(DURIP) Small Ultra-high-speed Gas Turbine Engine Experimental Test Facility
Abstract
The central equipment will be an adequately instrumented small ~2KW gas turbine engine system with rotating speed of up to 250,000 rpm. Aerodynamic, heat transfer and structural response measurements from the proposed facility will provide data to characterize the physics underpinning engine performance and operation. The immediate values of the proposed research facility includes providing physical data for assessing engine performance and operation, engine temperature-heat flux distribution, thermal-induced structural deformation, performance limiting physical events, as well as challenging the scaling of thermal-mechanical response of critical engine components such as the shaft-bearing housing system. As for the immediate future values, they include data for quantifying engine mechanical clearances and vibrational characteristics, and for defining engine survivability requirements for application in UAV flight operation. All this data is hitherto unavailable for this class of scaled turbine engine. The instrumented scaled engine test facility will also serve as a research platform for the following future research topics. One is on testing and assessment of additive manufactured engine components to define the required attributes of additive manufactured parts for the robust operation of (additive manufactured-) gas turbine engine operation. The second topic is on assessing the attributes of alternative fuel types for powering this class of engine, and the third would be on determining the noise and emission footprint of such engines on operating environment. Last and not least, the proposed test facility can also serve as the base carbon fuel engine to which electric components can be added for assessing the technological value of modularity and hybridity of UAV propulsion system.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502110454
Entities
People
- Choon Tan
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- United States Air Force