CONTROLLED COOLDOWN OF AIRCRAFT TURBINE ENGINES

AN "INTELLIGENT" MECHANISM TO CONTROL AIRCRAFT TURBINE ENGINE COOLDOWN UTILIZING INTEGRAL SENSORS, LOGIC, DRIVE AND FAIL-SAFE, FOR EXTENDING THE PERFORMANCE LIFE OF AIRCRAFT GAS TURBINE ENGINES IS PROPOSED. AIRCRAFT TURBINE ENGINES ARE PRECISELY MADE AND CONTROLLED MECHAISMS UNTIL SHUTDOWN. THEN, HEAT SOAK AND SOAKBACK PHENOMEN DELETERIOUSLY AFFECT ENGINE PERFORMANCE, LIFE, MAINTENANCE COSTS AND LIFE CYCLE COSTS. THE SELF-CONTAINED CONTROLLED AIRCRAFT TURBINE ENGINE COOLDOWN MECHANISM MOUNTS ON AN ACCESSORY GEARBOX PAD AND MAY BE RETROFIT AT ENGINE OVERHAUL. IT CAN BE TAILORED TO THE SPECIFIC AIRCRAFT/ENGINE COMBINATIONS. WE PROPOSE CONSTRUCTING FIVE (5) PROTOTYPES AND, IN CONJUNCTION WITH PARTICIPATING USAF COMMANDS AND AN ENGINE PRIME, DEVELOP THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN PROTOCOL(S) FOR EMPIRICALLY VALIDATING THE CONTROLLED ENGINE COOLDOWN UNIT ANTICIPATED PERFORMANCE BENEFITS.