The paper reviews the present computer-aided systems (CAE-systems) of conceptual designing and engineering analysis of the gas turbine engines (GTE) and power-plants (GTPP). Each of the examined system is briefly described and the comparative analysis of the following systems: ASTRA, DVIGwT, EngineSim, GasTurb, GSP and Uni_TTF is described. Trends of the development of CAE-systems of gas turbine engines are also indicated.

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Continuous improvement of fuel efficiency of aircraft engines is the main global trend in modern engine construction. To date, aviation gas turbine engines have reached a high degree of thermodynamic and design-and technology perfection. One of the promising ways to further improve their fuel efficiency is the use of complex thermodynamic cycles with turbine exhaust heat regeneration and with intermediate cooling in the process of air compression. Until recently, the use of cycles with a recuperative heat exchanger and an intercooler in aircraft gas turbine engines was restrained by a significant increase in the mass of the power plant due to the installation of heat exchangers. Currently, it has become technologically possible to create compact, light, high-efficiency heat exchangers for use on aircraft without compromising their performance. An important target in the design of engines with heat recovery is to select the parameters of the working process that provide maximum efficiency of the aircraft system. The article focuses on the statement of the task of optimization and choice of rational parameters of the working process of a bypass three-shaft turbojet engine with an intercooler and a recuperative heat exchanger. On the basis of the developed method multi-criteria optimization was carried out by means of numerical simulations. The results of optimization of thermodynamic cycle parameters of a bypass three-shaft turbojet engine with an intercooler and a recuperative heat exchanger in the aircraft system according to such criteria as the total weight of the engine and fuel required for the flight, and the aircraft specific fuel consumption per ton - kilometer of the payload are presented. A passenger aircraft of the Airbus A310-300 type was selected. The developed mathematical model for calculating the mass of a compact heat exchanger, designed to solve optimization problems at the stage of conceptual design of the engine is presented. The developed methods and models are implemented in the ASTRA program. The possibility of improving the efficiency of turbofan engines due to the use of complex thermodynamic cycles is shown.

The article describes the results of investigation of the theoretical limits of the conventional gas turbine engines on the basis of numerical simulation using the computer-aided system "astra". The results of simulation are used to forecast the gas turbine engines' parameters as well as to determine whether the potentialities of the conventional gas turbine engines are exhausted or not. The approaches to increasing the efficiency of propulsion unit and the thermogasdynamic cycle are suggested.

The article describes a thermo-gas-dynamic model of small gas turbine engines. The model takes into account the influence of the engine size on the efficiency of work processes in the crucial components. Gas turbine engines are classified according to their size depending on the value of the gas generator mass flow rate corrected by the compressor exit parameters. An important feature of the working process in small gas turbine engines is that hydraulic losses in the flow section increase with the decrease in the engines size due to the increase of the boundary layer relative thickness. The efficiency of the compressor and turbine also decrease because of the increase in relative radial clearances. These factors are taken into account in computer modeling by making allowances for the initial values of compressor efficiency, fuel combustion efficiency, the total pressure loss coefficient and turbine efficiency. The suggested approaches were used to improve computer models of gas turbine engines. It is shown that reducing the engine size results in considerable decrease of the work process optimal parameters and specific parameters. Taking into account the influence of the engine size on the efficiency of its components widens the range of its applicability and improves the adequacy. Thus, the models provide a more adequate solution for the optimization of working process parameters and can be used for conceptual designing of small gas turbine engines.