Adjusting aircraft powerplant power split to control powerplant vibrations
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorLi-Jen Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method is provided for operating a system of an aircraft. During this method, rotation of a propulsor rotor is driven using mechanical power output by a powerplant. The powerplant includes a first drive device and a second drive device. The first drive device generates a first portion of the mechanical power. The second drive device generates a second portion of the mechanical power. A ratio between the first portion of the mechanical power and the second portion of the mechanical power is adjusted to control vibrations of the powerplant.
Claims20
A method for operating a system of an aircraft, comprising:
- driving rotation of a propulsor rotor using mechanical power output by a powerplant, the powerplant comprising a first drive device and a second drive device, the first drive device generating a first portion of the mechanical power, and the second drive device generating a second portion of the mechanical power;
- and
- adjusting a ratio between the first portion of the mechanical power and the second portion of the mechanical power to control vibrations of the powerplant.
A method for operating an aircraft system, comprising:
- driving rotation of a propulsor rotor using mechanical power output by a powerplant, the powerplant comprising a heat engine and an electric motor, the heat engine providing a first portion of the mechanical power, and the electric motor providing a second portion of the mechanical power;
- monitoring vibrations of the powerplant;
- and
- controlling the vibrations of the powerplant based on information obtained from the monitoring by one of
- increasing the first portion of the mechanical power provided by the heat engine, and decreasing the second portion of the mechanical power provided by the electric motor;
- or
- decreasing the first portion of the mechanical power provided by the heat engine, and increasing the second portion of the mechanical power provided by the electric motor.
A system for an aircraft, comprising:
- a propulsor rotor;
- a powerplant adapted to output mechanical power to drive rotation of the propulsor rotor, the powerplant comprising a first drive device and a second drive device, the first drive device adapted to provide a first portion of the mechanical power, and the second drive device adapted to provide a second portion of the mechanical power;
- and
- a control system adapted to control vibrations of the powerplant by operating the powerplant to adjust a ratio between the first portion of the mechanical power and the second portion of the mechanical power.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.