Remaining useful life prediction of aero-engines based on random-coefficient regression model considering random failure threshold

Remaining useful life(RUL)prediction is one of the most crucial components in prognostics and health management(PHM)of aero-engines.This paper proposes an RUL prediction method of aero-engines considering the randomness of failure threshold.Firstly,a random-coefficient regression(RCR)model is used to model the degradation process of aeroengines.Then,the RUL distribution based on fixed failure threshold is derived.The prior parameters of the degradation model are calculated by a two-step maximum likelihood estimation(MLE)method and the random coefficient is updated in real time under the Bayesian framework.The failure threshold in this paper is defined by the actual degradation process of aeroengines.After that,a expectation maximization(EM)algorithm is proposed to estimate the underlying failure threshold of aeroengines.In addition,the conditional probability is used to satisfy the limitation of failure threshold.Then,based on above results,an analytical expression of RUL distribution of aero-engines based on the RCR model considering random failure threshold(RFT)is derived in a closed-form.Finally,a case study of turbofan engine is used to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the RUL prediction method and the parameters estimation method of failure threshold proposed.

Modal analysis strategy and nonlinear dynamic characteristics of complicated aero-engine dual-rotor system with rub-impact

This paper aims to gain insight into the nonlinear modal characteristics and the possible influence of the modes on the responses for the practical dual-rotor system with rub-impact in aero-engine.The finite solid element method combined with a constraint stiffness model produced by rub-impact is introduced to build the governing equation of the complicated nonlinear dual-rotor system.In order to deal with the efficiency and numerical divergence in the process of solving the nonlinear modes of this large-scale nonlinear system,an analysis strategy is proposed by integrating a two-layer reduction technique into the harmonic balance method.The effectiveness of the analysis strategy is validated by applying to a simple rotor system,which can easily obtain the theoretical result.Based on the modeling method and analysis strategy,the modal characteristics of an aero-engine dual-rotor system with rub-impact are revealed.The results show that the modal frequency of the dual-rotor system increases when rub-impact occurs and has the feature of interval,which allows us to obtain the critical speeds of the rubbing system by traditional Campbell diagram.The rotation direction is an important factor since it can not only affect the gyroscopic effect but also change the friction effect of the rub-impact.It is found that the modal frequencies of the counter-rotation dual-rotor are less than those of co-rotation condition.More importantly,the forward modes of the counter-rotation dual-rotor may be instable when rub-impact occurs at a certain rotor,while the corresponding modes under the co-rotation condition are always stable.Furthermore,by analyzing the rubbing response of the dual-rotor,it is found that the modal characteristics have an important influence on rotor’s response.The instable forward modes existing in the counter-rotation dual-rotor may lead to the divergence of the response when passing the corresponding critical speed.

An Inter-Shaft Bearing Fault Diagnosis Dataset from an Aero-Engine System

In this paper,the aero-engine test with inter-shaft bearing fault is carried out,and a dataset is proposed for the first time based on the vibration signal of rotors and casings.First,a test rig based on a real aero-engine is established,driven by motors and equipped with a lubricating system.Then,the aero-engine is disassembled and assembled following the specification process,and the inter-shaft bearing with artificial fault is replaced.Next,the aero-engine test is conducted at 28 groups of high-and low-pressure speeds.Six measuring points are arranged,including two displacement sensors to test the displacement vibration signals of the low-pressure rotor and four acceleration sensors to test the acceleration vibration signals of the casing.The test results are integrated into an inter-shaft bearing fault dataset.Finally,based on the dataset in this paper,frequency spectrum,envelope spectrum,CNN,LSTM,and TST are used for fault diagnosis,and the results are compared with those of CWRU and XJTU datasets.The results show that the characteristic fault frequency cannot be found directly in the spectrum and envelope spectrum corresponding to this paper’s dataset but in CWRU and XJTU datasets.Using CNN,LSTM,and TST for fault diagnosis of the dataset in this paper,the accuracy is 83.13%,85.41%,and 71.07%,respectively,much lower than the diagnosis results of CWRU and XJTU datasets.It can be seen that the dataset in this paper is closer to the actual fault diagnosis situation and is a more challenging dataset.This dataset provides a new benchmark for the validation of fault diagnosis methods.Mendeley data:https://github.com/HouLeiHIT/HIT-dataset.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH TEMPERATURESTRUCTURAL MATERIALS FOR AERO-ENGINE APPLICATIONS

The status of research, development of superalloys and materials processing ＆ fabrication technologies for aero-engine applications in China Aviation Industry, with an emphasis on recent achievements at BIAM including directionally solidified and single crystal superalloys for blade and vane applications, wrought superqlloys for aero-engine disks and rings, and powder metalurgy （PM） superalloys for high performance disk applications were described. It was also reviewed the development of new class of high temperature structural materials, such as structural intermetallics, and advanced material processing technologies including rapid solidification, spray forming and so on. The trends of research and development of the above mentioned superalloys and processing technologies are outlined. Cast, wrought and PM superalloys are the workhorse materials for the hot section of current aero-engines. New high temperature materials and advanced processing technologies have been and will be the subject of study. It is speculated that high performance, high purity and low cost superalloys and technologies will play key roles in aero-engines.

Convergence Analysis of the Numerical Solution for Cathode Design of Aero-engine Blades in Electrochemical Machining

As a main difficult problem encountered in electrochemical machining （ECM）, the cathode design is tackled, at present, with various numerical analysis methods such as finite difference, finite element and boundary element methods. Among them, the finite element method presents more flexibility to deal with the irregularly shaped workpieces. However, it is very difficult to ensure the convergence of finite element numerical approach. This paper proposes an accurate model and a finite element numerical approach of cathode design based on the potential distribution in inter-electrode gap. In order to ensure the convergence of finite element numerical approach and increase the accuracy in cathode design, the cathode shape should be iterated to eliminate the design errors in computational process. Several experiments are conducted to verify the machining accuracy of the designed cathode. The experimental results have proven perfect convergence and good computing accuracy of the proposed finite element numerical approach by the high surface quality and dimensional accuracy of the machined blades.

Machining the Integral Impeller and Blisk of Aero-Engines:A Review of Surface Finishing and Strengthening Technologies

The integral impeller and blisk of an aero-engine are high performance parts with complex structure and made of difficult-to-cut materials. The blade surfaces of the integral impeller and blisk are functional surfaces for power transmission, and their surface integrity has signif- icant effects on the aerodynamic efficiency and service life of an aero-engine. Thus, it is indispensable to finish and strengthen the blades before use. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of studies on finishing and strengthening technologies for the impeller and blisk of aero-engines. The review includes independent and inte- grated finishing and strengthening technologies and dis- cusses advanced rotational abrasive flow machining with back-pressure used for finishing the integral impeller and blisk. A brief assessment of future research problems and directions is also presented.

Aero-engine Blade Fatigue Analysis Based on Nonlinear Continuum Damage Model Using Neural Networks

Fatigue life and reliability of aero-engine blade are always of important significance to flight safety.The establishment of damage model is one of the key factors in blade fatigue research.Conventional linear Miner＇s sum method is not suitable for aero-engine because of its low accuracy.A back propagation neutral network（BPNN） based on the combination of Levenberg-Marquardt（LM） and finite element method（FEM） is used to describe process of nonlinear damage accumulation behavior in material and predict fatigue life of the blade.Fatigue tests of standard specimen made from TC4 are carried out to obtain material fatigue parameters and S-N curve.A nonlinear continuum damage model（CDM）,based on the BPNN with one hidden layer and ten neurons,is built to investigate the nonlinear damage accumulation behavior,in which the results from the tests are used as training set.Comparing with linear models and previous nonlinear models,BPNN has the lowest calculation error in full load range.It has significant accuracy when the load is below 500 MPa.Especially,when the load is 350 MPa,the calculation error of the BPNN is only 0.4%.The accurate model of the blade is built by using 3D coordinate measurement technology.The loading cycle in fatigue analysis is defined from takeoff to cruise in 10 min,and the load history is obtained from finite element analysis（FEA）.Then the fatigue life of the compressor blade is predicted by using the BPNN model.The final fatigue life of the aero-engine blade is 6.55 104 cycles（10 916 h） based on the BPNN model,which is effective for the virtual design of aero-engine blade.

Application of multi-outputs LSSVR by PSO to the aero-engine model

Considering the modeling errors of on-board self-tuning model in the fault diagnosis of aero-engine, a new mechanism for compensating the model outputs is proposed. A discrete series predictor based on multi-outputs least square support vector regression （LSSVR） is applied to the compensation of on-board self-tuning model of aero-engine, and particle swarm optimization （PSO） is used to the kernels selection of multi-outputs LSSVR. The method need not reconstruct the model of aero-engine because of the differences in the individuals of the same type engines and engine degradation after use. The concrete steps for the application of the method are given, and the simulation results show the effectiveness of the algorithm.

Aero-engine Thrust Estimation Based on Ensemble of Improved Wavelet Extreme Learning Machine

Aero-engine direct thrust control can not only improve the thrust control precision but also save the operating cost by reducing the reserved margin in design and making full use of aircraft engine potential performance.However,it is a big challenge to estimate engine thrust accurately.To tackle this problem,this paper proposes an ensemble of improved wavelet extreme learning machine(EW-ELM)for aircraft engine thrust estimation.Extreme learning machine(ELM)has been proved as an emerging learning technique with high efficiency.Since the combination of ELM and wavelet theory has the both excellent properties,wavelet activation functions are used in the hidden nodes to enhance non-linearity dealing ability.Besides,as original ELM may result in ill-condition and robustness problems due to the random determination of the parameters for hidden nodes,particle swarm optimization(PSO)algorithm is adopted to select the input weights and hidden biases.Furthermore,the ensemble of the improved wavelet ELM is utilized to construct the relationship between the sensor measurements and thrust.The simulation results verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the developed method and show that aero-engine thrust estimation using EW-ELM can satisfy the requirements of direct thrust control in terms of estimation accuracy and computation time.

Bifurcation analysis of aero-engine's rotor system under constant maneuver load

When an aircraft is hovering or doing a dive-hike flight at a fixed speed, a constant additional inertial force will be induced to the rotor system of the aero-engine, which can be called a constant maneuver load. Take hovering as an example. A Jeffcott rotor system with a biased rotor and several nonlinear elastic supports is modeled, and the vibration characteristics of the rotor system under a constant maneuver load are analytically studied. By using the multiple-scale method, the differential equations of the system are solved, and the bifurcation equations are obtained. Then, the bifurcations of the system are analyzed by using the singularity theory for the two variables. In the EG-plane, where E refers to the eccentricity of the rotor and G represents the constant maneuver load, two hysteresis point sets and one double limit point set are obtained. The bifurcation diagrams are also plotted. It is indicated that the resonance regions of the two variables will shift to the right when the aircraft is maneuvering. Furthermore, the movement along the horizontal direction is faster than that along the vertical direction. Thus, the different overlapping modes of the two resonance regions will bring about different bifurcation modes due to the nonlinear coupling effects. This result lays a theoretical foundation for controlling the stability of the aero-engine＇s rotor system under a maneuver load.

Aero-Engine Surge Fault Diagnosis Using Deep Neural Network

Deep learning techniques have outstanding performance in feature extraction and modelfitting.In thefield of aero-engine fault diagnosis,the intro-duction of deep learning technology is of great significance.The aero-engine is the heart of the aircraft,and its stable operation is the primary guarantee of the aircraft.In order to ensure the normal operation of the aircraft,it is necessary to study and diagnose the faults of the aero-engine.Among the many engine fail-ures,the one that occurs more frequently and is more hazardous is the wheeze,which often poses a great threat toflight safety.On the basis of analyzing the mechanism of aero-engine surge,an aero-engine surge fault diagnosis method based on deep learning technology is proposed.In this paper,key sensor data are obtained by analyzing different engine sensor data.An aero-engine surge data-set acquisition algorithm(ASDA)is proposed to sample the fault and normal points to generate the training set,validation set and test set.Based on neural net-work models such as one-dimensional convolutional neural network(1D-CNN),convolutional neural network(RNN),and long-short memory neural network(LSTM),different neural network optimization algorithms are selected to achieve fault diagnosis and classification.The experimental results show that the deep learning technique has good effect in aero-engine surge fault diagnosis.The aero-engine surge fault diagnosis network(ASFDN)proposed in this paper achieves better results.Through training,the network achieves more than 99%classification accuracy for the test set.

H∞ Tracking Control for Switched LPV Systems With an Application to Aero-Engines

This paper focuses on the H_∞ model reference tracking control for a switched linear parameter-varying(LPV)model representing an aero-engine. The switched LPV aeroengine model is built based on a family of linearized models.Multiple parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions technique is used to design a tracking control law for the desirable H_∞ tracking performance. A control synthesis condition is formulated in terms of the solvability of a matrix optimization problem.Simulation result on the aero-engine model shows the feasibility and validity of the switching tracking control scheme.

Failure Assessment of Aero-engine Support Structure due to Blade-off

Aero-engine blade-off event could cause serious malfunction and endanger flight safety,which is an important issue widely concerned for a long period.This paper presents a comprehensive review on the regulation requirements,the major research methods and status at home and abroad.Firstly,the relevant certification regulations and standards about aero-engine structure safety due to blade-off event were overviewed and the research gaps between the abroad and the domestic were compared.Then,the simulation and experimental methodologies on aero-engine supporting structures undertake abnormal load due to blade-off event were discussed as major issue.Finally,the safety certification verification technology system for aero-engine support structures during blade-off event was proposed.

Reliability Based Design Optimization of Aero-Engine Spindle Ball Bearings

Aero-engine spindle ball bearings work in harsh conditions which are affected by relatively complex stresses. One of the key factors which affects bearing performance is its structure. In this paper,we used reliability based design optimization method to solve the structure design problem of aero-engine spindle ball bearings.Compared with the optimization design method, the value of equivalent dynamic load using reliability optimization design method was the least by MATLAB simulation. Also the design solutions show that the optimized structure possesses higher reliability than the original solution.

Recognition and practice on remanufacturing engineering management of military aero-engines

The technologies of design, manufacture and MRO （maintenance, repair and overhaul） tor the mili- tary aero-engines, particularly for the fighters, are much more difficult to be mastered than those for any other aero-engines. They have been monopolized by only a few countries and the core technologies have never been transferred due to high risk, high investment, high barrier and high cost. Therefore, our country has long relied on mapping and copying the others＇ engines to satisfy the domestic demand due to not having our own indepen- dent technologies for the design and manufacture of military aero-engines. However, through over 20 years of unremitting effort, the independent MRO has been achieved for all the Chinese fighter engines, covering in- R＆D （research and development） and in-service engines; and the MRO technologies, capabilities, quality, cost-efficiency have reached or exceeded those of original manufacturers. It has grown out of nothing, and then from weak to strong. In particular, dozens of projects concerning the R＆D and engineering application of re- manufacturing have obtained the independent intellectual property rights and are playing an irreplaceable role in achieving leaping improvement of independent MRO for Chinese military aero-engines.

Power System Analysis of an Aero-Engine

The aim of this study is analyzed in detail for better understanding of energy and power of an aero-engine. In this regard, this study presents energy equations were applied to the turbofan engine components. The engine has a thrust range of 82 to 109 kN. It consists of fan, axial low pressure compressor (LPC), axial high pressure compressor (HPC), an annular combustion chamber, high-pressure turbine (HPT) and low pressure turbine (LPT). The results show that power of the engine flow approaches a maximum value to be 82.85 MW in the combustor outlet, while minimum power is observed at LPC inlet with the value of 1.37 MW. Furthermore, important parameters of the engine are also analyzed from reverse-engineering method. It is expected that results of this study will be beneficial of power, cogeneration and aero-propulsive generation systems in similar environment.

A digital twin-enhanced collaborative maintenance paradigm for aero-engine fleet

Maintenance of aero-engine fleets is crucial for the efficiency,safety,and reliability of the aviation industry.With the increasing demand for air transportation,maintaining high-performing aero-engines has become significant.Collaborative maintenance,specifically targeting aero-engine fleets,involves the coordination of multiple tasks and resources to enhance management efficiency and reduce costs.Digital Twin(DT)technology provides essential technical support for the intelligent operation and maintenance of aero-engine fleets.DT maps physical object properties to the virtual world,creating high-fidelity,dynamic models.However,DT-enhanced collaborative maintenance faces various challenges,including the construction of complex system-layer DT models,management of massive integrated DT data,and the development of fusion mechanisms and decision-making methods for DT data and models.Overcoming these challenges will allow the aviation industry to optimize aero-engine fleet maintenance,ensuring safety,efficiency,and cost-effectiveness while meeting the growing demand for air transportation.

Comprehensive evaluations of heat transfer performance with conjugate heat dissipation effect in high-speed rotating free-disk modeling of aero-engines

Thermal boundary conditions of the turbine disk cavity system are of great importance in the design of secondary air systems in aero-engines.This study aims to investigate the complex heat transfer mechanisms of a rotating turbine disk under high-speed conditions.A high-speed rotating free-disk model with Dorfman empirical solutions is developed to evaluate the heat transfer performance considering various factors.Specifically,the influence of compressibility,variable properties,and heat dissipation is determined using theoretical and numerical analyses.In particular,a novel combined solution method is proposed to simplify the complex heat transfer problem.The results indicate that the heat transfer performance of a free disk is primarily influenced by the rotating Mach number,rotating Reynolds number,Rossby number,and wall temperature ratio.The heat transfer temperature and Nusselt number of the free disk are strongly correlated with the rotating Mach number and rotating Reynolds number.Analysis reveals that heat dissipation is a critical factor affecting the accurate evaluation of the heat transfer performance of the turbine disk.Thus,the combined solution method can serve as a reference for future investigations of flow and heat transfer in high-speed rotating turbine disk cavity systems in aero-engines.

Analysis on Nonlinear Dynamic Properties of Dual-Rotor System

In order to clarify the effects of support structure on a dual-rotor machine,a dynamic model is established which takes into consideration the contact force of ball bearing and the cubic stiffness of elastic support. Bearing clearance,Hertz contact between the ball and race and the varying compliance effect are included in the model of ball bearing. The system response is obtained through numerical integration method,and the vibration due to the periodic change of bearing stiffness is investigated. The motions of periodic,quasiperiodic and even chaotic are found when bearing clearance is used as control parameter to simulate the response of rotor system. The results reveal two typical routes to chaos: quasi-periodic bifurcation and intermittent bifurcation. Large cubic stiffness of elastic support may cause jump and hysteresis phenomena in resonance curve when rotors run at the critical-speed region. The modeling results acquired by numerical simulation will contribute to understanding and controlling of the nonlinear behaviors of the dual-rotor system.

Effect of Hub-Ratio on Performance of Asymmetric Dual-Rotor Small Axial Fan

Currently, domestic and abroad scholars put more attention on contra-rotating dual-rotor axial fan. But there is less scholars study on asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan, which is one of the contra-rotating dual-rotor axial fans. Like axial fan, many factors have influence on the performance of the asymmetric dual-rotor small axial flow fan, such as the wheel hub ratio, blade shape, blade number, stagger angle and the tip clearance. Because wheel hub ratio has great impact on the performance of the fan, we choose the size of wheel hub ratio as a variable factor to study the model change. There is a different wheel hub ratio between front stage impeller and rear stage of asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan, so it is very beneficial to select the greater wind area that the fan area of external diameter minuses the area occupied by the blades and the hub as front stage impeller. In this paper, the hub-ratio of front stage impeller is 0.72, and that of rear stage is 0.72, 0.67 and 0.62 respectively along with the front stage impeller. Three kinds of models with different hub ratio of rear stage are simulated using the CFD software and the static characteristics are obtained. Based on the experimental test results, the internal flow field of the asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan is analyzed in detail, the impact trends of different hub-ratio on the performance of asymmetric dual-rotor small axial fan are obtained and the argument of structure optimization for dual-rotor small axial fan is provided.