Comparative Analysis of Mathematical Models for Turbofan Engine Weight Estimation

Abstract

Accurate mathematical models for turbofan engine weight estimation are necessary requirement for optimization of the working process parameters at the initial design stage. Open-Access publications provide necessary information on eight models that may be used at this design stage. Information on 77 modern turbofan engines was gathered using the available sources: publications, official websites, reference books etc. Data gaps were filled using the mathematical model identification. Gathered data cover wide range of working process parameters, thrust levels and air flow rates and was used to assess the accuracy of the abovementioned weight models. Only four models (Torenbeek, Svoboda, Raymer, Kuz'michev) provide adequate accuracy. Kuz'michev model uses the highest number of input parameters and provide the most precise results, although it must be noted that no correlation between the number of input parameters and accuracy was determined in general.