To allow the incorporation of engine design in the Aircraft Initiator conceptual design tool, a modular engine design and performance estimation tool has been created, which is intended to allow the study of the effects of changes to engine architecture on the complete aircraft design. It generates estimates for engine thrust, specific fuel consumption and mass based on a coarse description of engine components and is expandable to potentially include off-design performance estimation as well as new engine components, including hybrid-electric components.
Thrust and specific fuel consumption estimations are similarly accurate compared to the current Initiator engine model, based on a sample study of three engines.
Engine mass estimation has deteriorated due to a spool-speed-estimation issue. Computational speed has also deteriorated due to increased model complexity. The modular nature of the code promises to future-proof the engine modelling within the Initiator, as new developments can be easily incorporated, adding flexibility.