A Fuzzy Logic Approach in the Control of a Twin-Spool Aircraft Gas Turbine Engine under Development

Abstract

The advantages of a rule-based fuzzy controller with its well-established benefits of system representation in intuitive terms, ease of development and modification, ease of inputs selection, output interpolation and robustness are investigated with special reference to an aircraft gas turbine engine. This approach has a distinct advantage in the engine development phase, during which a precise model of the complex plant is unlikely to be available. The desirability of a deadbeat response for certain variables with constraints on some of these is highlighted. The design of a rule-based fuzzy controller for a twin-spool aircraft gas turbine engine with excellent response characteristics is outlined in this paper. Simulation results with a thermodynamic model of the engine using the fuzzy controller are presented. Responses obtained at representative points of a flight envelope and results from a comparison study with a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller are also presented.