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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Development of an engine model for an integrated aircraft design tool

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis describes the development of a new engine weight surrogate model and High Pressure Compressor (HPC) polytropic efficiency correction for the propulsion module in the Transport Aircraft OPTtimization (TASOPT) code. The goal of this work is to improve the accuracy and applicability of TASOPT in conceptual design of advanced technology, high bypass ratio, small-core, geared and direct-drive turbofan engines. The engine weight surrogate model was built as separate engine component weight surrogate models using least squares and Gaussian Process regression techniques on data data generated from NPSS/WATE++ and then combined to estimate a "bare" engine weight-including only the fan, compressor, turbine, and combustor-and a total engine weight, which also includes the nacelle, nozzle, and pylon. The new model estimates bare engine weight within +/-10% of published values for seven existing engines, and improves TASOPT's accuracy in predicting the geometry, weight, and performance of the Boeing 737-800. The effects of existing TASOPT engine weight models on optimization od D8-series aircraft concepts are also discussed. The HPC polytropic efficiency correction correlation, which reduces user-input HPC polytropic efficiency based on compressor exit corrected mass flow, was implemented based on data from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). When applied to TASOPT optimization studies of three D8-series aircraft, the efficiency correction drives the optimizer to increase engine core size.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2015

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Pantalone, Giulia Bissinger
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Karen Willcox.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98811
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/98811

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Pantalone, Giulia Bissinger. Development of an engine model for an integrated aircraft design tool. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98811