Development of Gas Turbine Performance Seeking Logic

Adaptive control logic has been defined for static performance optimization of variable geometry gas turbine engines. The control logic is directed toward (1) in-flight minimization of thrust specific fuel consumption, (2) test-stand automatic trimming, and (3) generation of optimum control schedules. The algorithm was evaluated by application to a nonlinear digital dynamic simulation of the F100/F401 turbofan engine throughout a range of representative flight conditions. Engine component degradations as well as mistrimmed control schedules were introduced to assess algorithm performance. Results indicate that the performance seeking algorithm offers promise for steady state performance optimization for in-flight, test-stand, and set point design optimization applications.