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An Object-oriented Computer Code for Aircraft Engine Weight EstimationReliable engine-weight estimation at the conceptual design stage is critical to the development of new aircraft engines. It helps to identify the best engine concept amongst several candidates. At NASA Glenn (GRC), the Weight Analysis of Turbine Engines (WATE) computer code, originally developed by Boeing Aircraft, has been used to estimate the engine weight of various conceptual engine designs. The code, written in FORTRAN, was originally developed for NASA in 1979. Since then, substantial improvements have been made to the code to improve the weight calculations for most of the engine components. Most recently, to improve the maintainability and extensibility of WATE, the FORTRAN code has been converted into an object-oriented version. The conversion was done within the NASA s NPSS (Numerical Propulsion System Simulation) framework. This enables WATE to interact seamlessly with the thermodynamic cycle model which provides component flow data such as airflows, temperatures, and pressures, etc. that are required for sizing the components and weight calculations. The tighter integration between the NPSS and WATE would greatly enhance system-level analysis and optimization capabilities. It also would facilitate the enhancement of the WATE code for next-generation aircraft and space propulsion systems. In this paper, the architecture of the object-oriented WATE code (or WATE++) is described. Both the FORTRAN and object-oriented versions of the code are employed to compute the dimensions and weight of a 300- passenger aircraft engine (GE90 class). Both versions of the code produce essentially identical results as should be the case. Keywords: NASA, aircraft engine, weight, object-oriented
Document ID
20080015400
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Tong, Michael T.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Naylor, Bret A.
(RS Information Systems, Inc. OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
June 9, 2008
Subject Category
Aircraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
GT2008-50062
Meeting Information
Meeting: Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2008: Power for Land, Sea and Air
Location: Berlin
Country: Germany
Start Date: June 9, 2008
End Date: June 13, 2008
Sponsors: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 561581.02.08.03.13.03
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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