Impacts of aero-engine deteriorations on military aircraft mission's effectiveness

Abstract

Abstract International political and socio-economic developments have led the armed forces of many countries to become more aware of how their increasingly-stringent financial budgets are spent. One major expenditure for military authorities is upon aero-engines, because in-service deterioration in any mechanical device, such as an aircraft's gas-turbine engine, is inevitable. Each deterioration has an adverse effect on the performance and shortens the reliable operational life of the engine, thereby resulting in higher life-cycle costs. For a military aircraft's mission-profiles, the consequences of an aero-engine's deterioration upon the aircraft's operational-effectiveness as well as its fuel consumption and life have been predicted in this project using validated computer-simulations. These help in making wiser management-decisions, so leading to the achievement of improved engine utilisation, lower overall life-cycle costs and optimal mission effectiveness for squadrons of aircraft.