OPTIMIZATION APPLICATIONS FOR AIRCRAFT ENGINE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE

Numerical optimization is an important tool in many aspects of jet engine design, development, and test. Early optimization work centered on structural optimization projects, while more recent applications are multidisciplinary in nature. A variety of constrained and unconstrained minimization techniques have been applied to the solution of these problems. Some projects have resulted in substantial cost savings relative to previously used methods; others have provided automated solutions not previously attainable when an engineer was part of the iteration process. A compressor/turbine performance optimization effort has produced an automated technique for preliminary design of advanced gas turbine engines. By varying flowpath design parameters, component efficiencies were maximized, subject to both structural and aerodynamic constraints. In a manufacturing problem, a technique was developed to inspect drill hole patterns and tolerances automatically, and to compare them with corresponding template geometries. An interesting hybrid solution process combines the penalty function and constrained optimization techniques. An acoustic data reduction project has provided an automated procedure to match analytical models to engine data.