Enhanced Engine Performance During Emergency Operation Using a Model-Based Engine Control Architecture

This paper discusses the design and application of model-based engine control (MBEC) for use during emergency operation of the aircraft. The MBEC methodology is applied to the Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation 40,000 (CMAPSS40,000) and features an optimal tuner Kalman Filter (OTKF) to estimate unmeasured engine parameters, which can then be used for control. During an emergency scenario, normally-conservative engine operating limits may be relaxed to increase the performance of the engine and overall survivability of the aircraft; this comes at the cost of additional risk of an engine failure. The MBEC architecture offers the advantage of estimating key engine parameters that are not directly measureable. Estimating the unknown parameters allows for tighter control over these parameters, and on the level of risk the engine will operate at. This will allow the engine to achieve better performance than possible when operating to more conservative limits on a related, measurable parameter.