Active Combustion Control of Augmentor Dynamics using Robust High-Frequency Energy Deposition

Combustion instability, or screech, occurs in many modern gas turbine systems, and is due to the complex physical coupling of the acoustic resonances in the combustion chamber with fluctuations in the heat release of the combustion process. These instabilities can produce large pressure fluctuations that can be severe enough to damage engine hardware. Next-generation gas turbines will increase the desired range of operability for the system and further challenge the ability to manage instabilities. Active control of such oscillations will allow for more efficient, lower emissions engine designs. In an effort to increase engine performance, while simultaneously enabling system weight reductions, PM & AM Research, in collaboration with Texas A & M University, propose to demonstrate the feasibility of depositing energy using robust, high-frequency"plasma"actuators within a thrust augmentor to achieve efficient active screech suppression in high-performance gas turbine engines. Our novel and patented technologies will be leveraged in a systematic development campaign, utilizing modeling, laboratory demonstrations, and engine testing, to successfully demonstrate the feasibility of our active screech suppression approach.