Introduction to

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Ujjwal K Saha, PhD

Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Charles E. Taylor Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
(1868 – 1956)
Piston-prop Propulsion

 In piston-prop propulsion,
the engine drives a
crankshaft, which in turn,
spins a propeller. This
produces thrust to propel
an aircraft.
 Reciprocating Engines
 There are two types of reciprocating engines
that are distinguished by how the combustion
processes within the cylinders are initiated:
• Spark-ignition engines
− Initiated by a spark plug
• Compression-ignition engines
− Spontaneously initiated by compressing the air-
fuel mixture beyond its self-ignition temperature
 Reciprocating Engines
 Both these types of
reciprocating engines
operate in a cycle.
• Spark-ignition engines
−Use an Otto cycle Otto Cycle

• Compression-ignition
engines
−Use a Diesel cycle.
Diesel Cycle
 Reciprocating Engines
 Reciprocating engines are often subcategorized (or
described) by their cylinder arrangement.

Radial Two-row radial Horizontally opposed

In-line V-type Inverted V

 Four-stroke Spark Ignition Engines

 Most reciprocating engines are spark-ignition

engines and follow a four-stroke Otto Cycle.
1) Intake
2) Compression
 Combustion (constant volume)
3) Power
4) Exhaust
 Four-stroke Spark Ignition Engines

1: Intake stroke 2: Compression stroke Constant-volume combustion

3: Power stroke 4: Exhaust stroke

 Four-stroke Spark Ignition Engines

 A real cycle differs from an ideal cycle

due to several factors:
• The fuel does not all burn
instantaneously
• There are heat transfer losses through
the cylinder
• The valves do not open and close
instantaneously
• The working fluid does not accelerate
or decelerate instantaneously.
 Despite this, analysis of an ideal cycle gives a reasonable
approximation of real cylinder’s performance.
 Four-stroke Compression Ignition Engines

 The Diesel cycle is the ideal cycle used in

compression-ignition engines.

 Like Otto cycle engines, Diesel engines can also

be based on either a four- or two-stroke cycle.
 Compression Ignition Engines

Advantages:
 The greatest advantage is that the piston
compression ratio is generally higher, resulting
in a higher efficiency.

 They use a less expensive kerosene-based fuel

(similar to gas turbines), instead of the more
costly high octane aviation gasoline used in
most Otto Cycle engines.

 They also consume less fuel than their

counterparts, because they do not need igniters
to initiate combustion of the fuel. This minimizes
the amount of unburned fuel exhausted.
 Compression Ignition Engines

Disadvantages:
• They must also be constructed stronger and
heavier due to their higher compression ratio.
Primarily for this reason, Diesel engines are less
popular for use on aircraft.
• A Diesel two-stroke engine must be equipped
with a supercharger (or turbocharger) to
pressurize the intake air before it enters the
cylinder. This means that Diesel two-stroke
engines are normally not an ideal choice for the
types of inexpensive applications generally
reserved for two-stroke engines.
 Power Generation
 The indicated power (IP) is the power generated
by the thermodynamic and combustion processes
in the engine.

 The power to the shaft, called the shaft brake

power (P), takes place through mechanical
linkages which generate friction losses due to
these moving engine parts.

 Shaft brake power (P) is related to the indicated

power (IP), by using a mechanical efficiency that
accounts for these frictional losses.

P  mech IP
 Power Generation

 In actual engines, the shaft brake power cannot be

perfectly transmitted to the propeller as available
power, because of losses associated with the
compressibility of air.

 The propeller efficiency

() relates the shaft brake
power to the available
power (PA) by the
following equation:

PA   P
 mech  IP  P  mech IP
 Power Generation
If L = stroke, b = bore,
  b2 
Swept volume =  L
 4 

Pm

L
 Power Generation

pm LAnK WnK
IP   K = no. of cylinders
60 60

P  mech IP

PA   mech ( IP )

 mech nWK  mech NWK N ( rpm)

 PA   n
60 120 2
Power Generation
Pm
Let, pm = constant pressure acting
on the piston during power stroke
(called the mean effective pressure).

 mech nWK  mech NWK

 PA  
60 120

  b2   mech NK   
Wcycle  pm L    PA   b 2
Lpm
 4  120  4 
Thrust
 An ideal approximation of thrust can be derived from the
momentum equation by considering a control volume
enclosing the air flow accelerated by the propeller.

m
me
P
Pe  P
V
Ve
Thrust
 The thrust equation for a piston aerodynamic engine is:

T  meVe  mV  m Ve  V 

 Since it is constant, the mass flow can also be calculated at the
plane of the propeller (point P), by defining the cross-sectional
area (A) of a circular propeller disk. This disk is formed by the
rotating propeller. Therefore, the mass flow is:

m   pV p Ap
 T   pV p Ap Ve  V  m me
P Pe  P
V Ve
 However, the above equation is
cumbersome to use because the
value of Vp is not readily apparent.
Thrust
 Recognizing that the thrust can be simply related to the
change in total pressure across the propeller disk, yields:

T  Ap  Pte  Pt 

1
Pt  P  V 2
2
1 1
Pte  Pe  eVe  P  eVe 2
2

2 2

 The total pressures can be derived from Bernoulli’s equation on the

streamlines separately in front of the propeller disk and after it.
(Note: Bernoulli’s equation cannot be used through the propeller
disk because work is added to the flow by the propeller.)
 Thrust

 Propeller driven aircraft travel only at subsonic speeds.

Therefore for small, internal combustion engine aircraft
the compressibility of air can be assumed to be negligibly
small (incompressible):

0  e  
 (Practical high speed propeller piston engines may have
transonic blade tip velocities that cause significant
localized compressibility, causing losses that degrade the
assumptions used to derive these equations.)
Thrust
 By assuming incompressible flow and substituting the
pressure equations into the thrust equation gives:

1

T   Ap Ve 2  V 2
2

Thus,
1
2
 
 Ap Ve 2  V 2  V p Ap Ve  V 

1
V p  Ve  V 
2
 Therefore, the air velocity through the propeller disk is just
the average of the exit and free stream velocities.
Thrust
 The thrust coefficient (CF) is a non-dimensional
expression of thrust for a piston aero engine. It is
defined as:

T
CF 
 n 2prop D 4

where ρ is the air density, nprop is the propeller rotational

velocity in revolutions per second (rps), and D is the diameter
of a circular disk formed by the rotating propellers.
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Web Resources:
http://www.google.com
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner