Original Article

Proc IMechE Part G:

J Aerospace Engineering
Bond graph modeling of a jet engine 0(0) 1–18
! IMechE 2018

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DOI: 10.1177/0954410018793772
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Morteza Montazeri-Gh and Seyed Alireza Miran Fashandi

Abstract
Following the technological advances in recent decades, advanced electronic systems linked to the gas turbine industry
are increasingly considered by the designers of this field. For this purpose, new airborne systems in conjunction with jet
engines are developed, which are incorporated in many challenging design problems such as control law and configur-
ation design. Thus, a comprehensive modeling structure is needed that can bolster the integrity of the system devel-
opment such as the bond graph approach, which is known as an efficient method for modeling complicated mechatronic
systems. In this paper, modeling and simulation of a jet engine dynamic performance and aircraft motion are achieved
based on the bond graph approach. At first, the electric starter bond graph model is constructed and physical relation-
ships governing each engine component are obtained. In the aftermath, the modulated energy fields are developed for
the jet engine components. Subsequently, the bond graph model of the engine is numerically simulated and experimen-
tally tested and verified for a small jet engine. Finally, bond graph modeling and simulation of integrated engine and aircraft
system is presented. The test results indicate the acceptable accuracy of the modeling approach which can be applied for
innovative diagnosis and control systems design.

Keywords
Dynamic performance, jet engine, electric starter, bond graph, experimental test

Date received: 15 November 2017; accepted: 16 July 2018

Introduction performance and are not reliable. These models are

A gas turbine engine, as a mechatronic system, con-
sists of many subsystems dealing with different energy
fields such as mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, pneu-
matics, thermodynamics, etc. Comprehensive and
accurate understanding of the engine dynamic behav-
ior plays an important role in its component design
and control system development. What’s more, mod-
eling and optimization of the performance of small
gas turbines have received considerable attention by
researchers in recent years as they are suitable choices
for academic studies and small aircrafts as a means of
analyzing the real performance of gas turbines.1,2
Moreover, a small turbo-prop has proved to be a suit-
able alternate choice for piston engines in view of its
low weight and smaller size.1 Noting the interaction of
different subsystems in such systems, a wide variety of
gas turbine modeling approaches has been presented
including transfer function, thermodynamic, soft
computing and block structure models with commer-
cial software that often include many challenges such
as algebraic loops. Transfer function and block struc-
ture models are simple and fast but with low accuracy.
In other words, these models can match the experi-
mental results only in a limited range of engine
used when an initial estimate of the engine perform-
ance is needed in a specified working condition. Soft
computing models are fast, flexible and with high
accuracy but their proper functioning depends on
the availability of a large database of engine tests.3
Generally, thermodynamic models are accurate, reli-
able, and in good conformity with experimental data
regarding the performance characteristics of gas tur-
bine engines. These models can be utilized as the basis
of engine design process and its controller to evaluate
various parameters affecting the engine performance.
However, the complexity of the development process
and low simulation speed are among its disadvan-
tages. Solving the conventional thermodynamic equa-
tions and establishing compatibility between different
components require the assumption of certain model
Systems Simulation and Control Laboratory, School of Mechanical
Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
Corresponding author:
Seyed Alireza Miran Fashandi, Systems Simulation and Control
Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of
Science and Technology, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran.
Emails: alirezamiran@mecheng.iust.ac.ir, s.alireza.miran@gmail.com
2 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
parameters in simultaneous algebraic and differential
equations. Thus the use of iteration loops is manda-
tory in order to verify the initial guesses. For this
reason, the real-time simulations and optimization
processes of gas turbine dynamic behavior in terms
of running time, modeling the components and creat-
ing the engine modular structure has been a challen-
ging task.4,5
On this basis, the major issue with regard to the
development and verification of and innovative air-
borne systems like jet engine-powered aircraft
(Figure 1), which are also jet engine models, is the
mathematical modelling approach. This is due to the
fact that aerial vehicles require high functional integ-
rity in order to reach their improved operational per-
formance and efficiency. Thus, the management and
control of the basic resources, such as heat and fuel,
electrical power, etc., require a rather complex inter-
action between software and hardware systems, which
is most often difficult to optimize. Development cost
is another challenge because of numerous compo-
nents, switches, and interfaces associated with the
main system.
System-level modeling is a way to better under-
stand the behavior of a system and how it can be
controlled. In this regard, preparing the test bed for
a computer-based aerial vehicle model has become
fashionable. An aerial vehicle contains several
energy domains such as electrical, mechanical,
thermodynamic, etc., which requires integrating vari-
ous technologies, interfaces, and numerous subsys-
tems. For the development of such systems, an
intuitive and well-organized approach will be required
that ensures an effective algorithm for rapid develop-
ment of different models for disparate purposes such
as safety assessment, performance prediction, func-
tional test, etc. In fact, a feasible approach such as
bond graph, which is applicable in all energy fields,
will be advantageous.7,8 Representations of physical
processes and the exposure of underlying structure of
energy transfer are more effective with the bond graph
method. The idea is based on the topology of aerial
vehicle systems, schematics and, where suitable,
Figure 1. (a) Small jet engine, and (b) aircraft.6
physical design. The most notable features of this
method among other object-oriented methods are its
simplicity and compatibility. Bond graph is an object-
oriented method for power transfer representation of
interconnected components of a system in which
energy passes through the network of bonds where
the internal consistency of the component models is
guaranteed. It also provides a direct map from engin-
eering schematics to a clear interpretation of physical
systems behavior and interaction via a functional
system schematic and handles causality in an explicit
and open procedure. It can also be used as a system-
atic approach for obtaining state-space equations
from the corresponding bond graph diagram prelim-
inary step of obtaining other models including linear
parameter-varying (LPV) model.9 Other benefits of
this approach include improvements in the simulation
time for mechatronic systems and creation of modular
structures for modeling the turbine components or
other systems with various interconnected energy
fields.7
Bond graph modeling of turbo-machinery have
been reported for a simple cycle single-shaft gas tur-
bine,10–12 high-speed turbo-machines,13 an ideal
turbocharger,14 convergent-divergent nozzles with
supersonic fluid flows,15 radial compressor system,16
cold start phase of a microjet engine,17 turbocharged
diesel engines,18 and an industrial gas turbine.19 As
two recent examples of applications of this approach,
Montazeri-Gh et al.20,21 focused on modeling and
simulation of the propulsion system and the engine’s
controller of industrial gas turbines and could obtain
acceptable accuracy from the conducted simulation in
addition to studying different influential parameters.
In the above-mentioned studies,10–12 the newest of
them being published in 1993, only one cycle of the
gas generator in the gas turbine, which consists of the
compressor, combustion chamber, and turbine has
been modeled using the bond graph approach (with-
out employing energy fields). Furthermore, no valid-
ation was performed on the simulation results of their
models in other studies. Neither any gas turbine cycle
nor any gas turbine engine were modeled in other
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi
studies.13–16,18 In fact, the bond graph approach has
been applied in modeling the diffusor and nozzle,13
compressor and turbine,14 convergent-divergent
nozzle,15 radial compressor,16 and diesel engine.18
Among the recently published studies,17,19–21 which
are also carried out by the same group of authors as
this study, only three industrial gas turbine modeling
were achieved with the aid of bond graph approach
(using the energy fields) and the results of simulations
were also validated. The outcomes of modeling in
Montazeri-Gh et al.20,21 were validated against empir-
ical results, while the results of Montazeri-Gh and
Miran Fashandi19 were validated against the results
of the GSP software.22 With regard to small jet
engines, Montazeri-Gh and Miran Fashandi17 pre-
sented a simplified model of the microjet engine, and
no energy field and thermodynamic equations similar
to the ones used in the present study were incorpo-
rated. Rahman and Whidborne23 developed a real-
time simulation model to evaluate the transient
performance of a single-spool small turbojet engine
as well as its bleed air. MATLAB/Simulink was
employed for performing the simulations and good
agreement with experimental results was found.
Bakalis and Stamatis24 also studied a small turbojet
engine with regard to the development of an adaptive
simulation model and analyzed the effect of various
parameters and calibrations. Other aspects of micro-
turbojets such as transonic inlet design have been
studied, such as the one by Vyas et al.25 who took
advantage of compact turbojets in order to tackle
the limited operating the range of unmanned aer-
ial vehicles with the aid of computational fluid
dynamics.
In view of this literature review, no attempt has
been made on modeling a small gas turbine engine
(small jet engine) in conjunction with its electric star-
ter system (accompanied by the characteristic curves
of electric starter motor and its drive) using the bond
graph approach and validated against experimental
findings. In addition, no effort has been made on inte-
grating the aerial system composed of the propulsion
subsystem (gas turbine engine) and aircraft subsystem
(dynamics and aerodynamics) with the bond graph
methodology. Noting the above-mentioned review,
the novelties of this study are as follows: (a) bond
graph modeling of a small jet engine with the electric
starter system and validation against empirical find-
ings, and (b) integrated modeling and simulation of
propulsion system (small jet engine) and aircraft
system (dynamics and aerodynamics).
The purpose of this study is to model and simulate
the dynamic performance of a jet engine and an air-
craft using the bond graph approach. Unlike the con-
ventional thermodynamic models, the developed
engine model in this study uses the exchange of
power between engine components which is the inter-
action of effort and flow. The product of these two
parameters can be expressed as the power and the
3
power integral represents the energy. In other
words, the output effort or flow of each engine elem-
ent is algebraically or differentially in relation with the
effort or input flow of that element.
In the following, the bond graph models of the jet
engine components such as electric starter are first
developed. Utilizing the bonds of energy and informa-
tion, zero and one junctions, the jet engine and air-
craft bond graph models are then constructed.
Subsequently, the test bed and monitoring system
are provided to record the test data of a small jet
engine, and the simulation results are compared
with those of the experimental test.
Bond graph modeling of jet
engine components
In this section, the effort and flow variables are
selected similar to Karnopp et al.26 in the thermofluid
systems, and engine components (except starter) are
considered as energy fields (a field is a multiport elem-
ent in the bond graph). For more information regard-
ing the compressor, combustion chamber, turbine,
and plenum modeling, one can refer to Montazeri-
Gh and Miran Fashandi19 as for the fact that only
the thermodynamic relations of these sections are
mentioned in this article.
Choice of the flow and effort variables is different
in each pseudo-bond graph. The flow and effort vari-
ables represent the energy flow and temperature in
one graph and mass flow and pressure in the other.
Furthermore, in the modeling of the compressor and
the turbine, the torque and the engine speed are
selected as the effort and flow variables, respectively.
The engine components are modeled by the lumped
mass elements which results in simplified elements
with no volume. All basic equations of thermo-
dynamic, heat transfer and fluid mechanics, momen-
tum, energy, and mass conservative laws are
considered in the simulation of the gas turbine
engine components. A schematic view of the jet
engine components is presented in Figure 2. The fol-
lowing assumptions in the modeling of the engine and
its subsystems are taken into account:
. Heat loss is negligible.
. Inlet pressure drop is negligible.
. The compressor mass flow rate is constant and no
energy is stored in the compressor.
. The turbine mass flow rate is constant and has no
effect on energy storage.
. The nozzle mass flow rate is constant with no effect
of energy storage.27
Electric starter
Electric drive systems are subjected to mechanical,
electrical, and thermal stresses. As a result, modeling
4 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
Figure 2. Schematic representation of the jet engine components.
Figure 3. Schematic of the separately-excited DC motor.
Figure 4. (a) Circuit of the series motor, and (b) bond graph model of the series motor.
and simulation of an electric starter in order to
investigate its behavior is of great importance.
Independent development of electric starters in dif-
ferent simulation environments along with other sub-
systems might probably lead to some technical
problems such as coupling the subsystem models.28
Another innovation of this article is the electric
starter modeling via bond graph approach, con-
nected to the small jet engine model. Regarding
the separately-excited DC motor, an introductory
schematic is provided in Figure 3 along with the
equivalent bond graph model. One may benefit
from this model for a number of different motor
types including series and parallel connections
between various elements. For instance, a DC
motor, with the circuit shown in Figure 4(a), is
taken as a small jet engine starter to verify the
applicability of the proposed method. The motor
elements are assigned by bond-group types and
their associated dynamic variables have been speci-
fied as is shown in Figure 4(b). The DC motor prop-
erties are listed in Table 1.
In the bond graph model of Figure 4(a), the current
and speed at one nodes are used as feedbacks where
transmitted to the motor characteristic curves by the
information bonds. GY is then modulated by the
obtained information and the unknown motor param-
eters are also calculated from the characteristic curve
at any moment. The motor model is comprised of
electrical and mechanical parts. The electrical part
includes the stator windings, the rotor bars and the
battery connections, and converts the battery elec-
trical energy to mechanical energy on the shaft.
The mechanical part, which transfers the produced
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi 5

Table 1. Parameters of DC motor. chamber19,29

Parameter Definition ( )
m_ in hin  m_ out hout þ m_ f ðhf þ LHVcc Þ
V Voltage source  Cv Tðm_ in  m_ out þ m_ f Þ
dT
i Current of the voltage source ¼
dt Cv m
Ra, Rf Resistances of the armature and field
ð5Þ
La, Lf Self-inductance coefEcients of the
armature and field windings
P
I Rotor inertia ðm_ in  m_ out þ m_ f Þ
m
R Mechanical loss 2( )3
m_ in hin  m_ out hout þ m_ f ðhf þ LHVcc Þ
6 7
P6  Cv Tðm_ in  m_ out þ m_ f Þ 7
torque by the electrical part to the shaft, contains the þ 6 6
7
7
T4 Cv m 5
shaft and the ball bearings.

Compressor model equations dP

¼ ð6Þ
dt
Isentropic efficiency and corrected mass flow rate of
the compressor vary in accordance with two compres- where LHV denotes the fuel heat value, mf and mair
sor parameters: pressure ratio and corrected rotor are the fuel and air mass, cc is the efficiency of com-
speed19,29 bustor, and Cv is the specific heat at constant volume.
pffiffiffi
m_  N Pout Turbine model equations
C ¼ NC, cor ¼ pffiffiffi , C ¼
, ð1Þ
  Pin
The isentropic efficiency (is,T ) and corrected mass
   
C ¼ f1 C , NC, cor , is,C ¼ f2 C , NC, cor ð2Þ flow rate (T ) of the turbine are dependent on two
turbine parameters: expansion ratio (T ) and cor-
   rected rotor speed (NT, cor )19,29
30 m_ air his,out  hin
MC ¼ ,
 is,C N    
" 1 # ð3Þ T ¼ g1 T , NT, cor , is,T ¼ g2 T , NT, cor ð7Þ
Tin Pout 
Tout  Tin ¼ 1 pffiffiffi
C Pin m_  N Pin
T ¼ NT, cor ¼ pffiffiffi , T ¼
, ð8Þ
    Pout

his,out,C  hin,C   
E_ in ¼ m_ C hin,C , E_ out ¼ m_ C hin,C þ 30 T m_ T hu  hd,is
is,C MT ¼ ð9Þ
ð4Þ  N
  
hu  hd,is
where C , C , NC, cor , is,C , and MC denote the cor- E_ in ¼ m_ T hu,T , E_ out ¼ m_ T hu,T þ ð10Þ
rected mass flow rate, pressure ratio, corrected rotor T
speed, isentropic efficiency, and torque of the com-
pressor, respectively. Furthermore, N and m_ signify
the rotational speed and mass flow rate, Pout and
Pin are the outlet and inlet pressures, respectively,
Plenum model equations
hin is the inlet enthalpy, his,out is the outlet isentropic The plenum is considered an isentropic passage where
enthalpy,  is the specific heat ratio, and (Tout , Tin ) are energy and flow speed accumulations are
the pair of outlet and inlet temperatures. In addition, negligible19,29
(E_ in , E_ out ) describe the inward and outward energy
flows. By definition, dimensionless pressure and tem- dout VP dpout
Vp ¼ ¼ m_ in  m_ out
perature are defined as  ¼ Pin =Pref and  ¼ Tin =Tref dt RTout dt
respectively, where Pref and Tref represent the stand- dTout  h    i
ard pressure and temperature (ISA). ¼ cp Tm_ in  cp Tm_ out ð11Þ
dt cp Vp
Tout
þ ðm_ out  m_ in Þ
Combustion chamber model equations Vp
For the combustion chamber, the following assump-
tions are considered: the volume of the chamber is where VP is the plenum volume,  is the density, and
constant and physical and chemical properties of cp is the constant pressure heat capacity. In addition,
fuel and air mixture are the same throughout the  can be found from the specific heat ratio.
6 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
Equation (11) is used to evaluate the plenum tempera- 2  
ture and pressure variations due to the mass accumu- F ¼ Cv m_ RTu 1  Pr1= ð13Þ
1
lation, which is assumed as a C-field in the complete
jet engine bond graph model of Figure 6.
where R is the universal gas constant. When the pres-
sure ratio is smaller than the critical pressure, choking
Nozzle
occurs, m_ remains constant and mass flow rate and
The fluid internal energy is converted into the kinetic thrust at the nozzle outlet can be calculated by27,30
energy in the nozzle module to produce the thrust.
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffisffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 þ1
For the convergent nozzle, the cross-sectional area
1 2 1
ð14Þ
decreases along with the flow so that the smallest m_ ¼ Pu A 
cross-sectional area is at the nozzle outlet. It is RTu þ1
assumed that Pu and Tu are the pressure and tempera- sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
ture at the nozzle upstream while pd and Td are the 2  
pressure and temperature at the nozzle downstream. F ¼ Cv m_ RTu 1  Pr1= þ AðPcr  Po Þ
1
A is the output cross-sectional area and m_ is the
input mass flow rate. If the output flow is considered ð15Þ
to be isentropic, the mass flow rate m_ will be more
dependent on the pressure ratio (Pr ¼ Pd =Pu ) than the With regard to the defined equations, the modu-
pressure drop (Pu  Pd ) inside the nozzle. As long as lated R-field representing the nozzle can be defined
the pressure ratio is greater than the critical pressure as presented in Figure 5. Temperature and pressure
(Prcrit ¼ ð2= þ 1Þ=1 ), m_ and thrust are obtained by are the field inputs while mass flow and energy flow
are its outputs. An information input bond, which is
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Pu 2 pffiffiffiffiffi2= the turbine fuel-to-air ratio, enters the nozzle. The
m_ ¼ A pffiffiffiffiffiffi Pr  Prþ1= ð12Þ preferred causality indicated from the model equa-
Tu Rð  1Þ
tions are effort input on all fluid bonds.

Figure 5. Pseudo-bond graph models of jet engine components: (a) nozzle, (b) engine shaft, (c) compressor, (d) combustion
chamber.19
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi 7

Figure 6. Bond graph model of jet engine.

Figure 7. The aircraft system.6

Engine shaft model

The shaft model is developed based on the torque
difference between the compressor and the turbine.
The shaft acceleration is due to power imbalance
between the turbine generated power and the com-
pressor power consumption. The friction torque,
which is proportional to the turbine shaft torque,
and the governing dynamic equation are written as Figure 8. Bond graph representation of Euler’s equation.31,32

Mfric ¼ mech MT ð16Þ where mech is the coefficient of the mechanical effi-
ciency. The related bond graph model is shown in
dN 30 Figure 5, which shows the pseudo-bond graph
¼ ðMT  MC  Mfric Þ ð17Þ
dt I models of jet engine components.
8 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 9. Bond graph motion model of aircraft system.33

Figure 10. Jet engine and aircraft controllers’ structure.

PLA: pilot lever angle; EGT: exhaust gas temperature.
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi
Figure 11. Engine test bed.
RC: remote controller; ECU: electronic control unit.
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
1.5 2 2.5
Figure 12. The engine fuel pump characteristic curve.
Complete bond graph model of the jet engine
The complete jet engine model is constructed as in
Figure 6 where there is a unique mapping between
the bond graph and jet engine components. This illus-
trates the ability of the bond graph approach to
modulate the system components, by which a soft-
ware library of gas turbine engine component systems
can be made. The environment and the fuel mass flow
are considered as sources of effort and flow, respect-
ively. The compressor, turbine, and nozzle are
assumed to be the energy dissipater elements (resist-
ance). The shaft dynamics and combustion chamber
are modeled as energy capacitor elements (i.e. inertia
and capacitor).
9
3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Bond graph model of integrated
engine and aircraft system
An aircraft is a complex mechatronic system interact-
ing with an external/internal environment during
ground phase and flight operations. Figure 7 demon-
strates an aircraft. The rigid body motion of the air-
craft is defined by a set of Euler’s equations presented
in Figure 8.
The data in other studies31–33 are used for aircraft
translational and rotational dynamics modeling.
More detailed information with regard to the aircraft
motion modeling can be found in Diston.33 The bond
graph illustration of the Newton–Euler equation is
demonstrated in Figure 8 where rotational dynamics
10 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

(a) (b)
1.5 80

60
1
40

0.5
20

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

(c) (d)
1.5 80

60
1
40
0.5
20

0 0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0 0.5 1 1.5

Figure 13. Characteristic of DC starter motor: (a) torque current characteristic, (b) power speed characteristic, (c) torque speed
characteristic, (d) power torque characteristic.

Table 2. Characteristics of DC starter motor. Table 3. Characteristics of DC starter drive.

Quantity Value DC Drive Quantity Value

Power 60 W Speed controller Proportional gain 50

Efficiency 67.6 Integral gain 300
Laf 0.002 H acc 10,000 rpm/s
Torque 0.0955 N.m dec 10,000 rpm/s
V 12 V Current controller Proportional gain 10
Ra 0.3  Integral gain 200
La 0.0005 H Electrical Drive DC input 14 V
Rf 0.1  parameters Voltage
Lf 0.001 H PWM switching 10 kHz
J 0.000015 kg m2 frequency
B 0.00001 kg m s Smoothing inductance 10e–3 H
I 6.9 A acc: acceleration; dec: deceleration; PWM: pulse width modulation.
Nominal speed 6000 r/min

and energy flow in translational dynamics are defined
by the lower and upper triangles respectively. The
nodes for external moments and forces have been pro-
vided by the three 1-junctions in the triangles. Finally,
with the integration of aerodynamics and propulsion
(jet engine) models, the bond graph motion model is
obtained, which is shown in Figure 9. The rigid body
motion component description of an aircraft is also
presented in Figure 9 using the combination of pro-
pulsive and aerodynamic forces with Newton and
Euler methods. All applied forces are brought
together at the aircraft CG by the OS components
while alignment with aircraft body axes is ensured
by AT2 components. Before the application of
motion equations, velocity/force information are rea-
ligned with aircraft Pals by AT components. The add-
itional R component compensates for the frame
rotation effects as in Diston33 by the CR matrix. In
addition, the gravity and wind shear effects are also
considered.
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi 11

(a) (b)
6000 0.2

Experiment 0.15
4000
Simulation
0.1

2000
0.05

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0
0 1 2 3 4 5

(c) 60 (d)
13

40

6
20

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5

(e) 10 (f) 0.8

0.6

5 0.4

0.2

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5

(g) 100 (h)

6
80

60 4

40
2
20

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5

Figure 14. Starter motor performance parameters: (a) DC motor speed, (b) DC motor output torque, (c) DC motor output
power, (d) motor input voltage, (e) motor input current (f) drive switch duty-cycle, (g) drive input power, (h) drive input current.

Table 4. Design point modeling of the small jet engine. Table 4. Continued

Quantity Value Quantity Value

Inlet air temperature (K) 288 Compressor pressure ratio 3.78

Inlet air pressure (bar) 1.01325 Turbine inlet gas temperature (K) 1158.5
Lower heating value (LHV) (kJkg1) 43,323 Turbine pressure ratio 2.024
Compressor exhaust temperature (K) 379.85 Turbine exhaust gas temperature (K) 1015.9
Compressor isentropic efficiency 0.76 Combustion efficiency 0.68
Turbine isentropic efficiency 0.80 Mechanical shaft efficiency 0.99
(continued)
12 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 15. Compressor performance curves: (a) pressure ratio versus corrected mass flow, (b) efficiency versus pressure ratio.

Figure 16. Turbine performance curve.

(a) (b)
0.02 1100

Simulation Simulation
1000
0.015 Experiment Experiment

900
0.01
800

0.005
700

0 600
20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100

Figure 17. Steady-state results: (a) fuel flow versus shaft speed, (b) EGT versus shaft speed.

Controller design of integrated engine and
aircraft system
In this section, the aircraft and the engine fuel con-
trollers34,35 are described based on the flight simula-
tion control requirements and engine controlling
modes. The controller schematic is presented in
Figure 10.
Jet engine controller design. The jet engine controller
design34,35 fulfills three different control modes,
which are as follows: at steady-state conditions, the
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi 13

first control mode satisfies the pilot command (steady-
state control mode), the second control mode
regulates the time response of the engine at transient
conditions (transient control mode) and physical limi-
tation such as over speed, over temperature, and aero-
dynamic limitations are accomplished by the third
control mode. In this research, the fuel controller is
1 ing acceleration loop, deceleration loop, maximum
0.947
0.895
0.842
0 0.5 1 1.5
Figure 18. Input signal (fuel mass flow (FMF)).
designed with an industrial algorithm that divides the
engine fuel flow into two parts: steady-state and tran-
sient fuel flows.36,37 At each equilibrium point, the
steady-state fuel flow is calculated by the steady-
state control mode, which incorporates a scheduling
controller as illustrated in Figure 10. In addition, the
transient fuel flow is assigned to the other two con-
trolling modes. The transient fuel flow is determined
by a min–max strategy with four control loops includ-
engine speed loop, and PLA loop as shown in
Figure 10.
Aircraft controller design. An aircraft control system con-
sists of PID controllers with adjusted coefficients
using trial and error whose inputs are eu and e
(eu ¼ Udesired  Uactual , e ¼ desired  actual ) and the
output are PLA and Elevator. The jet engine control
2
system regulates the input fuel to the engine and the
input voltage to the electric starter. By controlling the
output of the engine thrust, it is possible to stabilize
the aircraft at a desired condition.

Figure 19. Signal relations exchanged between test components.

ECU: electronic control unit; EGT: exhaust gas temperature.

(a) 1 (b)
1.02

0.99
1

0.98
0.98
0.97
0.96
0.96
0.94
0.95
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Figure 20. Engine speed and EGT in the simulation and experiment: (a) speed versus time, (b) EGT versus time.
RPM: revolutions per minute; EGT: exhaust gas temperature.
14 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

(a) (b)
1.03 1.02

1 1

0.97 0.98

0.95 0.965

0.92 0.95

0.89 0.93
0.97 0.98 0.985 0.993 1 1.007 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

(c) (d)
1.007 1.02

1 1

0.99 0.97

0.985 0.946

0.98 0.92

0.97 0.89
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

(e) (f)
7 1.02

1
6
0.974
5
0.95

4 0.92

0.897
3
0.87
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Figure 21. Engine performance parameters for the step input presented in Figure 18: (a) CPR versus CAMF, (b) TIT versus time,
(c) CAMF versus time, (d) CPR versus time, (e) stall margin versus time, (f) thrust versus time.
CPR: compressor pressure ratio; TIT: turbine inlet temperature; CAMF: compressor air mass flow.

ECU and converting it to the fuel flow by the

Experimental set-up
In next section, the bond graph model of a small
turbojet engine is simulated and the results are com-
pared with those of the experimental test. Labview
software38 is used for creating a monitoring system
as in Figure 11 so as to record and display the
engine performance parameters including engine rota-
tional speed (rev/min), fuel pump voltage, exhaust gas
temperature (EGT), and throttle changes. The signals
are connected to an electronic control unit (ECU) and
transmitted to a PC via NI LabVIEW. The data
acquisition process and the experiment schematic are
shown in Figure 11. The engine is controlled by an
operator with a remote controller (RC) throughout
the experiment.
The model input signal is determined by
measuring the engine fuel pump voltage via the
curve of Figure 12. It should be mentioned that
Figure 12 is derived from the engine fuel pump experi-
mental test.
Results
Electric starter
Figure 13 demonstrates the starter motor characteris-
tic curves. The DC motor information is presented in
Tables 2 and 3. The simulation results for current,
power, torque and voltage parameters of the motor
are displayed in Figure 14. Moreover, the turbine
speed for simulation and experimental test is dis-
played in this figure. Furthermore, the simulation
results for current, power and duty-cycle parameters
of the motor drive are indicated in Figure 14.
Montazeri-Gh and Fashandi 15

(a) 350 (b)

Altitude(1540m)
65
340 60

330 55

50 Altitude(1540m)
320

45
310 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

(c) (d)
0.6 0.25

0.4
0.2
0.2
0.15
0

-0.2 0.1
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5

(e) (f)
2 0.2

0 0

-2 -0.2
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5

Figure 22. Simulated response of integrated engine and aircraft system: (a) net thrust versus Mach number, (b) SFC versus Mach
number, (c) roll versus time, (d) pitch versus time, (e) angular velocity of the component Wx versus time, (f) angular velocity of the
component Wy versus time.
SFC: specific fuel consumption.

the two groups of obtained data are related to the

Design point
For determination of the design point’s unknown
parameters such as fuel-to-air ratio and compressor
isentropic efficiency, an algorithm introduced by
Al-Hamdan and Ebaid39 is developed and the results
are given in Table 4.
Off-design condition. The engine performance results for
steady-state conditions are given below. Figures 15
and 16 show the compressor and turbine performance
maps, respectively. Also, Figure 15 demonstrates the
operating line (running line) of the compressor, which
is the interconnection of steady-state points.40
Some tests are also performed in order to validate
the behavior of the engine model in steady-state con-
ditions in which the jet engine throttling is such that the
engine is sustained at a single steady-state point. Thus,
by obtaining a set of steady-state points, the fuel flow
and EGT graphs in terms of speed (Figure 17) are
generated. In Figure 17, simulation results of the
engine model and the results of the turbine steady-
state test are compared, indicating the acceptable
accuracy of the modeling. The slight difference between
errors generated as a result of extrapolating and scaling
the performance maps for obtaining the necessary
characteristics at low rotational speeds.
The following results are normalized with respect
to the design point. Figure 18 shows that the input
signal is the controller output of the test. Figure 19
presents the signals relation between the control
system, fuel pump and the engine during the experi-
ment. The engine speed and EGT from the test and
simulation are compared with each other in Figure 20.
According to Figure 20, the maximum speed error is
acceptable, illustrating the model accuracy, although
due to the lack of modeling the turbine exhaust gas
temperature sensor, Figure 20 shows the acceptable
accuracy of the EGT variation in both simulation
and experiment. In view of the slow dynamics of tem-
perature sensor, there is no sudden jump in the exhaust
gas temperature from in the empirical test data.
During the early stages of acceleration, for the
step input, the air flow decreases due to the rotor iner-
tia (Figure 21(a)). At the same time, the compressor
pressure ratio rises by the increase of the fuel dis-
charge while the engine speed is almost constant
16
(Figure 21(d)). Regarding the compressor characteris-
tic curve, since the speed is constant and the compres-
sor pressure ratio is elevating, the air flow is reduced
(Figure 21(c)). Since the input fuel flow rate (step func-
tion) immediately reaches its maximum value (with no
delay), the turbine inlet gas temperature is very high
during the early moments as is demonstrated in
Figure 21(b). On the other hand, the air flow rate is
declining and the fuel-to-air ratio is high. Therefore,
the gas is produced at a high temperature, which may
be higher than the allowable limit that may damage
the turbine vanes. For the next moments, regarding
the acceleration line, the air flow increases gradually
and the exhaust gas temperature declines to the design
point temperature.
Figure 21(e) shows that the stall margin (SM) value
decreases by about 3.5%. Due to sudden increase in the
fuel flow rate, the engine accelerates and the engine
performance line approaches the surge line. The rise
in fuel flow rate leads to temperature increase, although
the rotor does not have the time to increase its speed
and provide more air flow. Therefore, the initial per-
formance trend line is toward the surge line owing to
the acceleration and compressor pressure ratio augmen-
tation, putting turbine at a high risk. According to
Figure 21(f), at the first moments, the quick jump in
the exhaust gas temperature causes the sudden thrust
decline.
Simulation of integrated engine and aircraft system
The simulation results of an aircraft motion from an
intermediate condition to a final condition are demon-
strated in Figure 22.
Conclusions
Modeling and simulation of the jet engine dynamic
performance and aircraft were achieved based on
the bond graph approach and coupling the bond
graph sub-models. In order to experimentally validate
the modeling process, a test bed and monitoring
system were provided to record the small jet engine
test data. The main points of the study are as follows:
. Bond graph modeling of electric starter system and
controlling it using the characteristic curves of elec-
tric motor and validating the results of simulation
with those of experimental tests resulted in accept-
able accuracy.
. Bond graph modeling of the performance of gas tur-
bine engine (design point, steady state, and transient
state) and controlling it using the performance char-
acteristic curves in addition to validating the simu-
lation results with experimental test showed good
agreement between the two sets of results.
. Integrated bond graph modeling of the propulsion
system (small gas turbine engine), aircraft, control,
and simulating them were carried out.
Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
The obtained bond graph model can be used as the
basis of the state-space equations of nonlinear models.
It can also be implemented in real-world applications
including the performance modeling of various gas
turbines (including turbo-fan, turbo-shaft, and
turbo-prop), hardware in the loop tests, new control-
ler design, modeling the electric starter system, and
start-up phase of different gas turbines as well as
their fuel systems.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iD
Seyed Alireza Miran Fashandi http://orcid.org/0000-
0002-9163-7941
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Appendix
Notation
acc acceleration
cp constant pressure specific heat
Cv constant volume specific heat
dec deceleration
e effort sensor
E_ energy flow
f fuel-to-air ratio
GY gyrator
h enthalpy
H height
m mass
18 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

m_ mass flow rate d downstream

M Mach number fric friction
MGY Modulated gyrator in inlet
MSe Modulated source of effort is isentropic
N rotational speed mech mechanical
P Pressure out outlet
Se source of effort ref standard value (of pressure or
T temperature temperature)
U average velocity T turbine
u upstream

Subscripts
C compressor