There are many ways of increasing the velocity of the air but, in all cases, the resultant reaction is the propulsive thrust exerted on the engine. The thrust obtained is proportional to the mass of air passing through the engine and to the velocity increase of the mass air flow - ie the momentum, Momentum = mass x velocity. Thus, the same amount of propulsive thrust can be obtained by either: * Accelerating a large mass through a small increase in velocity. * Accelerating a small mass through a large increase in velocity. A jet engine produces thrust in a similar manner to a piston engine and propeller combination. The propeller gives a large mass of air a small acceleration while the turbine engine gives a greater acceleration to a smaller mass of air. ‘The thrust obtained from a jet engine is expressed as an equation:~~ T = m(Vo-V) Where = T = Thrust m = Mass Air Flow Vo = Velocity of the gases at the nozzle outlet V, = Velocity of the air at the intake From this expression, it can be seen that the amount of thrust obtained depends on the mass flow passing through the engine and the difference between the inlet and outlet velocities. Any rise in mass flow, or a wider divergence in speed, will need a greater force to accelerate the gas and must give a greater reactive thrust. The mass flow through a stationary engine is governed by the speed of rotation of the engine. The higher the rpm. the greater the mass flow. The velocity difference (Vg - Vj) will vary with the heat energy input and will be limited by the maximum temperature the engine components can withstand When the engine is moving forward the thrust will decrease because, although the outlet velocity Vg remains the same, the intake velocity V, rises, so reducing the velocity difference. This drop in thrust continues as the speed of the aircraft increases until RAM EFFECT starts to make it self felt. This will cause an increase in the mass flow rate. iOIn a jet engine, the compressor can be considered an “air pump" and at any specified rpm throughout the range of operation the volume of air being moved, ie mass flow, will be a definite amount. The mass of this amount of air, will be affected by its density (mass per unit volume). Factors which can affect the density are as follows: 1, Compressor Air Inlet Temperature - An increased temperature reduces air density (p) 2. Compressor Air Inlet Pressure - An increased pressure increases air density. 3. Humidity - An increased humidity reduces air density. This is a very small factor as compared to the temperature and pressure changes. 4. Ram Pressure - An increased ram pressure increases air density, Ram is due to the aircraft forward speed. “Air temperature and air pressure are both increased as ram increases, but the increase in pressure has a considerably greater effect upon increasing air density than the temperature increase has in reducing it. As altitude increases, thrust decreases due to decreasing air density. The overall efficiency, however, increases slightly because the air entering the engine is colder (denser) and the power absorbed by the compressor is correspondingly reduced Definitions The following definitions will be useful to know when interpreting information given in the leading particulars or specifications of jet engines from different manufactures in simple terms it is the product of the change in velocity of the gas stream and the total mass of the air taken in. Thrust = Mass x (Velocity out - Velocity in) Thrust Horse Power (thp). The thrust in Ibs of a turbo jet engine is relatively simple to work out, but to make comparisons with other types of power units such a turbo props which are rated in shaft house power needs a conversion factor. To convert thrust (a force) to horse power (which is work) needs a Conversion formula. To work out thrust horse power the airspeed of the aircraft needs to be taken into consideration, so it is derived from the actual thrust of the engine at a specific airspee: ae