Ajos, Carlton Jove V.

Mr. Krizz Trillo

AMT 125

March 10, 2021

Laboratory Task

Write down the types of inlet ducts and its corresponding  construction , pros and cons, and functions.

1. Single Entrance Duct

 Duct inlet is located directly ahead of the engine and aircraft in such position that

is scoops undisturbed air. It is either straight configuration or with relatively

genital curvatures. Due to long shape, there is a chance of pressure lost but that is

offset by smooth airflow characteristics. In multi engine installation, a short

straight duct results minimum pressure drop.

2. Divided Entrance Duct

 It is used in high speed, single engine aircraft where pilot sits slow in the fuselage

and close to the nose. The divided duct can be either a wing root inlet or a scoop

at each side of fuselage. It creates a huge amount of drag. Either type of duct

presents more problems to the aircraft designer than a single-entrance duct

because of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient airscoop area without imposing

prohibitive amounts of drag. Internally, the problem is the same as that

encountered with the single entrance duct; to construct a duct reasonable length

with as few bends as possible. Scoops at the side of the fuselage are often used.

These side scoops are placed as far as forward as possible to permit a gradual

bend toward the compressor inlet, making the airflow characteristic to approach
 those of a single- entrance duct. A series of turning vane is sometimes placed in

the side-scoop inlet to assist in straightening the incoming airflow and to prevent

turbulence.

3. Subsonic Inlet Duct 

 The inlet duct is used in the multi engine subsonic aircraft is a fix geometry duct

whose diameter progressively increases from the front to back. It is diverging duct

and is also called an inlet diffuser because of the effect, it has the effect on the

pressure of the air entering the engine.  As air enters the inlet at ambient pressure

it beguns to defuse, or spread out, and by the time it arrives at the inlet to the

compressor its pressure is slightly higher than the ambient pressure.  Usually the

air diffuses in the front portion the duct and than it progresses along at a fairly

constant pressure passes the engine inlet fairing and then into the compressor.

This allows the engine to receive the air with less turbulence and at a more

uniform pressure. 

 AIR INLET DUCTS TURBOPROP ENGINE 

The propeller reduction gears are located at the front of the engine and thus

interfere with a smooth flow of air entering the compressor. Generally 3 types of

inlet duct is used:i) Ducted spinner inlet ii) Conical spinner inlet iii) Under scoop

inlet.

4. Bellmouth Compressor Inlet

 Bellmouth inlet are converging in shape, found primarily on helicopter.  It

provides an inlet with very thin boundary layers and correspondingA bellmouth

inlet is usually installed on an engine undergoing testing in a test cell. It is

 generally equipped with probes that, with the use of instruments, can measure

intake temperature and pressure (total and static). During testing, it is important

that the outside static air is allowed to flow into the engine with as little resistance

as possible. The bellmouth is attached to the movable part of the test stand and

moves with the engine. The thrust stand is made up of two components, one

nonmoving and one moving. This is so the moving component can push against a

load cell and measure thrust during the testing of the engine. The bellmouth is

designed with the single objective of obtaining very high aerodynamic efficiency.

Essentially, the inlet is a bell-shaped funnel having carefully rounded shoulders

which offer practically no air resistance.Duct loss is so slight that it is considered

zero. The engine can, therefore, be operated without the complications resulting

from losses common to an installed aircraft inlet duct. Engine performance data,

such as rated thrust and thrust specific fuel consumption, are obtained while using

a bellmouth inlet. Usually, the inlets are fitted with protective screening. In this

case, the efficiency lost as the air passes through the screen must be taken into

account when very accurate engine data are necessary. low pressure losses. 

Actually duct lost is so slight that it is considered zero. 

5. Supersonic Inlet Duct

 The air approaching the compressor inlet must always be at speed below the

speed of sound.  when an aircraft is flying at supersonic speed, the inlet air must

be slowed down to subsonic speed before it reaches the compressor. This is done

by : Using a convergent-divergent or CD inlet duct  Raising a Wedge or Spike or

Plug inlet. 
  COMPARISON OF SUPERSONIC FLOW OVER CONE AND WEDGE The

major advantage of a (supersonic) conical flow is a smaller total pressure loss

(when compared to a wedge of the same half-angle), together with the fact that a

conical shock sustains lower mach numbers until it becomes detached to form a

high loss bow shock. A major disadvantage of conical flows is that it is less

tolerant to asymmetric flow conditions which cause distortion to the intake flow.

As combat aircraft are frequently required to maneuver at higher angles of attack,

the flow inevitably gets asymmetric- hence a performance for the (horizontally

arranged) wedge in all modern combat aircraft, despite its reduced efficiency. 

 Inlet Buzz : The buzz is an airflow instability which occur when a shock wave is

alternately slowed and irregular flow occur at the inlet.  In increasing condition it

can cause violent fluctuations in pressure through the inlet, which occur when a

shock wave is alternately swallowed and regulate by the inlet.  This condition also

cause damage to the inlet structure or possibly to engine itself.  A suitable

variable geometry duct is used to eliminate the buzz by increasing of airflow

within the inlet duct.

6. Fuselage Mounted Inlets

 Some aircraft with engines mounted inside the wings feature air inlet ducts in the

wing’s leading edge. some modern supersonic military aircraft have inlet duct

located just under the aircraft nose. Although using an air inlet duct of this type

enables the aircraft manufacturer to build a more aerodynamically efficient

aircraft, the increased length of the inlet duct introduces some inefficiency. By

mounting an air inlet duct on each side of an air- craft, the duct length can be
shortened without adding a significant amount of drag to the aircraft. However,

disadvantage to this arrangement is that some sudden flight maneuvers can cause

an imbalance in ram air pressure between the two ducts. An air pressure

imbalance acting on a compressor face can result in a slight loss of power.