Browse Topic: Fuel economy
Composite materials have become widely adopted in commercial aviation, as aerospace manufacturers look to use them to drive weight reduction and improved fuel efficiency in new aircraft designs. In the case of aircraft rotary blades, the poor wear properties of these materials have necessitated the development of metal leading edge guards that can provide critical protection against erosion and impact damage during flight. Electroforming has been a leading process for the manufacture of these protective guards, with nickel parts providing excellent wear resistance that significantly extends the service life of the rotary blade assembly. Currently there has not been a focus on utilizing direct electrodeposition of metal on to carbon filled epoxy composite structures, as traditional plating-on-plastics approaches require considerable effort in surface preparation and normally do not provide adequate adhesion to the underlying structure. Alpha Metalcraft Group has been working in
This paper presents experimental research aimed at developing novel low lubrication methods for rotorcraft and jet engines, focusing on sustaining minimal lubrication to prevent catastrophic bearing failure during loss of lubrication (LoL) events or to increase fuel consumption performance on once-through, fuel-oil bearing lubrication engines. Utilizing two high-speed bearing test rigs simulating low and high thrust class engine conditions, the study establishes lower bounds for oil flow rates necessary to maintain thermal stability and prevent thermal runaway in hybrid ball bearings. These findings inform the design of the Zulu Pod (ZPod), a passively driven, self-contained oil delivery system that uses engine compressor bleed air to precisely meter lubricant flow. Engine test stand results demonstrate that replacing traditional fuel-oil lubrication with the ZPod system reduces thrust specific fuel consumption (TSFC) by an average of 7%, with up to 11% savings, without compromising
ABSTRACT The US Army is seeking improvements in the fuel efficiency of their military vehicles.. They have initiated a number of R&D projects aimed at advancing the state-of-the-art of powertrain efficiency including demonstration in a laboratory environment. This effort will set a benchmark for the vehicle integrators, allowing them to improve future vehicle offerings. The SAIC, AVL, Badenoch, QinetiQ and Ker-Train Research team offered powertrain solutions from 7 Tons to 40 Tons that achieved the goal of 44% thermal efficiency and the stringent flexible fuel and emissions requirements. In each of these offerings the team was able to identify modifications to existing engines that allowed dramatic improvements in the thermal efficiency. These efficiency improvements were achieved through a combination of techniques, combustion cycle adjustments using in-cylinder pressure monitoring and precise control of fuel injector timing, and turbo-compounding. For the R&D project, the fuel
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