Jet Engine Digital Twin: Components and Concepts

The learner opening this volume is presumed to have seen its predecessor, "Logic Of Propulsion" - or some equivalent first course introducing thermodynamic cycles, and the basic 1-dimensional flowpath analysis of a gas turbine cycle. This volume can be used as standalone, for the student who has come through the basic thermodynamics and compressible flow courses. Here we go into more detail on the components, whose efficiencies we assumed with approximate numbers in the 1-d flowpath. We then go into the details and some methods needed to model a Digital Twin of a jet propulsion system, while staying generally at the level of an advanced undergraduate course. A chapter on rocket propulsion precedes a discussion on various concepts, advanced or otherwise. The jet engine is approaching its first centenary while the rocket is entering its 11th: systems that smoothly integrate these concepts are not new, and may be expected to be more prevalent going forward. A chapter on flow diagnostics and one on signal processing are ’targets of opportunity’. While typical propulsion courses do not go into such things, the engineer/researcher who goes into a propulsion laboratory or operating environment swiftly finds that their job - and fun are 90% on troubleshooting, diagnostic methods, sensors and data: some basics on those are essential. A useful Propulsion Engineer, more than most other professionals, cannot survive saying: ’That’s not my job!’ These topics are also a big part of the Digital Twin approach.