Predictive Control(INMPC)method is proposed.First,the volumetric flow characteristics of HSV are tested and analyzed with Pulse Width Modulation(PWM)signal input.Then,a simplified HSV model with the volume flow characteristic correction is developed.Based on these,an integrated model for the whole system is further established and used as the prediction model in INMPC.To improve the computational speed of the rolling optimization process,the mapping scheme from control signal to PWM duty cycle of HSVs and the objective function with exterior penalty function are designed.Finally,the random step,sinusoidal and real engine surge data are set as the reference pressure in multiple comparative experiments to verify the effectiveness of the pressure tracking system.

A 5-DOF Model for Aeroengine Spindle Dual-rotor System Analysis

This paper develops a five degrees of freedom（5-DOF） model for aeroengine spindle dual-rotor system dynamic analysis.In this system,the dual rotors are supported on two angular contact ball bearings and two deep groove ball bearings,one of the latter-mentioned bearings works as the inter-shaft bearing.Driven by respective motors,the dual rotors have different co-rotating speeds.The proposed model mathematically formulates the nonlinear displacements,elastic deflections and contact forces of bearings with consideration of 5-DOF and coupling of dual rotors.The nonlinear equations of motions of dual rotors with 5-DOF are solved using Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg algorithm.In order to investigate the effect of the introduced 5-DOF and nonlinear dy-namic bearing model,we compare the proposed model with two models：the 3-DOF model of this system only considering three translational degrees of freedom（Gupta,1993,rotational freedom is neglected）;the 5-DOF model where the deep groove ball bearings are simplified as linear elastic spring（Guskov,2007）.The simulation results verify Gupta＇s prediction（1993） and show that the rotational freedom of rotors and nonlinear dynamic model of bearings have great effect on the system dynamic simula-tion.The quantitative results are given as well.

Electrochemical machining of complex components of aero-engines: Developments, trends, and technological advances

Because of several advantages, such as no tool wear, independence on the mechanical properties of the material, and high machining efficiency, electrochemical machining(ECM) has become a viable method for machining components in numerous industrial applications, particularly in the manufacture of typical aero-engine components with complex structures fabricated from materials that are difficult to cut. This paper highlights the current developments, new trends, and technological advances of key factors of ECM, such as electrochemical dissolution characteristics of novel difficult to cut materials which are often used in aero-engine, numerical simulation of electrochemical process, design for the complex profile and structure of cathode tool, flow field simulation and design for uniform electrolyte flow, and innovation of electrochemical machining or hybrid methods which reflect the state of the art in academic and industrial research on electrochemical machining in aero-engine manufacturing.