Grid-based distributed simulation of an aero engine

Abstract

In the design phase of an aircraft engine, integrated design and accurate performance simulations have become essential. Predictive integrated system modeling is now a pressing issue in the design of aircraft engines. For computationally-intensive analysis, components may be distributed across heterogeneous computing architectures and operating systems. However, the traditional distributed systems are not sufficiently robust or flexible to support the integration and distributed simulation. Designers and engineers may face these difficulties when designing aero engine systems that need to evolve and change rapidly. Grid computing may be introduced to mitigate these problems. This paper develops a system, which serves as a scientific co-laboratory. It provides a flexible environment for defining, modifying, and simulating component-based aero gas turbine models, and enables users to customize and extend the framework to add new functionality or adapt simulation behavior as required. A distributed gas turbine engine model is developed and simulated to illustrate the use of the framework.