Aircraft Engine Classification

Aircraft engines are classified in 2 broad categories:

Airbreathing: air is used as the fuel oxidizer; this

eliminates the need to carry oxidizer (you only need to
carry the fuel), but air of sufficient density is required -
this leads to altitude limitations

o Reciprocating (piston engines)

o Gas turbine (includes turbojet, turboprop, &
turbofan)
o Ramjet & scramjet

Non-airbreathing: no air is needed, as the motor

carries both fuel and oxidizer (not necessarily oxygen!)
- this increases the vehicle weight, though

o Rockets
IC Propulsion Systems - Process Focused
Aircraft - Mission Focused
Thrust Generation

Propulsion devices can also be divided into categories based on the way that thrust is
created

Propeller

o Piston powered propeller

» Electric propeller, ducted or unducted fan

» Turboprop (95% of thrust from propeller)

Jet

o Turbojet and turbofan (note that the fan is a ducted propeller) » Ramjet and
scramjet » Rocket

Note that this convention isn not as useful (or clean) as we will see later once the thrust
equation is derived
Airbreathing Engines
Most engines are airbreathing, whereby ambient air is used as
both oxidizer and a source of mass flow - efficient combustion
requires that the air be compressed in some manner either by a
piston (reciprocating engine) or fan (turbine)

Piston (reciprocating)
o Piston engine drives shaft that turns prop

Turbojet (classical jet engine)

o Compressor is used to provide compression; turbine drives
compressor

Turbofan
o At lower speed, ducted fan is used to increase mass flow
rate & efficiency

Turboprop
o No duct, free propeller, for even lower speed; prop
provides 95% of thrust

Ramjet/scramjet
o No moving parts, air is compressed as it is slowed down,
mixed w/ fuel & burned
Propulsion

Effect of propulsive device on air

Thrust is produced to the left, air feels equal and opposite force to the right

F = ma = mɺ ∆U

mɺ = ρSU j
s: cross sectional area of the fluid
acted upon by the propulsion

What about pressure? We’ll see that best system
performance is when the exit pressure is equal to the ∞ : indicates the freestream
ambient pressure, so take pe = p∞ condition
Propulsive Efficiency

Total power required is equal to the thrust generated (times velocity) plus wasted
kinetic energy added to the air

The propulsive efficiency then is just the ratio between available power and required
power

Efficiency is maximized when there is no change in

fluid velocity.

Unfortunately, at this condition the thrust is zero.


At 100% efficiency, thrust is 0; at high thrust, efficiency is low

For maximum thrust this ratio should be very high.

For maximum efficiency this ratio should be unity.

Propellers have a high efficiency because their diameter is large, thus mass flow rate is
large, but Uj is small

- it is the most efficient of the thrust generating devices; however, it is limited to low
speeds due to the tip speed of the prop.
Uj
≅ 1.5
U∞

Jet engines, however, act on a smaller mass of air but have very high Uj, thus lower
efficiency
Uj
>3
U∞
o For a jet aircraft the force
exerted by engine mounts may
only be a third of the total
propulsive force.
o The inlet system uses a system
of shocks to slow the air to a
subsonic speed.
o This creates a substantial drag.
o Subsonic expansion in the inlet
duct makes the largest positive
force contribution.
Propulsive, thermal, overall efficiency

Note on propulsive efficiency

But then you need large mass flow to get required

but this is how commercial turbofan engines work!

In other words, the ideal propulsion system accelerates an infinite mass
of air by an infinitesimally small ∆U

Fundamentally this is because T ∝ (U j − U ∞ )

but energy put into flow required to get that ( )

T ∝ U 2j − U ∞2 / 2

Overall efficiency is determined by propulsive and thermal efficiency

→ η o = η pηth
Total Thrust Equation

What about the addition of fuel?

where

When FAR << 1 and pe ≅ pa, then

Example

A P&W J57 produces 10,200 lbf of thrust at optimum conditions at SL (Pe = Pa) on a test
stand with ma=164 lbm/s and mf = 4,260 lbm/hr.

What is exit velocity Ue?

Piston (Reciprocating)

Conceptually similar to automobile engines, can

be either reciprocating (most common) or rotary
(Wankel)

Power is transferred to engine via crankshaft

directly or by gearbox

Thus, shaft power (hp) is converted directly from

the shaft to the propeller - power to thrust

Superchargers may be added to increase density

of incoming gases, hence increase in power

Propeller design very important in optimizing

performance
Axial Fans

Open vs. Ducted Axial Fans


For design purposes the most important thing to know about the piston engine is that the
horsepower produced is directly proportional to the mass flow of the air into the intake
manifold.

In fact, horsepower is approximately 620 times the air mass flow (lb/s).

Mass flow into the engine is affected by the outside air density (altitude, temperature,
and humidity) and intake manifold pressure.

The following equation accounts for the air-density effect upon horsepower, and is attributed
to Gagg and Ferrar of the Wright Aeronautical Company (1934).

This equation indicates that at an altitude of 20,000 ft a piston engine has less than half of
its sea-level horsepower.

Large increases in manifold pressure require mechanical pumping via a "supercharger" or
"turbosupercharger.“

The supercharger is a centrifugal air compressor mechanically driven by a shaft from the
engine.

The amount of air compression available is proportional to engine RPM.

The turbosupercharger, or "turbocharger," is driven by a turbine placed in the exhaust pipe.

This recovers energy which would otherwise be wasted, and decouples the available amount
of compression from the engine RPM.

Supercharging or turbocharging is usually used to maintain sea level pressure in the intake
manifold as the aircraft climbs.

Manifold: A pipe or chamber having multiple apertures for making connections.

Typically the sea-Ievel pressure can be maintained up to an altitude of about

15,000-20,000 ft.

Above this altitude the manifold pressure, and hence the horsepower, drops.

Supercharging or turbocharging
may also be used to raise the intake
manifold pressure above the sea-
level value to provide additional
horsepower from a given engine.

However, the increased internal

pressures require a heavier engine
for structural reasons.
Raymer, D.P., Aircraft Design, 2006

Piston engine performance charts
are provided by the manufacturer as
a function of manifold pressure,
altitude, and RPM.
 P-51D
Propeller Efficiency

Propeller design through the years


A propeller is a rotating airfoil that generates thrust much as a wing generates lift.

Like a wing, the propeller is designed to a particular flight condition.

The propeller airfoil has a selected design lift coefficient (usually around 0.5),
and the twist of the airfoil is selected to give the optimal airfoil angle of attack at the
design condition.

Blades generate thrust like wing generates lift.


Since the tangential velocities of
the propeller airfoil sections increase
with distance from the hub, the
airfoils must be set at progressively
reduced pitch-angles going from
root to tip.

The overall "pitch" of a propeller

refers to the blade angle at 75 % of
the radius (70 % in some books).

While theory is useful for

propeller designers, the aircraft
designers usually work with
experimental propeller data provided
by the propeller companies.

Propeller has radial twist to take into

account for angular velocity (= ωr)

Efficiency is determined by available power and shaft Horsepower

o Gas engines

where h is the energy density

o Electric engines

where P is the battery voltage times the mA rating

(usually in mAhours)

Several design coefficients used

o Thrust coefficient

o Power coefficient

The power and thrust coefficients are nondimensional

measures of those quantities, much like the wing
lift-coefficient.

o Advance ratio: ratio of airspeed to prop tip speed

o where D is prop diameter and n is rotational speed in revolutions/second


The speed-power coefficient is defined as the
advance ratio raised to the fifth power divided
by the power coefficient V5
J5 n5 D 5 = V 5 ρ
cS = 5 =5

The speed-power coefficient is cP P Pn 2
nondimensional and does not involve the
ρ n3 D 5
propeller diameter, which is useful for
comparison between propellers of different size.

The activity factor is a measure of the amount of power being absorbed by the
propeller.

Activity factors range from about 90-200, with a typical light-aircraft activity factor
being 100 and a typical large turboprop having an activity factor of 140.

One can then express efficiency as a function of these or express thrust as a measure
of input power and prop geometry

TV cT ρ n 2 D 4V cT V cT
Propeller Efficiency: ηp = = 3 5
= =J
P cP ρ n D cP nD cP
Pη P
Thrust: T=
V
cT V cT
PJ P
Pη P cP nD cP cT P
Static Thrust: T= = = =
V V V cP nD

Propeller data is available from the manufacturers as well as various

NASA/NACA reports.
Advance Ratio

Advance ratio versus efficiency

Effect of section lift-to-drag ratio on propeller efficiency

Types of Propellers

Fixed pitch

o Propeller blade design fixed for a single operating point, as altitude changes and
velocity changes efficiency drops

Variable pitch

o Pitch can be controlled by pilot to vary propeller performance - can be “feathered”

(minimum drag in power off scenario)

Constant speed

o Pitch is controlled by
feedback system
(usually mechanical) to
keep the rotational
speed constant for
maximum power or
efficiency
Propeller Design Nomenclature
Propeller Selection

Propellers are sized by diameter and pitch.

Pitch is the distance the propeller would move forward under ideal conditions in one
revolution

High pitch props are designed for high speed flight but low torque (acceleration). Low
pitch props serve the opposite purposes.
Geometrik hatve: Sürükleme kuvveti ve diğer kayıplar dikkate alınmadığında pervanenin bir
tam dönüşünde ilerleyebileceği teorik mesafedir.

Efektif hatve: Sürükleme kuvveti ve diğer kayıplar nedeniyle pervanenin bir tam dönüşünde
ilerleyebileceği gerçek mesafedir.
Pervane torkunun uçağa etkisi
Static Thrust v. Efficiency

Adding more blades reduces efficiency (~3%/blade) but increases static thrust (~5% per
blade)

Reduction in efficiency due to wake of previous blade, becomes less important as RPM
decrease, blade length increases

If the propeller is of variable-pitch design, its pitch is adjusted to the optimum blade angle
at each flight condition to produce a constant engine RPM regardless of the horsepower
being produced.

The advance ratio and power coefficient are then independent variables and the propeller
efficiency can be read in Figure for any combination of advance ratio and power coefficient
that may occur in flight. Blade angle for the variable-pitch propeller can be read as a fallout
parameter in Figure.

In the speed range from zero to about 50 knots (such as during takeoff), the thrust varies
in a fashion that can be represented by a smooth curve faired between the static-thrust value
and the calculated forward-flight thrust.

If a fixed-pitch propeller is used, the blade angle cannot be varied in flight to maintain
engine RPM at any flight condition.

Since the RPM and therefore horsepower will vary with velocity, the efficiency and hence
the thrust will be reduced at any speed other than the design speed.

Figure could be used to determine the thrust However, it is simpler to use the approximate
from a fixed-pitch propeller by following the method of Figure unless actual propeller data
appropriate line for the selected blade angle is available.

Figure relates the fixed-pitch
propeller efficiency at an off-design
velocity and RPM to the on-design
efficiency, which is attained by the
propeller at some selected flight
condition.

The on-design efficiency is

obtained from Figure, which is also
used to get the required blade angle
for the design condition.

The static thrust of a fixed-pitch

propeller will be less than is
estimated using Figure.

As a rough approximation it can be assumed that the static thrust is about equal to the
thrust at 50 knots for the fixed-pitch propeller.

These charts provide useful rough estimations of propeller performance, but actual charts
for the selected propeller should be obtained from the manufacturer for any serious design
effort.
Piston Propeller Thrust Corrections

As with jet engines, there are several engine-related drag items that must be considered,
namely, scrubbing drag, cooling drag, and engine miscellaneous drag.

Scrubbing drag is the increase in aircraft drag due to the higher velocity and turbulence
experienced by the parts of the aircraft within the propwash. This drag could be calculated
by determining, for each flight condition, the increased dynamic pressure within the
propwash and using that value for the component-drag calculation.

A simpler approach, called the SBAC (Society of British Aircraft Constructors) method,
adjusts the propeller efficiency as in the equation given below. The subscript "washed"
refers to the parts of the aircraft which lie within the propwash.

where Cfe is the equivalent skin-friction (parasite) drag coefficient, referenced to wetted
area.

If the parasite-drag coefficient for the propwashed parts of the aircraft cannot be
determined, 0.004 is a reasonable estimate.

For a pusher-propeller configuration, the scrubbing drag is zero.

However, the pusher propeller suffers a loss of efficiency due to the wake of the fuselage
and wing.

This loss is strongly affected by the actual aircraft configuration, and should equal about
2-5 %.

Cooling drag represents the momentum loss of the air passed over the engine for cooling.

This is highly dependent upon the detail design of the intake, baffles, and exit.

Miscellaneous engine drag includes the drag of the oil cooler, air intake, exhaust pipes,
and other parts. Cooling and miscellaneous drags for a well designed engine installation can
be estimated by Eqs. (13.18) and (13.19) (Ref. 23).

However, a typical light aircraft

engine installation may experience
cooling and miscellaneous drag
levels 2-3 times the values estimated
by these equations.
Propeller Thrust Determination

Propeller

o Use shaft horsepower from engine and empirical relations for thrust and
propeller diameter

where N is blade number, T is in lbf and D is in feet

o Thus, the same thrust can be

obtained from less power by
increasing propeller diameter
(more air flow), limited by
available torque (blade drag),
propeller tip speed (Mtip<1), and
in some cases ground clearance.
Piston-Driven Propellers

Gnome 9N Rotary Engine

 Turboprop Performance

A turboprop is a jet engine that drives a propeller using a turbine in the exhaust. The jet
exhaust retains some thrust capability, and can contribute as much as 20 % of the total
thrust. For this reason the horsepower rating of a turboprop engine includes the horsepower
equivalent of this residual thrust.

This horsepower equivalent of residual thrust is arbitrarily calculated under static

conditions as the residual thrust divided by 2.5. Under forward flight conditions it is
calculated using Eq. (13.16) assuming that the propeller efficiency ηp = 0.80.

The total of the mechanical and thrust residual horsepower is caIled the "equivalent
shaft horsepower (ESHP).“

Analysis of the turboprop is a hybrid between the jet and the piston-prop analysis.

The engine is analyzed like a jet, including the inlet effects. The residual thrust is
provided by the manufacturer as a horsepower equivalent.

The propeller is analyzed as described above, including the scrubbing-drag term.

The conventional turboprop, like the piston-prop, is limited by tip Mach number to
about Mach 0.7.

The turboprop has higher efficiency than the piston-prop at Mach numbers greater than
about 0.5 due to the residual jet thrust, but the conventional turboprop is no match for a
turbofan engine at the higher subsonic speeds.

Recently, a new type of advanced propeller has been developed that offers good
efficiencies up to about Mach 0.85. These are known as "propfans" or "unducted fans
(VDF)." They are smaller in diameter 'than the regular propellers and feature numerous
wide, thin, and swept blades. Test programs to date indicate that a well-designed propfan
can retain propeller efficiencies of over 0.8 at speeds on the order of Mach 0.85.

Up-to-date data on propfans can be found in publications such as the AIAA's Journal of
Aircraft and Journal of Propulsion and Power.
Gas Turbine
A gas turbine engine is designed to do one of two jobs:

Generate thrust
o Thrust is created by energizing the incoming air, and expelling air out the rear of the
engine at a higher velocity than it enters the inlet

Generate power

o Shaft power is generated by the turbine; this power can be used to generate electricity
(powerplant) or drive a propeller (turboprop), rotor (helicopter), wheel axle (tank) or
marine propeller (ship), usually via a reduction gear box

All turbines generate both of these quantities, but they are generally designed to
produce one or the other as their primary function
Example

The F-35 has a single engine that provides thrust for CTOL and power for the SVTOL
lift fan via a drive shaft while providing roll control thrusters for VTOL operations
through high pressure bleed air

Power via drive shaft from low pressure turbines

Turbojet

By adding an inlet to control the incoming air and nozzle to accelerate the exhaust
gas, the gas generator becomes the turbojet

o Both the compressors and turbines can be staged to progressively increase the
pressure ratio
First Turbojet – Me 262A

Junkers Jumo 004 Turbojet

8-stage compressor

1-stage turbine

6 combustion chambers
Turbojet w/ Afterburner

By dumping and igniting more fuel in the exhaust, additional thrust is created,
but at a high fuel cost

o This is only economically feasible in military aircraft

Mattingly, 2006
Turbofan

By adding a ducted fan ahead of the compressor (driven by the low pressure turbine),
a large mass of air is accelerated slowly, increasing engine efficiency at low speeds

Separate exhaust streams
Mixed exhaust stream

o Used on most HBR turbofans o Used in most LBR turbofans w/

o Can have separate reheat Afterburners
burners for core and duct flows
(uncommon, but efficient) o Benefits include

 Single exhaust nozzle (variable area)

 Bypass air helps cool afterburner duct
Bypass Ratio

Turbojets are efficient at high speeds (M>1), but lower speeds (M<1) require bypass to
lower the jet speed

For turbofans (all modern “jet” engines), the amount of air that bypasses the “hot path”
is the bypass ratio – in general, the greater the ratio, the greater the efficiency
Turbine Thrust Determination

Turbojet/turbofan

o Use static thrust and power data

from tests or models and modify with
speed and altitude

o Best at this stage to use engine data

- see for example
www.aircraftenginedesign.com/data.html

o Note that all modern jet engines are

turbofans, not turbojets since the
former are much more efficient - the
required speed range dictates what
value of BPR to use (subsonic high
BPR, supersonic low BPR)

o Exception - very small turbines!

Example

F110-GE-100 (F16)

F108-GE-129 (C-135)
Turboprop

A variant of the turbofan, the turboprop drives a propeller ahead of the compressor

o This is limited to low speeds (M<0.5)

o The turbine may be arranged axially, as shown, or it can be arranged off-axis

(common, see Allison engines)

o The propeller drive shaft passed through a reduction gearbox

Mattingly, 2006
UnDucted Fan

Modern UDF design - high efficiency high speed alternative to conventional prop; note
external props linked directly to turbine rotors - complicated analysis!
Engine Operational Environments

Each engine has its own operational limitations, however, which must be used during
the aircraft design phase - Mach number is traditionally the key design limitation, both
with lower and upper bounds depending upon the design; altitude is also important
Specific Impulse

Specific impulse is another way to define effectiveness - measure of how much thrust
a mass of fuel can generate; used on rockets

Note that gas turbines have a much better specific impulse performance than rockets,
but speed is the design limitation (non-chemical systems also do well, but have other
disadvantages)
Thrust & Power Relation

Every engine is designed to develop power; by definition

Power output required to move a vehicle at a given velocity for a given thrust requirement;
here, required thrust is equal to drag

We need to be able to predict the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle at a given velocity to
determine the required engine power
Available Thrust

Available thrust must be greater than required thrust

o For turbine driven vehicles, this is approximately constant

o For propellers, this is approximately linearly decreasing with V

Available Power

Likewise, power is computed by P = DU = TU

o For turbine-driven vehicles, this is linear with U

o For reciprocating power, this is approximately constant

Engine Relations

Turbofan/turbojet

o Constant thrust generated by engine (increasing power with U) for

subsonic velocities, can increase at supersonic velocities due to pressure
gains in inlet diffuser.

o T drops as altitude increases (density); power relation for fan

o Subsonic TSFC typically decreases with altitude, but is often approximated

by a constant. It tends to increase with Mach number is the subsonic
range, but stay roughly costant with Mach number at supersonic speeds.

Turboprop - combines relation of turbojet and prop

Fuel Consumption

Fuel consumption is measured differently depending upon the type of engine;

provided as a spec

Reciprocating

Turbine

Battery

Rocket
Engine Selection as Part of the Aircraft Design Process

Right Propulsion System for Right Job

Engine Operational Environments

Engine selection is an important part of the aircraft design process - engine

requirements are largely dictated by the aircraft mission profile and aerodynamic &
structural requirements (L/D & GTOW)
Engine Development

Metrics: power (hp) and power loading (hp/lb)

Propulsion

When selecting a propulsion system for a aircraft, in general, determine your

desired thrust generation method

o Propeller
o Jet (turbojet/rocket)
o Other (ornithopter)

then determine how much power you will need and which power generation fits
best
o Gasoline engine (recip.)
o Gas turbine
o Other chemical (rocket)
o Electric
Propulsion Selection

Important Criteria

o Thrust required (determined by drag)

o Power required (determined by drag and velocity)
o Weight of engine
o Type of propulsion (propeller, turbine, other)
o Efficiency
o Fuel consumption (SFC or TSFC)
o Range
 Combine with fuel consumption to determine amount of fuel required
o Power loading (hp/W)

Note that on the thrust and power curves, the maximum velocity is the same
(Umax for power and thrust are identical)

However, the velocity for minimum thrust and minimum power are different
How Much Fuel?

Assume characteristics of JP-8, used for almost all jet aircraft

Weight of fuel is determined by the mission range and profile, and

TSFC - this must be determined iteratively since

o The TSFC changes with throttle setting for different portions of the mission
o The drag changes as fuel is burned and weight of the aircraft drops

However, you can use the endurance eq’n to estimate (dr’vd later)

where Wi is the initial weight (w/ fuel) and Wf is the final weight (w/o fuel) - note that
L/D is usually not constant as W drops!

Find E, then volume of fuel from fuel flow rate (SFC or TSFC)
Fuel Volume Examples
Real Engine Performance

While idealized, these plots reveal the trends seen in real engines - note that engine
thrust, power, and TSFC are functions of temperature and density, hence altitude
Number and Placement

Number and placement of engines is

dependent available thrust from individual
engines, required thrust, and other aircraft
requirements (such as maintenance, stealth,
V/STOL, FOD, FAA, etc.)

Start with available engine specs and iterate

around your plane design
Evolution of Engine Placement - General Aviation

Propeller aircraft; simple

o 1 engine: nose
o 2 engines: wing
o Rare exceptions (pods, tail)
Evolution of Engine Placement - Transports

Dictated by cost and efficiency

o 4 variations that eventually converge to a single configuration

Engine Placement - Transports

Rear-Mounted Engines
o Advantages
 Aerodynamically clean, particularly wings Still used for commuter
 Small asymmetric moments and business jets
 Reduced cabin noise levels
o Disadvantages
 Heavier wing structure for lost bending relief
 c.g. further aft, resulting in larger tail to balance moments (also limits tail design)
 Long slender forebody tendency for deep stall
 Engines closer to passengers in crashes
 More difficult to reach for maintenance
Now only design option

Wing Mounted Engines for larger commercial jets
o Advantages
 Can be placed for optimal bending relief on wing, area ruling and flutter
 Easier to maintain and replace
 Closer to c.g., thus easier to balance and install different engine sizes
o Disadvantages
 Higher drag, both nacelle and interference
 Higher noise, both for passengers and surroundings
 Large range of intake angle of attack results in inlet inefficiencies
 Engines closer to ground (FOD, clearance for smaller aircraft)

Flow field before and behind wing showing AoA at intakes of both underwing podded
engine and rear-mounted engine configurations

Flow field characteristics of underwing installation

Overwing noise shielding

Commuter & Business Jets
FOD

Foreign Object Debris

o Can occur in flight, but particularly important for engines on TO-L

o Engines close to the tarmac act like a vacuum and suck up objects on the ground

o Solution: keep engine or engine inlet away

from runway

o Some designs vary inlet shape to avoid FOD

(e.g. Mig-29)
Engine Location Summary Table
Supersonic Transports

External wing boxes are used to take advantage of the shock at the inlet to increase
the inlet compression ratio
Evolution of Engine Placement - Fighters

Dictated by performance (supersonic speed and stealth)

o 2+ variations that converge to a single configuration (w/ exceptions)

Inlet placement key


Internal engine placement results in efficient aerodynamics and signature masking,
making it the most obvious choice for fighter engine placement

Saab Viggen
JSF (VTOL version)
Special Cases - UAVs
Asymmetry
VTOL/VSTOL Design Choices

Which have been tested? Put in service?