AEB4217 AIRCRAFT

PROPULSION
Dr. A. Muthuram
 AEB4217 AIRCRAFT PROPULSION
• MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES 12 (9L + 3T) Illustration of working
of gas turbine engine - Thrust equation - Factors affecting thrust - Effect of pressure, velocity
and temperature changes of air entering compressor – Methods of thrust augmentation -
performance characteristics.
• MODULE 2: INLETS AND NOZZLES FOR JET ENGINES 12 (9L + 3T) Internal flow and Stall in
subsonic inlets- Diffuser Performance – Supersonic inlets-Starting problem on supersonic
inlets-Shock swallowing by area variation-Modes of inlet operation.- Isentropic flow through
nozzle – Flow through convergent nozzle & C-D nozzle – thrust reversal – thrust vectoring.
• MODULE 3: COMBUSTION CHAMBERS 11 (9L + 2T) Classification of combustion chambers-
Important factors affecting combustion chamber design, Combustion process-Combustion
chamber performance-Flame tube cooling-Flame stabilization.
• MODULE 4: COMPRESSORS 12 (9L + 3T) Types of compressors, Centrifugal compressor –
working principle – Velocity triangle – work done. Axial compressor – working principle –
Velocity triangle - Work done, Centrifugal and Axial compressor performance characteristics.
• MODULE 5: TURBINES 13 (10L + 3T) Principle of operation of axial flow turbines, Work done
and pressure rise, Velocity diagrams, degree of reaction, Performance characteristics of axial
flow turbine, turbine blade cooling methods, basic blade profile design considerations,
matching of compressor and turbine.
 AEB4217 AIRCRAFT PROPULSION
• MODULE 1:
• FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES 12 (9L +
3T) Illustration of working of gas turbine engine -
Thrust equation - Factors affecting thrust - Effect of
pressure, velocity and temperature changes of air
entering compressor – Methods of thrust
augmentation - performance characteristics.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• Factors Affecting Thrust

• Factors affecting thrust:
• Gas turbine engine operates under varying condition
that affect the amount of thrust the engine
produces.

• These conditions affect either the momentum of air

fuel flows through the jet nozzle.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• a) Jet nozzle velocity

• During most normal high speed operations, the exhaust
nozzle operates in a chocked condition.
• This means that the gases flowing out of the engine have
been accelerated to the speed of sound and they cannot
be accelerated any further.
• The value of V2 in the thrust formula remains relatively
constant, changing only the temp of the exhaust gas
changes the speed of sound.
• Wherever the nozzle is not chocked, varied atmospheric
condition will cause some changes in jet nozzle velocity.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• b) Airspeed
• When a turbojet or turbo fan engine operating at
high power and the aircraft in which it is
mounted is not moving the value of V1 in thrust
energy is zero and thrust is maximum.
• When the aircraft is moving forward the velocity
V1 of the air entering the engine increases, but at
higher power, the exhaust nozzle is chocked and
the value V2, do not increase proportionally.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• b) Airspeed
• When a turbojet or turbo fan engine operating at
high power and the aircraft in which it is
mounted is not moving the value of V1 in thrust
energy is zero and thrust is maximum.
• When the aircraft is moving forward the velocity
V1 of the air entering the engine increases, but at
higher power, the exhaust nozzle is chocked and
the value V2, do not increase proportionally.
• Therefore, as airspeed increases the net thrust
decreases.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• c) Mass Airflow
• The most significant variable in the thrust
equation is mass air flow. (Wa/g) Many factors
affect the mass airflow, the most important
being air temperature, pressure, because
these factors determine the density of the air
entering the engine & ram effect.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• Air Density & the effect of Temperature & Pressure

• Air density has a profound effect on the thrust produced.
• The volume of the air flowing through the engine is relatively
fixed for any particular rpm by the size and geometry of the inlet
duct system.
• But since the thrust is determined by mass, not the volume of
air, any increases in its density increases the mass and thus the
thrust.
• As the temperature of the air increases its density decreases.
Therefore the thrust produced by the engine decreases.
• As the air pressure increases, its density increases, causing
thrust produced by the engine to increase.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• d) Altitude effect
• Altitude has a double effect on thrust. As the altitude
increases, the air becomes colder and denser, up to the
beginning of stratosphere.
• This causes the thrust to increase. But at the same time, the
increase in altitude causes decrease in pressure, thus a
decrease in density and corresponding decrease in thrust.
• Since the loss of thrust caused by decreasing pressure is
greater than the increase caused by decreasing temperature.
Thus the thrust decreases as the aircraft ascends.
•
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• d) Altitude effect
•
• At the beginning of stratosphere at approximately
36,000 feet temperature stabilizes at -56.50C and remains at
this temperature up to around 85000 feet.
• The pressure continues to fall above the 36,000 feet and the
thrust therefore drops off at a faster rate than it does at the
lower altitudes.
• This increased drop off in thrust makes 36,000 feet a chosen
altitude for a long range cruise in jet powered aircraft.
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• e) Ram effect
• The compression of air in an inlet duct arising from forward
motion is called ram pressure or ram effect.
• Because of ram effect, increasing air speed also increases the
pressure of the air & airflow into engine (Wa).
• As turbine powered aircraft begins to move forward for tale
off, air is rammed into the inlet duct and mass flow through
the engine increases.
• The faster the aircraft moves the greater the increase in
thrust. This is shown in the figure Curve A
 MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTALS OF GAS TURBINE ENGINES
Factors Affecting Thrust

• But, an increase in forward speed decreases the amount of

air is accelerated and the thrust decreases. This is shown in
the figure, Curve B.
• The thrust increase caused by the ram effect is grater
than decrease in thrust caused by increase in air speed and
the net increase is shown in curve C.
• The thrust increase becomes greater an air speed increase.
•