Efficiency optimized fuel supply strategy of aircraft engine based on air-fuel ratio control

Accurate fuel injection control of aircraft engine can optimize the energy efficiency of UAV power system while meeting the propeller speed requirement. Traditional injection control method such as open-loop calibration causes instability of fuel supply which brings the risk of power loss of UAV. Considering that the closed-loop control of AFR can ensure a stable fuel feeding, this paper proposes an AFR control based fuel supply strategy in order to improve the efficiency of fuel-powered UAV while obtaining the required engine speed. According to the optimum fuel injection results, we implement fuzzy-PID method to control the set AFR in different situations. Through simulation and experiment studies, the results indicate that, to begin with, the calibrated mathematical model of the aircraft engine is effective. Next, this fuel supply strategy based on AFR control can normally realize the engine speed regulation, and the applied control algorithm can eliminate the overshoot of AFR throughout all the working progress. What is more,the fuel supply strategy can averagely shorten the response time of the engine speed by about two seconds. In addition, compared with the open-loop calibration, in this work the power efficiency is improved by 9% to 33%. Last but not the least, the endurance can be improved by 30 min with a normal engine speed. This paper can be a reference for the optimization of UAV aircraft engine.     

NOx emissions of turbofan powered unmanned aerial vehicle for complete flight cycle

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been getting more and more popular in both civil and military arena. Similar to manned aircraft, their propulsion systems or engines emit harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides. Since UAVs have different mission profiles and operational parameters than manned aircraft, it is worthy to investigate their NO_x emissions. Therefore, in this study, NO_x emissions of a turbofan powered UAV for complete flight cycle was calculated and optimized within a range of altitude and speed parameters. NO_x emissions were calculated based on ICAO ground test data and corrected to any speed and altitude during flight legs using both Boeing Fuel Flow Method 2 and DLR Fuel Flow Method. Total NO_x emissions were calculated for complete flight cycles for different altitude and speed parameters. Numerical results were presented graphically and additionally optimization studies were conducted. Optimization studies include determination and comparison of speed and altitude for minimum NO_x emissions by the two fuel flow methods and maximum loiter time achievable by UAV.     

Optimization on conventional and electric air-cycle refrigeration systems of aircraft: A short-cut method and analysis

The air-cycle refrigeration system is widely used in commercial and military aircraft, and its efficiency greatly affects aircraft performance. Nowadays, this system requires a more efficient design and optimization method. In this paper, a short-cut optimization method with high efficiency and effectiveness is introduced for both conventional and electric air-cycle refrigeration systems. Based on the system characteristics, a four-layer parameter matching algorithm is designed which avoids computational difficulty caused by simultaneous equations. Fuel penalty is chosen as the objective function of optimization; design variables are reduced based on sensitivity analysis to improve optimization efficiency. The results show that the 3-variable optimization of the conventional air-cycle refrigeration system can obtain almost the same results as the traditional 6-variable optimization in that these two optimizations can both significantly reduce the fuel penalty. However, the computer running time of the 3-variable optimization is much shorter than that of the 6-variable optimization. The optimal fuel penalty of the electric air-cycle refrigeration system is lower than that of the conventional one. This study can provide reference for optimizing the air-cycle refrigeration system of aircraft.     

Aircraft air conditioning system health state estimation and prediction for predictive maintenance

The vast potential of system health monitoring and condition based maintenance on modern commercial aircraft is being realized through the innovative use of Airplane Condition Monitoring System (ACMS) data. However there are few methods addressing the issues of failure prognostics and predictive maintenance for commercial aircraft Air Conditioning System (ACS). This study developed a Bayesian failure prognostics approach using ACMS data for predictive maintenance of ACS. First, a health index characterizing the ACS health state is inferred from a multiple sensor signals using a data driven method. Then a dynamic linear model is proposed to describe the degradation process for failure prognostics. Bayesian inference formulas are carried out for degradation estimation and prediction. The developed approach is applied on a passenger aircraft fleet with ACMS data recorded for one year. The analysis of the case study shows that the developed method can produce satisfactory prognostics results, where all the ACS failure precursors are identified in advance, and the relative errors for the failure time prediction made when just entering the degradation warning stage are less than 8%. This would allow operators to proactively plan future maintenance.     

General optimal design of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle for priority considering propulsion system

This paper describes the general optimization design method of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which priority considering propulsion system planning. Based on the traditional solar powered aircraft design method, the propulsion system top-level target parameters which affect the path planning are integrated into the general optimization design. According to the typical mission requirements of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, considering the design variables such as wing area, aspect ratio, design mission date and so on, the general optimization is carried out with the minimum aircraft weight as the optimization objective. The influence of wing area and aspect ratio on the optimal design results is analyzed and compared with the traditional design method. The results show that the general design method of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for priority considering propulsion system can greatly reduce the electricity demand of energy storage battery, greatly reduce the aircraft weight of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.     

航空发动机冰晶结冰研究进展

飞机在高空区域巡航时可能遭遇冰晶气象，导致发动机吸入冰晶颗粒发生结冰故障，欧美等国已将冰晶结冰纳入适航 取证要求，中国也考虑在后续发动机适航取证中增加冰晶结冰考核项目。为了准确掌握国内外冰晶结冰研究现状，通过调研文 献，对比了冰晶结冰与过冷水滴结冰在结冰位置、结冰条件和结冰机理方面的区别，阐述了试验研究和数值仿真方面的重要进展， 其中，试验研究分别介绍了冰晶在静态部件和动态部件内的撞击与结冰过程，数值仿真按照空气流场计算、冰晶运动轨迹和撞击 特性计算及结冰计算的顺序，总结了欧拉法与拉格朗日法的区别、冰晶运动相变与黏附过程及结冰热物理模型，并介绍了冰晶结 冰软件在数值模拟中的广泛应用，提出了目前在冰晶碰撞、结冰热力学模型、结冰探测及风洞试验等方面需要进一步研究的内容， 以期为中国冰晶结冰研究提供参考。     

A data-driven health indicator extraction method for aircraft air conditioning system health monitoring

Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) has become a very important tool in modern commercial aircraft. Considering limited built-in sensing devices on the legacy aircraft model, one of the challenges for airborne system health monitoring is to find an appropriate health indicator that is highly related to the actual degradation state of the system. This paper proposed a novel health indicator extraction method based on the available sensor parameters for the health monitoring of Air Conditioning System (ACS) of a legacy commercial aircraft model. Firstly, a specific Airplane Condition Monitoring System (ACMS) report for ACS health monitoring is defined. Then a non-parametric modeling technique is adopted to calculate the health indicator based on the raw ACMS report data. The proposed method is validated on a single-aisle commercial aircraft widely used for short and medium-haul routes, using more than 6000 ACMS reports collected from a fleet of aircraft during one year. The case study result shows that the proposed health indicator can effectively characterize the degradation state of the ACS, which can provide valuable information for proactive maintenance plan in advance.     

飞机修理厂人力资源管理与中长期规划匹配探析

人力资源是企业发展动力的源泉,是可持续发展的根本保障。本文根据中国通用航空发展的态势和飞机修理厂的现状与发展目标,对飞机修理厂提出了规划要求和适应发展需要的应对措施。     

基于仿真分析的压铆力预测模型

铆接是飞机结构机械连接的主要方式,压铆力作为影响铆接质量的重要因素,传统的计算方法通常是建立在体积不变的假设之上,且不考虑钉杆材料被压入钉孔部分的体积,导致模型误差较大。为此,依据仿真分析结果和铆钉材料的流动趋势,引入体积缩减系数来描述钉杆被压入钉孔部分的体积,建立压铆力预测模型,并与已有的试验数据进行对比,结果表明计算值与试验值的一致性较好,该模型可以用来预测铆接过程中压铆力的大小。     

High-efficiency aircraft antiskid brake control algorithm via runway condition identification based on an on-off valve array

The aircraft antiskid braking system is an important hydraulic system for preventing tire bursts and ensuring safe take-off and landing. The brake system adjusts the force applied on the brake discs by controlling the brake pressure. Traditional aircraft antiskid braking systems achieve antiskid performance by controlling the braking pressure with an electrohydraulic servo valve. Because the pilot stage of an electrohydraulic servo valve is easily blocked by carbonized hydraulic oil, the servo valve would become a dangerous weak point for aircraft safety. This paper proposes a new approach that uses an on-off valve array to replace the servo valve for pressure control. Based on this new pressure control component, an efficient antiskid control algorithm that can utilize this discontinuous feature is proposed. Furthermore, the algorithm has the ability to identify the runway circumstances. To overcome the discontinuity in the process of using an on-off valve array, the Filippov framework is introduced. The conditions of convergence of the system are also discussed. The results of the digital simulations and the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) braking experiments are used to verify the efficiency and stability of the proposed control algorithm. The method also proves that the on-off valve array can replace the servo valve perfectly as a new type of antiskid braking pressure control component.