RCAIDE.Library.Methods.Powertrain.Converters.Engine.compute_power_from_throttle

compute_power_from_throttle#

compute_power_from_throttle(engine, conditions)[source]#

Computes engine power output and performance metrics based on throttle setting and atmospheric conditions.

Parameters:
  • engine (RCAIDE.Library.Components.Propulsors) –

    Engine instance with the following attributes:
    • sea_level_powerfloat

      Maximum power output at sea level [W]

    • flat_rate_altitudefloat

      Altitude below which power remains constant [m]

    • power_specific_fuel_consumptionfloat

      Power specific fuel consumption [kg/(W·s)]

  • engine_conditions (RCAIDE.Framework.Mission.Common.Conditions) –

    Engine operating conditions with:
    • throttlenumpy.ndarray

      Throttle setting [dimensionless]

    • speednumpy.ndarray

      Engine angular velocity [rad/s]

  • conditions (RCAIDE.Framework.Mission.Common.Conditions) –

    Flight conditions with:
    • freestream.altitudenumpy.ndarray

      Current altitude [m]

    • freestream.delta_ISAnumpy.ndarray

      Temperature offset from standard atmosphere [K]

Return type:

None

Notes

Power available is computed using the Gagg and Ferrar model, which accounts for atmospheric density effects on engine performance.

Major Assumptions
  • Power varies linearly with density ratio above flat-rate altitude

  • Power remains constant below flat-rate altitude

  • Standard atmosphere conditions apply except for ISA temperature offset

  • Minimum power output is zero (negative values are clipped)

  • Power is directly proportional to throttle setting

Theory

The power available is computed using:

\[P_{available} = P_{SL} \frac{\sigma - 0.117}{0.883}\]
where:
  • \(P_{SL}\) is sea-level power

  • \(\sigma\) is the density ratio

References

[1] Gudmundsson, S. (2014). General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures. Butterworth-Heinemann. [2] Gagg and Ferrar