New model-based method for aero-engine turbine blade tip clearance measurement

Active control of aero-engine turbine tip clearance is one of the best chances for engine performance uplift currently. To do that, the first requirement is real-time measurement of tip clearance in aero-engine working environment. However, turbine complexity makes it unlikely for tip clearance sensors to be loaded. In recognition of that, this paper proposed a model-based method for tip clearance measurement. Firstly, by considering previously wrongly neglected factors such as load deformation, a mathematical model to monitor dynamic tip clearance changes is built to improve calculation accuracy. Then, after clarifying the coupling relationship between engine models and tip clearance models, this paper builds a component-level mathematical model integrating dynamic characteristics of turbine tip clearance, which helps realize accurate measurement of tip clearance in working environment. How tip clearance affects turbine efficiency is studied afterwards and reported to aero-engine model, so as to mitigate performance difference between aero-engine model and real engines caused by turbine tip clearance. Lastly, by hardware-in-the-loop simulation, tip clearance model demonstrates 15.9% better accuracy than previously built models in terms of turbine centrifugal deformation calculation. As tip clearance measurement model takes averagely 0.34 ms in calculation, meeting the operation requirement, it proves to be an effective new way.