Single-phase inverters with an output LC filter, can generate low distortion output voltages, which are suitable for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. The UPS system provides emergency power in the case of utility power failure, requiring high reliability and clean power. The sensorless control method is actually a soft-sensing technique, that reduces system cost, measurement-related losses, and, especially important for UPS systems, enhances the system reliability. This paper proposes a load current sensorless finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) scheme for a single-phase UPS inverter. A time varying observer is proposed, which offers the accurate estimation for individual components simultaneously in periodic load current signal, without subsequent complex calculations. Compared with another two typical sensorless methods (the low-pass filter and the Kalman filter), the proposed observer-based FCS-MPC strategy has smaller load current estimation error and lower output voltage distortion, under both linear and nonlinear loads. The theoretical analysis is verified through simulation and experiment. A single-phase inverter rapid control prototype (RCP) is set up with the Speedgoat real-time target machine, to confirm the effectiveness of the system.

An integrated analysis method for a rocket-augmented turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine is proposed based on the trajectory optimization method of the Gauss pseudospectral. The efficiency and energy of the vehicles with and without the rocket are analyzed. Introducing an appropriate rocket to assist the TBCC-powered vehicle will reduce the total energy consumption of drag, and increase the vehicle efficiency in the transonic and the mode transition. It results in an increase in the total efficiency despite a reduction in engine efficiency. Therefore, introducing a rocket as the auxiliary power is not only a practical solution to enable flight over a wide-speed range when the TBCC is incapable but also probably an economical scheme when the the TBCC meets the requirements of thrust. When the vehicle drag is low, the rocket works for a short time and its optimal relative thrust is small. Thus, the TBCC combined with a booster rocket will be a more simple and suitable scheme. When the vehicle drag is high, the operating time of the rocket is long and the optimal relative thrust is large. The specific impulse has a significant impact on the flight time and the total fuel consumption. Accordingly, the combination form for the rocket-based combined cycle (RBCC) engines and the turbine will be more appropriate to obtain higher economic performance.

The buzz phenomenon of a typical supersonic inlet is analyzed using the unsteady Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulation and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. The dominant flow patterns and characteristics of the buzzed flow are obtained by decoupling the computed pressure field into spatial and temporal sub-parts based on the POD method. The supersonic inlet buzz phenomenon could be approximated as a product of decoupled temporal and spatial terms, and the one-dimensional (1D) mathematical model is therefore proposed. The standard deviations of the unsteady pressure fields from both the numerical simulation and the model prediction are compared. The limited discrepancy can be observed, and the good agreement validates the credibility of the proposed 1D model. The numerical simulation and the 1D model prediction are presented to explore the unsteady-jet control with a small perturbation. The results of the 1D model and the numerical simulation achieve good agreements with each other in terms of the overall trend. Finally, POD modal energy is employed to analyze the buzz suppression mechanism. When the jet frequency is identical to the dominant frequency of the buzz and the jet phase is opposite to the oscillation phase of the captured mass flow, the buzz suppression could be more efficient. The buzz suppression mechanism could be explained in two aspects. For one thing, the complex flow structure is suppressed and the first average modal energy in the inlet is increased. For another, the energy redistribution among each POD mode is achieved and the flow stability is gradually enhanced.

Metamodels have become increasingly popular in the field of energy sources because of their significant advantages in reducing the computational cost of time-consuming tasks. Lacking the prior knowledge of actual physical systems, it may be difficult to find an appropriate metamodel in advance for a new task. A favorite way of overcoming this difficulty is to construct an ensemble metamodel by assembling two or more individual metamodels. Motivated by the existing works, a novel metamodeling approach for building the ensemble metamodels is proposed in this paper. By thoroughly exploring the characteristics of regression-type and interpolation-type metamodels, some useful information is extracted from the feedback of the regression-type metamodels to further improve the functional fitting capability of the ensemble metamodels. Four types of ensemble metamodels were constructed by choosing four individual metamodels. Common benchmark problems are chosen to compare the performance of the individual and ensemble metamodels. The results show that the proposed metamodeling approach reduces the risk of selecting the worst individual metamodel and improves the accuracy of the used individual metamodels.

The buzz phenomenon of a typical supersonic inlet is analyzed on the basis of numerical simulations and duct acoustic theory. Considering that the choked inlet could be treated as a duct with one end closed, a one-dimensional (1D) mathematical model based on the duct acoustic theory is proposed to describe the periodic pressure oscillation of the little buzz and the big buzz. The results of the acoustic model agree well with that of the numerical simulations and the experimental data. It could verify that the dominated oscillation patterns of the little buzz and the big buzz are closely related to the first and second resonant mode of the standing wave, respectively. The discrepancies between the numerical simulation and the ideal acoustic model might be attributed to the viscous damping in the fluid oscillation system. In order to explore the damping, a small perturbation jet is introduced to trigger the resonance of the buzz system and the nonlinear amplification effect of resonance might be helpful to estimate the damping. Through the comparison between the linear acoustic model and the nonlinear simulation, the calculated pressure oscillation damping of the little buzz and the big buzz are 0.33 and 0.16, which could be regarded as an estimation of real damping.

An aircraft/engine integrated optimal control method is proposed for turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engines based on the Gauss pseudospectral method. The optimal flight trajectory and TBCC control law are obtained for a TBCC-powered aircraft, and the “thrust trap” that occurs during turbo-ramjet mode transition is further analyzed and suppressed. Results show that the aircraft goes through the mode transition phase using a “climb-dive” trajectory, which is a strategy of applying gravity-assist and temporarily reducing the drag. Furthermore, the TBCC engine adjusts at the quickest rate to minimize thrust loss. With the coupling of the trajectory and TBCC control law, the minimum thrust during the mode transition is only 23% of the thrust before the mode transition, suggesting the “thrust trap” phenomenon. By decreasing the mode transition time from 60 s to 15 s, the minimum thrust can only increase to 30%, and the “thrust trap” phenomenon cannot be effectively suppressed. When the operating speed range of the turbine engine increases from Ma2.5 to 2.9, the minimum thrust will reach 80%, and the “thrust trap” tends to level off.