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On-design and off-design simulation of the performance of a Micro Turbofan

Engine using LabVIEW and GSP

Article  in  International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics · January 2018

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics
Volume 119 No. 12 2018, 99-105
ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.ijpam.eu
Special Issue
ijpam.eu

On-design and off-design simulation of the performance of a Micro

Turbofan Engine using LabVIEW and GSP
1
R. Krishnaraj, 2G. Jims John Wessley, 3P. Subha Hency Jose
1,2
Department of Aerospace Engineering,
3
Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering,
Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore – 641 114, Tamilnadu, India
kraj220@gmail.com@karunya.edu.in,
jims_john@karunya.edu,
hency20002000@karunya.edu

4
Davidson Dharmaraj Renault
Nissan Technology and Business Centre India Pvt Ltd, Chennai
davidsondharmaraj@gmail.com

Abstract— This paper presents the on-design and off-design This move saves valuable cost and time spent to
simulation of a twin spool micro turbofan engine that is manufacturing and testing of the main components of the
expected to produce in the range of 4 kN performed using Gas turbofan engine E.g. Fans, compressors, turbines. The on-
Turbine Simulation Programme (GSP 11®) and LabVIEW. design and off-design analysis forms the basis of
There is a huge gap in the availability of micro gas turbine thermodynamic analyses of these engines providing vital
engines in the thrust range around 4 kN to power UAVs and data to predict the performance of the gas turbine engines
drones. This analysis brings out the feasibility of thrust
with reasonable accuracy. This paper deals with the on-
generation using a micro turbofan engine so as to fill the gap.
The engine is analyzed for four different mass flow rates, Mach design and off-design analysis of a micro turbofan engine
numbers ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 with the operating altitude that is expected to develop a thrust in the range of 4 kN that
between 5000 m to 9000 m. The net thrust produced for can be used to propel MALE UAVs. The outcomes of the
compressor pressure ratio of 3.5 and bypass ratio 1.5 is in the analysis will play a major role in the future design of micro
range of 4.6 to 7.3 kN at a mass flow rate of 36 kg/s which turbofan engines for MALE UAV propulsion.
satisfies the expected design requiremnt of the engine. Also, the
maximum turbine inlet temperature is less than 1100 K so that II. LITERATURE BACKGROUND
there is no need for a new material required in combustor and
in turbine where the high temperaure exists. The outcomes of During the recent years there has been an increasing
this analysis form a strong base for further analysis, design and interest on studies in micro range Turbofan engines suitable
fabrication of micro turbofan engine to propel future Medium for UAV propulsion. Some of the research findings relevant
Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the present study are presented below.
(UAVs).
Mofid Gorji et.al performed the Turbofan engine
I. INTRODUCTION performance to determine the thrust, thrust specific fuel
There has been a constant thrive to develop new consumption and thermal, propulsive and the overall
propulsion systems to increase the endurance and range of efficiencies of turbofan engine at high pressure and low
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that are presently hindered by the pressure compressor pressure ratio, exit temperature pressure
limitations of the battery operated propulsion methods. Gas from high pressure compressor, combustor inlet temperature,
turbine engines in the micro scale are being developed as a corrected inlet mass flow rate of compressor and fan and
reasonable substitute in place of battery systems to propel bypass ratio. Turbofan engine performance graphs as well as
UAVs. In recent times, Turbofan engines are preferred over the constraint functions that are controlled by the controller
turbojet engines to develop high thrust while the specific fuel based on flight Mach number and in various heights were
consumption is less as compared to turbojet engines. It is accurately drawn. Andrew Dankanich and David Peters
found that by compromising a bit on the energy required to carried out detailed studies on the Bypass Ratio of a turbo
drive the fan, turbofan engine yields higher thrust per amount fan engine as a Function of Thrust and Fuel Flow in which
of fuel used. In these lines, the use of simulation software they concluded that the specific fuel consumption decreases
goes handy in determining the performance of these engines as bypass ratio increases due to which the propulsive
even before they are manufactured. Commercial software efficiency also increases. The increase in efficiency enables
like GasTurb, GSP, Perf, etc., has been widely used in the large savings on fuel and thus has a large impact on the
gas turbine industry to model and simulate these engines. global economy and environment. Shufan Zhao et. al
estimated the requirements of a Turbofan engine for high
altitude Carrier-Based UAV propulsion. The required thrust

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

is calculated for different altitudes from 9 to 13km. The the compressor. Fuel is added to the air and burnt in the
weight estimation method from flight profile was used to combustion chamber to raise the temperature of the fluid
calculate the weight of UAV in each stage and thereby mixture to about 1,400 F to 1,500 F. The resulting hot air is
obtaining the SFC requirements. Then an attempt is made to passed through a turbine, which drives the compressor and
design the engine to meet the requirements. The results show fan the exhaust gasses passes through a nozzle outlet where
that required thrust decreases from 11.916 kN to 9.0576 kN thrust is produced because of the reactive forces of the exit
with increase in altitude from 9 to 13 km. The SFC should be stream. The main components of a turbofan engine are, a)
less than 0.0565 kg/N.h. But simulation of the engine in GSP Inlet Duct b) Fan c) Fan nozzle d) Compressor e)
software yielded higher SFC. In 2011, Rahman et. al Combustion chamber f) Turbine and g) Core Exhaust
conducted a thermodynamic analysis of gas turbine power Nozzle.
plant by varying different parameters. The result shows that
A. On-design performance simulation of Turbofan Engine
the thermal efficiency of the engine is strongly influenced by
using LabVIEW
compression ratio, ambient temperature, air-fuel ratio and the
isentropic efficiencies of the components. With rise in
ambient temperature and the air to fuel ratio, the thermal Parametric analysis of a twin spool turbofan engine is
efficiency and power output decreases linearly. With performed using LabVIEW, (a systems engineering software
increase in ambient temperature and air to fuel ratio, the for applications that require test, measurement, and control
specific fuel consumption and heat rate increase linearly. with rapid access to hardware and data insights). The
Higher the compression ratio and lower the ambient analysis is conducted for various pressure ratios of the
temperature leading to efficiency, high power and low compressor, Mach number of inlet flow as well as altitudes
specific fuel consumption. of operation. The Pressure ratio in the analysis ranges from
Elzahaby et.al have investigated the performance of a 1.5 to 5, the Mach number from 0.3 to 0.8 and the altitude of
Micro Gas turbine engine using empirical relations and operation in the range 5000 m to 9000 m. The results of the
experimental test rig. The performance of the compressor analysis are shown below. The bypass ratio is varied from
and combustion chamber were predicted using this model. 0.5 to 2.5. The block diagram of the Turbofan engine
The prediction on performance of the engine based on Thrust simulated using LabVIEW is shown in Fig 1.
and fuel consumption is found to be more accurate. Dinesh
Kumar and Gupta have conducted a parametric and
performance analysis of turbojet engine using CFD and
MATLAB. The study analyses the effect of temperature,
pressure and mass flow rates on the performance of the
engine. The variation of these input parameters provides a
systematic analysis of the jet engine from ambient to the
exhaust. The result shows different parameters plotted across
the axis of the engine.
However, the detailed on-design and off-design of a
micro turbofan engine is not available in the reported
literature. Hence, the present study aims at performing the
complete analysis and of a micro turbofan engine and to
determine the performance of the engine at various input Fig. 1 Block diagram of the LabVIEW simulation of Turbofan Engine
parameters like mass flow rate, altitude, Mach number and
pressure ratio and bypass ratios.
a) Effect of Compressor Pressure Ratio
III. SIMULATION STUDIES ON TURBOFAN ENGINE
The compressor pressure ratio is one of the main
Simulation studies are performned to understand the
parameters that affect the thrust generated in the turbofan
thermodynamic changes of the working fluid mainly air and
engine. The pressure ratio in the study is varied from 1.5
products of combustion as it flows through the engine. It is
to 4 and the variation of thrust and SFC is simulated using
normally performed in two satges namely, On-design and
the LabVIEW software model. The same parameters are
Off-design analysis. On-design anslysis (also known as
studied at varying Mach numbers in the range of 0.3 to
design point or parametric analysis) determines the engine
0.9. Also, the propulsive, thermal and overall efficiency of
performance at different flight conditions and design
the engine under varying inlet conditions is also simulated.
chioices and limits. The Off-design analysis which is also
Fig 2, shows the variation of thrust generated in the engine
known as engine performance analysis or transient analysis
at various pressure ratios in the compressor.
dettemrines the performance of a specific engine at all flight
conditions and throttle settings. In a Turbofan engine, air is
taken in through an opening in the front of the engine which
is compressed to 3 to 12 times its original pressure in

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

Fig. 2 Variation of Thrust with respect to change in Compressor Fig. 4 Variation of Propulsive efficiency with respect to change in
Pressure Ratio Compressor Pressure Ratio

It is seen that the thrust produced by the engine increases It is evident from Fig 4, that the propulsive efficiency
as the compressor ratio increases. The thrust produced increases till a particular compressor pressure ratio and then
ranges from 140 N per unit mass of flow rate to 310 N per decreases a little after which there is no change in the
unit mass of flow rate. efficiency with increase in compressor pressure ratio. The
maximum propulsive efficiency of the turbofan engine is
found to be 80% for a compressor pressure ratio of 2 and the
minimum efficiency of 73% if is found to be the pressure
ratio of 4.

Fig. 3 Variation of SFC with respect to change in Compressor Pressure

Ratio

Fig 3, shows the variation of SFC in the engine at various

pressure ratios in the compressor. It is evident from the Fig. 5 Variation of Thermal efficiency with respect to change in
simulation that the SFC decreases with increase in Compressor Pressure Ratio
compressor pressure ratio. Hence the fuel consumed at
higher pressure ratio is less leading to increased efficiency of Fig 5, shows the variation of thermal efficiency with
the engine. It is seen that the SFC reduces from 0.29 kg/N.h respect to change in compressor pressure ratio. It is
to 0.14 kg/N.h as the compressor pressure ratio increases confirmed form the figure that the thermal efficiency
from 1.5 to 4. The LabVIEW simulation is performed to increases as the compressor pressure ratio increases. The
estimate the propulsive efficiency of the turbofan engine. maximum thermal efficiency of the turbofan obtained is
Fig.4, shows the variation in the propulsive efficiency of the 21% for a compressor pressure ratio of 4 and the minimum
turbofan engine for various compressor pressure ratio. effieicney of 5.8% if is found corresponding to the pressure
ratio of 1.5. Similarly, Fig 6, shows the variation of overall
efficiency of the turbofan engine with respect to change in
compressor pressure ratio. The maximum overall efficiency
is found to be 14.5% at the compressor pressure ratio of 4.

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

while the SFC is found to be minimum at lower Mach

number of operation of the turbofan engine.

Fig. 6 Variation of overall efficiency with respect to change in

Compressor Pressure Ratio Fig. 8 Variation of SFC at various Mach Number

The variation of Propulsive and thermal efficiency of the

b) Effect of Mach Number engine for various Mach number is shown in Figs 9 & 10 as
below.
The Mach number of the inlet air entering into the
engine is another important parameter that affects the
performance of the turbofan engine as it operates at
various altitudes. The Mach number in the study is varied
from 0.2 to 0.8 and the variation of thrust and SFC is
simulated using the LabVIEW software model. Also, the
propulsive, thermal and overall efficiency of the engine
under varying inlet conditions is also simulated. Fig 7,
shows the variation of thrust generated in the engine at
Mach number of the inlet flow.

Fig. 9 Variation of Propulsive efficiency with Mach Number

Fig. 7 Variation of Thrust produced for various Mach Number

Fig. 7 & 8, shows the variation of thrust and SFC at

various inlet Mach number of the engine. The thrust
generated decreases as the Mach number of the inlet flow
increases and the SFC increases as the inlet Mach number
increases. The thrust generated is found to be maximum, Fig. 10 Variation of Thermal efficiency with Mach Number

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It is evident from Figs 9 & 10, that the propulsive and various pressure raios are shown in the compressor map
thermal efficiency of the engine with increase in Mach which can be efficienly used to design the compressor
number. The maximum propulsive efficiency of the turbofan performance under varying conditions and time.
engine is found to be 80% at Mach 0.8 and the maximum
thermal efficiency of 14% at the Mach number of 0.8.
B. Off-design performance simulation of Turbofan Engine
using GSP
NLR's Gas turbine Simulation Program (GSP-11), an off-
line component-based modeling environment for gas turbines
which is widely used to perform the steady state simulation
of the engine is used to perform the off-design analysis. GSP
is a powerful tool for performance prediction and off-design
analysis with respect to variables such as ambient (flight) Fig 12. Compressor Map of the Turbofan Engine
conditions, installation losses, certain engine malfunctioning
(including control system malfunctioning), component c) Turbine Map
deterioration and exhaust gas emissions. The transient
response of the engine is studied by varying the fuel inlet to The turbine map obtained from the analysis is shown in
the engine to check the performance of the engine at various Fig 13. The turbine map is orientated differently than the
engine operating conditions. This enables the control compressor map with the pressure/expansion ratio on the
engineers to develop proper control mechanisms to see that horizontal axis and the corrected flow on the vertical axis. As
the engine delivers the required thrust at all throttling the burnt gases that are at a high pressure entering the turbine
conditions. expands to a lower pressure in a turbine, turbines are also
known as expanders. The turbine efficiency is also shown in
a) Transient response of the Turbofan engine the turbine map.

Fig. 11 Transient response of the turbofan engine at various fuel

conditions
Fig 11 shows the transient response of the engine at
various fuel inlet conditions. The fuel is increased and then
decreased to know the performance of the engine at various
throttle conditions. It is seen that, the engine readily Fig 13. Turbine Map of the Turbofan Engine
responds to the change in inlet fuel flow and stabilizes in less
than 2 seconds when accelerated as well as decelerated.
IV. CONCLUSION
b) Compressor Map
The on-design and off-design performance simulation of a
The compressor map is a graph that describes a twin spool Turbofan engine intended to produce thrust in the
particular compressor‘s performance characteristics, range of 4 kN is analysed using LabVIEW and GSP
including efficiency, mass flow range, boost pressure software. The important results and conculsions are given
capability, and turbo speed. The compressor map and the below :
turbine map obtained for various inlet conditions in the study The compressor pressure ratio and the inlet Mach number
for a Turbofan engine using GSP are shown below in Figs 12 have the same effect on the thrust generated by the engine.
& 13. As the compressor pressure ratio and the Mach number of
Fig. 12 shows the compressor performace map at a inlet air flow increases, the thrust produced by the engine
pressure ratio of 2.5. The red line on the top denotes the also increases. Similarly, as the compressor pressure ratio
surge line beyond which the operation of the compressor is and inlet Mach number increases, the SFC of the engine
not possible due to flow reversal in the compressor. Also the decreases. Hence, the Propulsive, thermal and overall
bottom line denotes the choke limit below which the efficiency of the engine is found to increase as the inlet
compressor does not operated rather gets choked. The Mach and compressor pressure ratio increases. It is
effficeincy lines and the corrected mass flow rate lines for concluded that the increase in efficiency of the engine will

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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue

enable economic operation of UAVs as well as increase the

range and endurance of the engine to a great extent. The
outcomes of the study will be very vital in the design and
operation of micro turbofan engines for UAV propulsion in
the near future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank the support and permission
granted by NLR - Netherlands Aerospace Centre by granting
the license to use the Gas Turbine Simulation Program GSP
11 for carrying the analysis.

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