Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Study on the Fuel Control Strategy of a Gas Turbine Engine

A hardware-in-the-loop simulation of a three-shaft gas turbine engine for ship propulsion was established. This system is composed of computers, actual hardware, measuring instruments, interfaces between actual hardware and computers, and a network for communication, as well as the relevant software, including mathematical models of the gas turbine engine. “Hardware-in-the-loop” and “volume inertia effects” are the two innovative features of this simulation system. In comparison to traditional methods for gas turbine simulation, the new simulation platform can be implemented in real time and also can test the physical hardware’s performance through their integration with the mathematical simulation model. A fuel control strategy for a three-shaft gas turbine engine, which can meet the requirement to the acceleration time and not exceeding surge line, was developed using this platform.