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Digital Simulation Model for Turboprop Engine

Article · January 2011

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Symposium on Applied Aerodynamics and Design of Aerospace Vehicle (SAROD 2011)
November 16-18, 2011, Bangalore, India

DIGITAL SIMULATION MODEL FOR A TURBOPROP ENGINE

P Lathasree+ and Abhay A Pashilkar+

National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore, India.

ABSTRACT
A comprehensive Turboprop Engine model for digital simulation based on the steady state data and transient
characteristics has been proposed for a light transport aircraft. The engine and propeller characteristics have been modeled and
implemented in Matlab/Simulink environment. The validation has been carried against the flight data and match is found to be
satisfactory
Key Words: Engine dynamics, Propeller Dynamics, turboprop engine model

NOMENCLATURE
2. GENERAL TURBOPROP ENGINE
OPERATION
Ng Generator Speed (rpm)
NP Propeller Speed (rpm) The PT6 engine, a lightweight free turbine
%Ng Generator Speed – percentage of rated engine incorporating a reverse flow combustion path,
speed is designed for aircraft propulsion use. It utilizes two
%NP Propeller Speed – percentage of rated speed counter-rotating turbines; one driving the compressor
Np Propeller Speed in rps and the other driving the propeller through a
ρ Air density in FPS units (computed from reduction gearbox. The latter turbine is “free” or
atmosphere model) independent of the compressor turbine.
D Propeller diameter in feet
V Velocity in fps This design is referred to as “Free Turbine
J Advance Ratio Engine” and has certain advantages,
CP Propeller Power coefficient • During an engine start, only the compressor
CT Propeller Thrust coefficient section of the PT6A engine needs be rotated
by the starter-generator. This results in lower
1. INTRODUCTION starter cranking torque.
• The PT6A engine free turbine design allows
The Indian Light Transport Aircraft (LTA) the propeller RPM to be reduced and the
is a twin turboprop multi-role aircraft having propeller feathered during ground operation
cantilever low wings and pusher engines. This without shutting down the engine. This
aircraft is powered by PT6Aengines at 1200 SHP. facilitates fast passenger loading and permits
The Flight Mechanics and Control Division, NAL is very quiet ground operation.
developing a Fixed Base Training Simulator for LTA.
• Np is independent of Ng
As part of this activity, it is planned to • Compact design
develop a comprehensive Turboprop Engine model
for digital simulation based on the steady state data The design of the PT6A engine allows it to
and transient characteristics. This paper presents the be split into two major parts called the power section
schematic of the proposed turboprop engine model, assembly and the gas generator assembly [1]. The gas
its implementation and validation. The operation of generator assembly houses the compressor assembly,
general turboprop engine is briefly explained in the combustion chamber and accessory gearbox. The
next section. power section assembly houses the two stage power
turbines and reduction gear box. Figure 1 shows the
___________________________________________ schematic of a typical free turbine engine (PT 6A).
+
Scientists, Flight Simulation Group, Flight
Mechanics and Control Division The compressor draws air into the engine via
an annular plenum chamber, air pressure increases
across the compressor axial stages and centrifugal
stage and this air is then directed to the combustion
chamber. At the correct compressor speed, fuel is
 P Lathasree and Abhay A Pashilkar

introduced into the combustion chamber via fuel • Fuel Lever allows to set Ng from low idle to
nozzles. Spark igniters located in the combustion high idle
chamber ignite the air-fuel mixture. The hot gases
generated by the combustion are then directed to the Low Idle speed ranges 50-54% Ng (19,000
turbine area. At this point, ignition is turned off since to 20,000 rpm approximately)
a continuous flame exists in the combustion chamber. High Idle speed ranges 67-71% Ng (25,000
to 26,500 rpm approximately)
The hot expanding gases accelerate and
cause the compressor turbine to rotate. These Propeller Lever:
expanding gases travel across the different stages of
power turbines, which provide rotational energy to This lever has FINE and FEATHER positions. This
drive the propeller shaft. The reduction gear box lever functions as follows:
reduces the power turbine rotation rate to one suitable
for propeller operation. Engine shutdown is • Connected to the propeller speed control
accomplished by shutting off fuel going to the lever which controls the propeller governor
combustion chamber. and controls the propeller speed in
governing mode. This is achieved by
2.1 Power Management metering the flow of oil into the beta tube.
Power management of the engine is handled As more oil enters the beta tube, the
by a three lever system viz. Power Lever, Propeller propeller moves to fine pitch position.
Lever and Fuel Condition Lever. Figure 2 shows the • Allows feathering of the propeller by
power management using the three levers. bypassing the oil flow to the beta tube and
dumping it back to the reservoir.
Power Lever:

The power lever operation serves to

2.2 Gas Generator Model
modulate engine power from full reverse thrust to The steady state engine performance data
take-off. This lever can be moved fully forward to has been obtained from Engine Performance Program
have maximum power and fully aft for reverse supplied by manufacturer. This performance data
operation. The position at ‘IDLE’ represents lowest includes gas generator rpm, fuel flow rate, Inter
level of power during flight operation. This lever Turbine Temperature (ITT) and Shaft Horse Power
functions as follows: (SHP) obtained as function of Mach number, Altitude
and percentage engine torque for the atmospheric
• Connects to a cam assembly located on the configurations ISA and ISA+15 respectively. These
accessory gear box. Cam assembly transmits parameters are obtained as a function of Rating Code
the power lever movement to the Fuel (RC), Mach number ranging from 0.0 to 0.6 and
Control Unit (FCU). FCU controls Ng. altitude ranging from 0.0ft to 30000ft. Figure 3 shows
• Controls the compressor speed (Ng) in the block diagram showing the inputs and possible
forward as well as reverse thrust mode. outputs of Engine Performance Program.
• Controls the propeller pitch in reverse when
the beta valve is engaged. The value of RC in Figure 3 above is varied
from 20% in steps of 10% to 100% of the Take-off
Fuel Lever: rating (Rating Code #1 in reference). The gearing
This lever has three positions viz. shut-off, relationship between PLA range (Idle to Fully
low idle and high idle. This lever functions as forward comprising take-off, climb and cruise
follows: phases) and %Ng, %Torque given below are based
on the observations from flight data.
• Shut-off position stops fuel flow to the
combustion chamber and causes the engine
to shut down. The shut-off position PLA %Torque %Ng
completely bypasses the FCU. Phase Range
• Low Idle is the minimum Ng allowed and (deg)
High Idle is the minimum power used in Take-off 30 100% 100%
flight. Cruise 15 40%-60% 85%
Reverse -15 15% 87%
 Digital Simulation Model for Turboprop Engine

The dynamics of the %Ng and consequently Phase PLA Range Blade Angle
the SHP developed in the gas generator stage is (deg) (deg)
frequently modeled to have a first order lag with time Take-off 30 ---
constant ‘τ1’. We have chosen to introduce this first (under automatic
order lag on the signal RC. governor control)
Flight Idle 0 11
Reverse -15 -15
The SHP developed in the gas generator is
absorbed by the propeller in the form of power
The Propeller Lever can be used to set
required to turn the propeller.
minimum to maximum propeller RPM setting. This is
achieved through the propeller governor. The
Propeller Lever can also be used to completely
2.3 Propeller Characteristics bypass the propeller oil and cause feathering of the
Propeller performance data is available for a propeller with the gas generator running.
blade angle range of (0 - 50 deg) from the propeller
manufacturers program. The propeller data is given in Therefore, similar to the approach used in
the form of power and thrust coefficients [2] as a the gas generator model of section 3 above the
function of the advance ratio and blade angle. propeller pitch control dynamics is sought to be
modeled as a first order lag. Further, this first order
The advance ratio is denoted by lag with time constant ‘τ2’ is taken to be identical to
J = V / (Np * D) (1) the feathering time constant.

The power coefficient is denoted by 2.4 Dynamics of Propeller

CP = (Power) / (ρ * Np3 * D5) (2)
The propeller and gearbox combined
The thrust coefficient is expressed as represent rotary inertia which must be overcome by
CT = (Thrust) / (ρ * Np2 * D4) (3) the SHP produced by the exhaust gases from the gas
generator acting through the power turbine in order to
In Figures 4a and 4b, we have the Power spool up the propeller RPM. The SHP on the input
coefficient (CP) and thrust coefficient (CT) data side is opposed by the instantaneous power absorbed
respectively shown as a function of the advance ratio by the propeller at the other end.
(J) for different propeller blade angle settings. In
these figures the blade angle is held constant for each Ppow = CP * ρ * Np3 * D5 (4)
curve and increases from curve to curve as one moves
from left to right. In the above expression, CP is obtained from
Figure 4a for the instantaneous values of advance
A point on any of these curves in ratio J and blade angle β'. As discussed above, the
Figure 4a represents the amount of power required to instantaneous blade angle β' lags the steady state
maintain the propeller for a particular pitch angle and blade angle β by the time constant ‘τ2’ explained in
advance ratio. Similarly, the corresponding point the previous section. Before proceeding further, we
having same blade pitch angle and advance ratio on explain how the steady state blade angle β is
Figure 4b, gives the thrust developed by the obtained.
propeller.
It is clear that the automatic pitch control
It is noted that the propeller characteristics (Figures mechanism in the propeller is in equilibrium when
4a-4b) indicate the steady state power required and the SHP developed in the gas generator is fully
thrust developed. The propeller system however has absorbed in the propeller. Thus steady state value of
an additional degree of freedom in the terms of the the blade angle will be such as to cause all of the
pitch angle of the propeller which influences these instantaneous SHP developed in the gas generator to
curves. This degree of freedom is constrained by the be absorbed in the propeller for the instantaneous
PLA in the reverse region by the beta valve as value of Advance Ratio (J). Thus, the SHP obtained
discussed in section 2 above. In the range from flight from EEPP is used to compute propeller power
idle to maximum PLA, it is determined by the coefficient (CP1). The parameters CP1 and J are used
automatic pitch control. A summary of this is given as input to propeller performance charts (Figure 4a)
below: to estimate steady state blade angle β.
 P Lathasree and Abhay A Pashilkar

The propeller thrust coefficient, CT is and Advance Ratio, the propeller power and thrust
obtained from Figure 4b for the instantaneous values coefficients are computed. The total thrust is
of advance ratio J and blade angle β'. The propeller computed as the sum of propeller thrust and jet thrust.
thrust will be computed based on the propeller RPM Next section provides the validation methodology
(during propeller feathering and normal operation) as adopted for turboprop simulink model.
given below.
3.1 Validation
Thrustprop = CT * ρ * Np2 * D4 (5)
The flight data covering the take-off and
The total thrust will be the sum of propeller thrust cruise profile of Light Transport Aircraft has been
and jet thrust (~5% of propeller thrust) used for the validation. The input parameters to the
simulink model are Mach number, altitude and PLA
Thrust (total) = Thrustprop + Thrustjet (6) extracted from the flight data. The output parameters
such as %Ng, %Torque and %Np are compared.
Figure 7 shows the comparison plots of flight and
Based on the dynamic elements covered in
simulink model. The match is found to be
Sections 3, 4 and 5 above, the complete dynamic
satisfactory.
model of the turboprop engine is presented in Figure
5. Another important aspect which must be covered
in a dynamic model is the simulation of engine
startup. This is discussed next.
4. CONCLUSION
A comprehensive turboprop engine model
2.4 Engine Startup for digital simulation has been proposed,
During start up, starter generator (SG) will implemented and validated. The proposed model is
start rotating the engine compressor and engine may being integrated to the in-house flight simulator
be lighted by moving the fuel lever to GI position facility towards the r simulation of various modes of
when Ng > 13%. The burning of fuel-air mixture operation of the normal as well as failure regimes of
along with the starter aid will bring the engine the engine.
quickly to its self sustaining RPM. The SG will be
automatically disconnected once the speed of SG ACKNOWLEDGMENT
reaches (≈ 47-49% Ng). Later, the fuel lever is
moved to Flight Idle (FI) position and Ng rises to The authors would like to thank Mr Shyam Chetty,
70%. As mentioned already, when the fuel lever is at Head, Flight Mechanics and Control Division,
shut off, the fuel flow to combustion chamber is cut National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore for his
off. continuous support and encouragement. The authors
would like to acknowledge Wg. Cdr. Ashoka,
Consultant C-CADD, Mr Radhakrishnan, Technical
3. IMPLEMENTATION AND VALIDATION Officer, CCADD, NAL, Mr C A Vinay, Scientist,
CCADD, NAL and Commodore P Murthy,
The turboprop engine model shown in Consultant, CCADD for their valuable inputs.
Figure 5 has been implemented in Matlab/Simulink
environment.
REFERENCES
3.1 Implementation of Turboprop Engine 1. Pratt & Whitney Canada, Know your PT6A
Turboprop.
The Matlab/Simulink model has been 2. David Allerton, Principles of Flight
implemented using the engine performance data and Simulation, Aerospace Series, John Wiley &
propeller performance charts. The engine and Sons Ltd, 2009.
propeller time constants are estimated from the flight
data. Figure 6 shows the screenshot of simulink
model. As explained already, the engine output is
used to drive the propeller. The propeller power
coefficient and Advance Ratio are used to compute
the blade angle based on the propeller performance
charts. The logic catering to the propeller FINE and
FEATHER positions has been incorporated to select
the appropriate blade angle. Based on the blade angle
 Digital Simulation Model for Turboprop Engine

Figure 1. Layout of typical PT6A engine

Figure 4a. Power Coefficient Curves for propeller

Figure 2. Power Management using three levers

Figure 4b. Thrust Coefficient Curves for propeller

Altitude
SHP
Engine
Mach
number Static %Ng
Deck
RC
ITT

Figure 3. Block Schematic of Engine Steady State

Deck

Figure 5. Block Schematic of the comprehensive

Engine Model
 P Lathasree and Abhay A Pashilkar

Figure 6. Screenshot of Turboprop engine model

in Matlab / Simulink
100
90 FLIGHT Ng1
80 SIM Ng1
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time(sec)
102
100 FLIGHT Np1
98 SIM Np1
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time(sec)
100
50 FLIGHT Torq1
0 SIM Torq1
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time(sec)
P LA (deg)

25
20
15
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time(sec)
10000
A lt(ft)

8000
6000
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time(sec)
200
CA S

150
100
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time(sec)

Figure 7. Comparison of engine parameters for

flight data and simulink model

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