AIRCRAFT POWER PLANT & FUTURE OF

HYPERSONICS RESEARCH

Basics of aircraft power plant

Aircraft power plant or aircraft engine is a part of the total propulsion system
which produces mechanical power. Aircraft engines are of two types; one is
lightweight piston engines and the other is gas turbine. In 1908, Rene Lorin
successfully designed a ramjet engine. After 6 years, in 1914, Auguste Rateau
proposed turbocharger system by implying exhaust powered compressor. In 1930,
Frank Whittle designed a turbojet engine. The first turboshaft engine was
introduced in 1948. In 1968, General Electric started production of high bypass
turbofan. In 2004, scramjet was installed by NASA.
New Aircraft Engine Concept
At the April 2018 ILA Berlin Air Show, Munich-based research institute DE:
Bauhaus Luftfahrt presented a high-efficiency composite cycle engine for 2050,
combining a geared turbofan with a piston engine core. The 2.87 m diameter, 16-
blade fan gives a 33.7 ultra-high bypass ratio, powered by a geared low-pressure
turbine but the high-pressure compressor is driven by a piston-engine with two 10
piston banks without a high-pressure turbine, increasing efficiency with non-
stationary isochoric-isobaric combustion for higher peak pressures and
temperatures. The 11,200 lb. (49.7 kN) engine could power a 50-seat regional jet.
Its cruise TSFC would be 11.5 g/kN/s (0.406 lb./lbf/hrs.) for an overall engine
efficiency of 48.2%, for a burner temperature of 1,700 K (1,430 °C), an overall
pressure ratio of 38 and a peak pressure of 30 MPa (300 bar). Although engine
weight increases by 30%, aircraft fuel consumption is reduced by 15%. Sponsored
by the European Commission under Framework 7 project LEMCOTEC, Bauhaus
Luftfahrt, MTU Aero Engines and GKN Aerospace presented the concept in 2015,
raising the overall engine pressure ratio to over 100 for a 15.2% fuel burn
reduction compared to 2025 engines. [1]
Hypersonic Research Trend:
Hypersonic vehicles’ speed is higher than sound and can reach up to Mach 5.
Hypersonic is meant to a unique physical phenomenon that are important for these
vehicles which do not occur at lower speed. Current research activities in
hypersonic aerodynamics are Hypersonic shock boundary layer interaction control
Multiphase and supersonic flows, Diagnostics, Available diagnostics include,
Particle image velocimetry (PIV), Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), High
heat flux material characterization, Portable four-dimensional sensor packages,
Coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering (CARS), Direct numerical simulation,
Chemical kinetics and model reduction. [2]

References
[1] Engine C C. A Composite Cycle Engine Concept with Hecto-Pressure Ratio[J].
[2] Delery J M. Shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction and its control[J].
Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 1985, 22(4): 209-280.