Dr Jill Stewart

Gas turbine research past and present

Paul Stewart
First flight of the jet engine powered Gloster E28-39

May 2011 saw the 70th anniversary of the first British jet powered aircraft flight celebrated at RAF Cranwell.

Exactly 70 years ago, on 15 May 1941, the Gloster E28/39 aircraft powered by Sir Frank Whittle’s jet engine taxied over 500 yards down the runway before taking off for a flight that lasted almost 17 minutes.

Organised by the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering (DCAE) and sponsored by Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the event saw the attendance of a wide range of guests including Sir Frank’s son Ian Whittle. Sir Frank began his RAF career as an apprentice and later trained as an RAF officer at RAF Cranwell.

L-R Ian Whittle, Kate Ellis (Lincoln City Council), Dr Jill Stewart (Acting Head of Engineering, University of Lincoln), Rob Smith (City of Lincoln Council)

Dr Jill Stewart, Acting Head of Engineering at the University of Lincoln is pictured in front of the Gloster E28/39 aircraft, and one of Sir Frank Whittle’s jet engines.

Pictured with Jill are Kate Ellis and Rob Smith from Lincoln City Council. We work closely with Kate and Rob, developing links with Lincoln engineering businesses for R&D, and also to raise the profile of Lincoln as a centre of engineering excellence.

Coming right up to date, Jill is currently leading a major research project looking at fundamental combustion in gas turbines for Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery in Lincoln.

Siemens annual research project review 2011

Paul Stewart
Mike Ryley presenting on the Gas Turbine Combustion project

There are currently 4 major Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery -related research project running in the School of Engineering:

  • Remote Monitoring and Sensing
  • Sensor Validation
  • Fundamental Combustion
  • Coupling and Shaft Vibration

We held the annual major project review on Wed 22nd June, attended by project collaborators and co-ordinators from Siemens, and all our Siemens related research staff and associated academics.

We are hoping to announce further collaborative projects to add to this portfolio in the near future

The Project review was led by Dr Jill Stewart, who has recently been announced as Acting Head of Engineering, following Prof Stewart’s promotion to PVC Research

Dr Yang being quizzed by Siemens' Herman Ruisnaars

Recommissioning the Lotus Experimental Free-Piston Engine

Paul Stewart
Camshaft drive transfer box

Now that the Free-Piston engine is back at the ThinkTank, the electrical drive to the main crankshaft servo will be re-commissioned by Control Techniques Ltd.

The Engine has been away for a while having a new linear electrical motor-generator fitted, and is now ready for electrical re-comissioning before we move it into it’s test-cell in the new School of Engineering building.

The engine is unique, in that it allows piston trajectory control for experimentation on both conventional (with crankshaft) and free-piston (linear electrical machine, no crankshaft) operation.

After re-commissioning and installation in the new building, Prof Stewart will be continuing research into fundamental combustion, multi-fuel operation with variable compression ratios and free-piston operation in collaboration with Dr Jill Stewart, Reader in Thermofluids.

Free-Piston engine in the ThinkTank lab waiting for re-commissionng

Major new KTP for the School of Engineering

Paul Stewart

Dr Jill Stewart, Senior Lecturer in Thermofluids in the School of Engineering has secured a 3-year KTP grant in collaboration with Napier Turbochargers Lincoln.

The project will develop a design methodology of turbocharger compressor impellers that are resilient to typical manufacturing tolerances thus maintaining efficiency and reducing manufacturing non-conformance cost.

The project is anticipated to commence in August 2011

Napier Turbochargers is a wholly self-owned company, having previously been owned by Siemens Power Generation, specifically Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd being based on the same site in Lincoln when it bought the neighbouring Alstom Power Turbines in March 2003; Alstom (former GEC-Alsthom) had owned the company since GEC bought English Electric in the late 1960s.

Best paper prize for School of Engineering academics

Paul Stewart
Institution of Mechanical Engineers headquarters London

Prof Paul Stewart and Dr Jill Stewart from the School of Engineering in collaboration with Dr Dan Gladwin from the University of Sheffield have been awarded the Charles Sharpe Beecher Prize by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for their 2010 paper

Multi-objective evolutionary–fuzzy augmented flight control for an F16 aircraft. Proceedings of the IMechE, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 224 (3). pp. 293-309. ISSN 0954-4100

The prize is awarded for the best paper on an aerospace subject published by the Institution in the previous year.

The paper examines the application of Artificial Intelligence techniques to the flight control system of the Lockheed Martin F16 Fighting Falcon. In particular, the modified controller aims to enhance the performance of the flight controller to reduce pilot fatigue during extended combat flight manoeuvres.

The F-16 is a single-engined, supersonic, multi-role tactical aircraft. The F-16 was designed to be a cost-effective combat “workhorse” that can perform various kinds of missions and maintain around-the-clock readiness. It is much smaller and lighter than its predecessors, but uses advanced aerodynamics and avionics, including the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire (RSS/FBW) flight control system, to achieve enhanced maneuver performance. Highly nimble, the F-16 can pull 9-g maneuvers and can reach a maximum speed of over Mach 2.

The Prize will be awarded at the Annual General Meeting and Awards Ceremony at the IMechE London headquarters on 17th May 2011