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.

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.

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.

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].

Onboard real time modeling of aircraft engines with Hammerstein-Wiener representation

An identification-based approach for aircraft engine modeling using the nonlinear HammersteinWiener representation was proposed.Hammerstein-Wiener modeling for both limited flight envelope and extended flight envelope was investigated.Simulation shows that the resulting model can be valid over 10%variation of rotational speed of the engine,compared with those linear models that are only valid over 3%—5%change of rotational speed.It is further demonstrated that the proposed method can be utilized over large envelope up to 20% variation of rotational speed of the engine.The fundamental idea is to use nonlinear models to extend the feasible/valid region rather than those linear models.This may consequently simplify the switching logic in the onboard digital control units.This is often overlooked in aircraft engine control community,but has been emphasized in the research.

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holding Co., Ltd. Develops the Metal Materials for Aircraft Engines

Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holding Co.,Ltd.has signed a joint venture agreement with a subsidiary of Aero Engine Corporation of China,proposing to establish a JV to engage in the R&D and production of special aerial metal materials.Presently,the JV project

Adaptive sliding mode control for limit protection of aircraft engines

In practice, some sensors of aircraft engines naturally fail to obtain an acceptable measurement for control propose, which will severely degrade the system performance and even deactivate the limit protection function. This paper proposes an adaptive strategy for the limit protection task under unreliable measurement. With the help of a nominal system, an online estimator with gradient adaption law and low-pass filter is devised to evaluate output uncertainty.Based on the estimation result, a sliding mode controller is designed by defining a sliding surface and deriving a control law. Using Lyapunov theorem, the stability of the online estimator and the closed-loop system is detailedly proven. Simulations based on a reliable turbofan model are presented, which verify the stability and effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulation results show that the online estimator can operate against the measurement noise, and the sliding controller can keep relevant outputs within their limits despite slow-response sensors.

Managing Coordination Complexity in the Remanufacturing of Aircraft Engines

The complexity of communication and coordination stemming from teams responsible for adjusting interdependent parameters of components is a fundamental feature in the aircraft engine remanufacturing engineering project. To manage coordination complexity, the features of the remanufacturing process of aircraft engine are analyzed and a systematic method is presented to measure and optimize the dependency between coupled components.Furthermore, quantitative models are built based on Design Structure Matrix(DSM) models to measure dependency strengths related to the parameter features of the components. Also, a two-stage DSM clustering criteria is used to reduce the complexity of an organization. An industrial example is provided to illustrate the proposed models. The results showed that the proposed approach can reduce total coordination complexity.

Study of Flow and Heat Transfer in an Ejector-Driven Swirl Anti-Icing Chamber

The formation of ice on the leading edge of aircraft engines is a serious issue,as it can have catastrophic consequences.The Swirl Anti-Icing(SAI)system,driven by ejection,circulates hot fluid within a 360°annular chamber to heat the engine inlet lip surface and prevent icing.This study employs a validated Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)approach to study the impact of key geometric parameters of this system on flow and heat transfer characteristics within the anti-icing chamber.Additionally,the entropy generation rate and exergy efficiency are analyzed to assess the energy utilization in the system.The research findings indicate that,within the considered flow range,reducing the nozzle specific areaφfrom 0.03061 to 0.01083 can enhance the ejection coefficient by over 60.7%.This enhancement increases the air circulating rate,thereby intensifying convective heat transfer within the SAI chamber.However,the reduction inφalso leads to a significant increase in the required bleed air pressure and a higher entropy generation rate,indicating lower exergy efficiency.The nozzle angleθnotably affects the distribution of hot and cold spots on the lip surface of the SAI chamber.Increasingθfrom 0°to 20°reduces the maximum temperature difference on the anti-icing chamber surface by 60 K.

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.

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.

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.

Technologies and studies of gas exchange in two-stroke aircraft piston engine:A review

The in-cylinder gas exchange process is crucial to the power performance of two-stroke aircraft piston engines,which is easily influenced by complex factors such as high-altitude performance variation and in-cylinder flow characteristics.This paper reviews the development history and characteristics of gas exchange types,as well as the current state of theory and the validation methods of gas exchange technology,while also discusses the trends of cutting-edge technologies in the field.This paper provides a theoretical foundation for the optimization and engineering design of gas exchange systems and,more importantly,points out that the innovation of gas exchange types,the modification of theoretical models,and the technology of variable airflow organization are the key future research directions in this field.

飞机环境控制系统动态仿真(英文)

The dynamic research of aircraft environmental control system (ECS) is an important step in the advanced ECS design process. Based on the thermodynamics theory, mathematical models for the dynamic performance simulating of aircraft ECS were set up and an ECS simulation toolbox (ECS_1.0) was created with MATLAB language. It consists of main component modules (ducts, valves, heat exchangers, compressor, turbine, etc.). An aircraft environmental control system computer model was developed to assist engineers with the design and development of ECS dynamic optimization. An example simulating an existing ECS was given which shows the satisfactory effects.

Luster Polish Strengthening Treatment for Raceway Surface of Aeroengine Bearings

A new surface strengthening technology, luster polish strengthening treatment, was proposed to treat the raceway surface of aeroengine bearings （9Cr18Mo） with the centrifugal strengthening machine exclusively designed for luster polish strengthening treatment. The experimental results showed that luster polish strengthening treatment produced a compressive residual stress layer with a depth of over 80 μm below the surface of the bearing raceway, and thus effectively removed the metamorphic layer in the raceway surface. After luster polish strengthening treatment, the average surface hardness of the aeroengine bearing raceway was increased from 61.02 HRC to 63.01 HRC, the surface roughness was reduced from 0.06 μm to 0.03 μm, and the contact fatigue life of the aeroengine bearings was improved by about 90%, with the dispersion of fatigue life being reduced remarkably. Theoretical calculation result agrees with that obtained by experiment.

A Novel Integrated Machine&Business Intelligence Framework for Sensor Data Analysis

Increased smart devices in various industries are creating numerous sensors in each of the equipment prompting the need for methods and models for sensor data.Current research proposes a systematic approach to analyze the data generated from sensors attached to industrial equipment.The methodology involves data cleaning,preprocessing,basics statistics,outlier,and anomaly detection.Present study presents the prediction of RUL by using various Machine Learning models like Regression,Polynomial Regression,Random Forest,Decision Tree,XG Boost.Hyper Parameter Optimization is performed to find the optimal parameters for each variable.In each of the model for RUL prediction RMSE,MAE are compared.Outcome of the RUL prediction should be useful for decision maker to drive the business decision;hence Binary cclassification is performed,and business case analysis is performed.Business case analysis includes the cost of maintenance and cost of non-maintaining a particular asset.Current research is aimed at integrating the machine intelligence and business intelligence so that the industrial operations optimized both in resource and profit.

Design and optimization of a novel electrically controlled high pressure fuel injection system for heavy fuel aircraft piston engine

The heavy fuel compression ignition engines are widely equipped as aircraft piston engines. The fuel injection system is one of the key technologies that determines the performance of engine. One of the main challenges is to precisely control the injected fuel quantity and flow rate in the presence of pressure fluctuation. This challenge is even more serious for heavy fuel. An original design for electrically controlled high pressure fuel injection system called Multi-Pumppressure-reservoirs fuel injection System(MPS) was demonstrated to reduce the pressure fluctuation and help keep injection stable. MPS was compared with an ordinary high pressure Common Rail fuel injection System(CRS). This work established one-dimensional AMESim and mathematical models for both CRS and MPS to study the effect of different structures and geometric parameters on the pressure fluctuations. The calculations show that the average fuel pressure fluctuation of MPS can be reduced by 57% for the crankshaft speed of 1900 r/min, and the pressure fluctuation before injection reduced by 100%. It is concluded that the pressure performance of MPS is less sensitive to pressure reservoir volume than that of CRS, and there is an opportunity for further volume reduction.

A new online modelling method for aircraft engine state space model

To overcome the drawbacks of current modelling method for aircraft engine state space model,a new method is introduced.The form of state space model is derived by using Talyor series to expand the nonlinear model that is implicit equations and involves many iterations.A partial derivative calculation method for iterations is developed to handle the influence of iterations on parameters.The derivative calculation and the aerothermodynamics calculations are combined in the component level model with fixed number Newton-Raphson(N-R)iterations.Mathematical derivation and simulations show the convergence ability of proposed method.Simulations show that comparing with the linear parameter varying model and centered difference based state space model,much higher accuracy of proposed online modelling method is achieved.The accuracy of the state space model built by proposed method can be maintained when the step amplitudes of inputs are within 2%,and the responses of the state space model can match those of the component level model when each input steps larger amplitudes.In addition,an online verification was carried out to show the capability of modelling at any operating point and that state space model can predict future outputs accurately.Thus,the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated.

Application of wireless sensor networks to aircraft control and health management systems

Use of fly-by-wire technology for aircraft flight controls have resulted in an improved performance and reliability along with achieving reduction in control system weight. Implementation of full authority digital engine control has also resulted in more intelligent, reliable, light-weight aircraft engine control systems. Greater reduction in weight can be achieved by replacing the wire harness with a wireless communication network. The first step towards fly-by-wireless control systems is likely to be the introduction of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are already finding a variety of applications for both safety-critical and nonsafety critical distributed systems. Some of the many potential benefits of using WSN for aircraft systems include weight reduction, ease of maintenance and an increased monitoring capability. This paper discusses the application of WSN for several aircraft systems such as distributed aircraft engine control, aircraft flight control, aircraft engine and structural health monitoring systems. A brief description of each system is presented along with a discussion on the technological challenges. Future research directions for application of WSN in aircraft systems are also discussed.

Sensitivity Analysis for Safety Design Verification of General Aviation Reciprocating Aircraft Engine

This paper presents an application of global sensitivity analysis for system safety analysis of reciprocating aircraft engine. Compared with local sensitivity analysis results, global sensitivity analysis could provide more information on parameter inter- actions, which are significant in complex system safety analysis. First, a deterministic aviation reciprocating engine thermody- namics model is developed and parameters of interest are defined as random variables. Then, samples are generated by Monte Carlo method for the parameters used in engine model on the basis of definition of factor distribution. Eventually, results from engine model are generated and importance indices are calculated. Based on the analysis results, design is improved to satisfy the airworthiness requirements. The results reveal that by using global sensitivity analysis, the parameters could be ranked with respect to their importance, including first order indices and total sensitivity indices. By reducing the uncertainty of parameters and adjusting the range of inputs, safety criteria would be satisfied.