A Fuel Spiking Test for the Surge Margin Measurement in Gas Turbine Engines

A fuel spiking test was performed to measure the surge margin of the compressor in a gas turbine engine. During the test, fuel spiking signal was superimposed on the engine controller demand and the mixed signals were used to control a fuel line servo-valve. For the superimposition, a subsystem composed of a fuel controller and a function generator was used. During the fuel spiking test, the original scheduled fuel signals and the modified signals were compared to guarantee the consistency excluding the spiking signals. The spiking signals were carefully selected to maintain the engine speed constant. The fuel spiking effects were checked by three dynamic pressure sensors. Sensors were placed before the servo-valve, after the servo-valve, and after the compressor location, respectively. The modulations of the spiking signal duration and fuel flow rate were examined to make the- operating point approach the surge region. The real engine test was performed at the Altitude Engine Test Facility (AETF) in Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). In the real engine test, fuel spiking signals with 25~50 ㎳ of spiking signal time and 17~46 % of base fuel flow rate condition were used. The dithering signal was 5~6 ㎃ at 490 Hz. The test results showed good agreement between the fuel spiking signals and the fuel line pressure signals. Also, the compressor discharge pressure signals showed fuel spiking effects and the changes of the operating point on the compressor characteristic map could be traced.