Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms For
Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms For
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Abstract: Advanced control in the area of turbojet engines defines many different applied
complex control strategies. Highly theoretical approaches and designs are often presented
in this area. The article is aimed at practical aspects of adaptive controller design for a
class of small turbojet engines in triple loop control architecture. The article presents a
non-linear dynamic model of a small turbojet engine taking in account the environmental
conditions, which it operates in. The designed triple loop control architecture shows
increased precision of control keeping acceleration schedule of the simulated engine and is
not susceptible to outer disturbances. The article shows pilot dynamic simulation tests,
showing feasibility of the taken approach. It can also be used for other classes of turbojet
engines as well other similar technical systems.
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
1 Introduction
Control systems of aircraft engines define their economic and operational
efficiency as well as their safety. Digital control systems allow updating control
algorithms as software packages, which can quickly and effortlessly improve
fundamental operational characteristics of an engine. There are many approaches,
which are today applied to fulfil this task [1, 2, 3, 4]. Apart from the classical PID
control systems, which are quite effective [5, 6], more progressive approaches in
control of turbojet engines can be taken [7, 8]. The ones, which expand on the
classical control schemes are the adaptive control algorithms [8, 9, 10].
This means application and design of a controller, which is using some sort of
adaptation not only to outer environmental conditions but also to state conditions
of a turbojet engine, contrary to control systems using non-adaptive controllers
with integrated limiters [5, 6]. Such approach can achieve a solid control quality
and safety of operation in turbojet engines control and is today widely used and
improved [11, 12, 13, 14].
Small turbojet engines usually use simple control algorithms. The aim of the paper
is to show the advantage of combining an adaptive algorithm with a triple loop
control architecture, which keeps acceleration/deceleration schedules of the
engines steady throughout their whole operational life [7]. This is not typical for
small turbojet engines, but it can be expected that combination of adaptability and
multi-looped control system can be very efficient for this class of engines.
In order to show the advantages of adaptive and multi loop control in the area of
small turbojet engines a non-linear simulation model has been developed taking in
account altitude and velocity parameters and their influence on a small turbojet
engine. The article covers a practical approach in adaptive controller design using
a generalized non-linear engine model and shows advantages of such approach in
control of small turbojet engines compared to traditional control approaches using
fixed parameters PID controllers with limiters [7, 17, 18]. This practical approach
is contrary to often presented results, which are only concepts or strictly
simulation results [4, 5, 15, 17]. The resulting design should provide a controller
design that is suitable for acceleration/deceleration control as well as steady state
control in a wide area of changing aircraft velocities, altitudes and engine speeds
with good efficiency [17].
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Acta Polytechnica Hungarica Vol. 16, No. 10, 2019
In order to design and test an adaptive control scheme for a turbojet engine, a
generalized dynamic turbo-compressor model based on available data of the
turbo-compressor TJ/TP 100 engine has been developed. The model also includes
a dynamic actuator model and together with a non-linear approximation of
speed/altitude characteristics [18, 19, 20].
The model can be expressed as the following transfer function after Laplace
transformation:
n( s ) Ke
, K e f (n, H , M ), Te f (n, H , M ) (1)
FF ( s) Te s 1
Where:
FF – fuel flow [l/min],
n – rotational speed of the engine [RPM],
Ke – static gain of the engine,
Te – time constant of the engine [sec],
H – flight altitude [m],
M – Mach number [-],
f – a non-linear approximation function.
The first order transfer function is able to approximate the dynamics of the engine
with sufficient precision [2, 18], its complexity is hidden mainly in the non-linear
characteristics of its Ke and Te variables. Both reflect the changes in outer
environmental conditions and the engine’s state conditions. These non-linear
characteristics have been modelled according to data from TJ-100 engine. The
graph in Figure 1 presents a non-linear approximation of the Ke parameter for the
different engine’s speeds, altitudes and velocities. The graph in Figure 2 shows
approximation of the Te parameter for the same input parameters. These
approximations can be considered as valid for different engines. The equations
used for these approximations are defined as follows (2) (3):
Te Tp 0
p0
TH 1 0.2M 2
(2)
2 3.5
pH 1 0.2M T0
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
p0
Ke K p0
3.5
(3)
pH 1 0.2 M 2
where Tpo and Kpo are obtained from equilibrium states of the engine at ground
conditions at temperature and pressure for static ground conditions defined as
T0=288°K and p0=1.013e05 N/m2. The parameters TH and pH were defined using
the international standard atmosphere (ISA) model [23]. The flight altitude is
changing in the interval H 0,4000 m and Mach number in the
interval M 0,0.4 .
Figure 1
Approximation of the gain “Ke” parameter
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Acta Polytechnica Hungarica Vol. 16, No. 10, 2019
Figure 2
Approximation of the time constant “Te” parameter
The resulting model has a single input control parameter (fuel flow supply), two
input outer/environmental parameters (Mach number and Altitude) and one state
parameter, which is the rotational speed of the turbo-compressor. The state
parameter represents a feedback in the model to approximate Te and Ke parameters
of the model.
Figure 3
The architecture of the engine model
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
Figure 4
The model implemented in simulation environment
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Acta Polytechnica Hungarica Vol. 16, No. 10, 2019
Figure 5
Dynamic step response of the constructed model
3 Controller Design
In order to meet the strict criteria in acceleration and deceleration times laid on
modern turbojet engines, the methodology of n_dot control has been selected [7,
24]. This methodology is today widely used and is aimed at securing constant
acceleration times by controlling the acceleration and set-point of the engine using
a multiple loop control architecture [5, 6]. In order to decrease the complexity of
the controllers a third inner-most loop is devised, which is aimed to precisely
control and meter the fuel flow. The triple loop control system architecture is
shown in Figure 6. Limiters and the engine protection logic is not considered, but
can be added in any of the loops using the min-max methodology or others [25,
26, 27].
Figure 6
Triple loop controller design
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
The inner-most feedback loop controls the fuel flow supply into the engine by
computing the pulse width modulated (PWM) signal controlling the fuel pump
with control law defined as follows:
PWM (s) ( K Td s)(FFcmd (s) FFact (s)) (5)
The inner-most feedback loop controls the fuel flow supply into the engine by
computing the pulse width modulated (PWM) signal controlling the fuel pump
with control law defined as follows:
PWM (s) (3.6625 0.001s)(FFcmd (s) FFact (s)) (6)
The next loop contains the n_dot controller, which is used to control the speed
derivative of the engine keeping it at constant level until the desired engine speed
is obtained. This loop computes the desired fuel flow into the engine to be
stabilized by the lower level loop. This loop is crucial for the resulting control
quality and is mainly influenced by state and environmental parameters. This
means that adaptive control algorithm has to be applied at this level of control.
The control law of this loop is defined as:
In order to change the dynamics of the system the Kndot parameter of the control
law was defined in (7). The dynamics of the control loop is mainly influenced by
this parameter and it will be scheduled according the equation:
K ndot f ( K e , Te ) (11)
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Acta Polytechnica Hungarica Vol. 16, No. 10, 2019
The function f represents the function of the adaptor and Ke, Te are the parameters
of the internal model as defined in (1) and Figure 3. The resulting adaptive control
system architecture therefore represents an adaptive control system with an
internal model [28, 29, 30]. The designed control system architecture is shown in
Figure 7.
Figure 7
Adaptive triple loop controller design
Three different approaches when designing the adaptor have been tested. The first
one is represented by the Naslin algorithm computation of the controller gain
according the formula (12), which the coefficients of the characteristic equation
have to satisfy [31, 32]:
f : K ndot .
1
s.n_cmd(s) - n_act(s)2 (13)
2
The third approach in adaptor design is application of a neural network. An offline
trained neural network with time delayed inputs trained by the “Scaled Conjugate
Algorithm” has been used. The neural network has the following structure:
2 neurons in input layer (Te, Ke),
12 neurons in the first hidden layer, 7 neurons in the second hidden layer,
1 neuron (Kndot) in the output layer.
All of the proposed approaches have been evaluated in the simulation environment
in order to execute comparative test analysis with the non-adaptive triple loop
control system [33].
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
Figure 8
Ground simulation
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Acta Polytechnica Hungarica Vol. 16, No. 10, 2019
Figure 9
Flight at 1000 meters
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
Figure 10
Flight at 4000 meters
Follow-up simulation tests with constant Mach number M = 0.3 and changing
altitude have been done. The summarized performance of all controllers with
changing altitude at the constant velocity is shown in Table 1. In order to compare
the performance of individual controllers linear absolute control surface have been
computed [22]. Lower control surface means that the controller is more efficient
in acceleration of the engine. The table shows that the Naslin adaptive controller
performs as the best followed by the neural network adaptive algorithm, non-
adaptive and the last is the performance quadratic adaptive controller, although it
has also achieved acceptable control quality.
Table 1
Comparison of performance between different adaptive controllers
Altitude 0 [m] 1000 [m] 2000 [m] 3000 [m] 4000 [m]
Adaptor
Naslin 9295.6 8115.4 7498.8 6750.3 6261.8
Neuro-adaptor 9673.4 8475.3 7807.4 6994.9 6454.6
Perf adaptor 15005 13194 11819 10183 9187.9
Non adaptive 10571 9170.2 8054.1 6978.4 6383.7
To prove the validity of the concept, the triple loop control architecture was
employed in laboratory conditions using the iSTC-21v engine [1, 35, 39]. The
simulations are compared to the real data obtained in an experiment as shown in
Figure 11, where the Naslin adaptor has been employed in the triple loop control
system architecture. It can be seen that the experiment with the engine performs
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Acta Polytechnica Hungarica Vol. 16, No. 10, 2019
Figure 11
Comparison of simulation and experimental data using the iSTC-21v engine
Conclusion
A concept for efficient control of a small turbojet engine with fixed exhaust nozzle
under different environmental conditions has been shown. Using a triple loop
control scheme seems to be a promising concept decomposing the complex
controller into several very simple controllers, which can achieve good
performance even without adaptation. Adaptation of the middle loop according to
a simple Naslin methodology can improve efficiency of the control system further.
Further tuning of the adaptor could probably provide even better results. A
practical test has confirmed that the control architecture works in a real
experimental setup using the iSTC-21v engine and is robust enough to control
different engine than it has been designed for. The practical test serves only as a
proof of concept and a more complex set of tests can be done using the modified
TJ-100 engine. The design can be implemented in an embedded microcontroller
system as envisioned in [34]. More complex neural network with online training
and with a broader data-set could improve efficiency of the adaptive control
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L. Főző et al. Virtual Design of Advanced Control Algorithms for Small Turbojet Engines
system even further. A comprehensive set of tests will be prepared and presented
as a follow-up study using the TJ-100 engine.
Acknowledgement
The work presented in this paper was also supported by KEGA under Grant No.
044TUKE-4/2019 – “A small unmanned airplane - the platform for education in
the area of intelligent avionics.". The work was supported by projects: ESPOSA –
“Efficient Systems and Propulsion for Small Aircraft”, funded by funded by the
European commission in the seventh frame work programme under grant
agreement no ACP1-GA-2011-284859-ESPOSA and APVV – Slovak Research
and Development Agency under grant agreement no. DO7RP-0023-11. The work
was support of research and development potential in the area of transport means
with ITMS project code: 313011T557.
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