Design and testing of an in-flight thrust measurement system for a pylon-mounted miniature jet engine

Julius Bartasevicius, Pedro Alexandre Tonet Fleig, Annina Metzner, Mirko Hornung

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Optimization of aircraft’s performance often requires careful consideration of aerodynamic drag. However, direct measurement of drag of a flying vehicle is not feasible. Therefore, in order to measure the change in drag for different configurations of a flying aircraft, in-flight thrust measurement is necessary, which can consequently be used to derive drag. For this reason, the design of an in-flight thrust measurement system for a pylon-mounted jet engine is presented. The system is based on the trunnion thrust method. The design process is described, including a review of state of the art as well as measurement error consideration. Calibration methods are presented. During the calibration, the thrust root-mean-square error of 0.64 N was observed. The system was flight tested and proved to work reliably in real-life conditions. Finally, the flight test data was used to generate a thrust model based on engine parameters.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAIAA SciTech Forum 2022
PublisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
ISBN (Print)9781624106316
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
EventAIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2022 - San Diego, United States
Duration: 3 Jan 20227 Jan 2022

Publication series

NameAIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2022

Conference

ConferenceAIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition, AIAA SciTech Forum 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period3/01/227/01/22

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