Technology Requirements and Development for Affordable High-Temperature Distributed Engine Controls

摘要

The gas turbine engine environment is particularly harsh with regards to temperature and vibration, and trends indicate that these conditions will continue to grow much more severe, especially in temperature. Conventional bulk epitaxial silicon-based electronics are used only in limited locations on engines today in support of instrumentation and production sensing and controls, and their use may be even more restricted by future operating conditions. This trend is moving in a direction contrary to on-going efforts to incorporate more intelligence into the engine, and to localize that intelligence as close as possible to the sensors, actuators and components to minimize the use of large wiring bundles. Current approaches allowing on-engine use of electronics typically involve some sort of thermal management technique, such as the use of liquid cooling loops, including nitrogen for instrumentation and fuel for controls, as well as convective air cooling by strategic placement of electronics. However, these passive cooling techniques are often inadequate to ensure necessary reliability and durability, and the active techniques are typically cumbersome and costly, and don't lend themselves to in-product applications. An alternative to addressing the environment in which the electronics are required to operate is addressing the robustness of the electronics themselves, in particular with regards to high temperature capability.