BY

A.VINOTHKUMAR
DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING
SRM UNIVERSITY
Review of the variation of thrust/power and
SFC with altitude and velocity, for various air
breathing engines and rockets.
The engines used in aerospace industries are
given as follows
Piston engines
Turbojet
Turbofan
Turboprop
Ramjet and
Rocket

The output of the piston engine i.e., brake horse
power (BHP) is available at the engine shaft and is
converted into thrust by the propeller.

( )
mass of fuel taken in per stroke
swept Volume density of air
air to fuel ratio
. .
mean effective pressure
f
e
e
m
BHP P d p RPM
d displacement
p

=
=

Flight Speed
For a given altitude and r.p.m. the power output
slightly increases with flight speed but the
increment is small so it was ignored
BHP is constant with Flight speed V

.
Altitude
For a given engine r.p.m. and air-fuel ratio
the mass of air and consequently, that of the fuel
taken in decreases as the altitude increases.
Since, the power output of the engine depends
on the mass of the fuel taken in it so the power
output decreases with altitude.

0 0
0
1.13 0.13
1.13 0.13
P
P
P
P

o
=
=
fuel flow rate in Newton per hour
BHP in KW
BSFC =
Variation with Altitude: SFC is constant with altitude
Variation with speed :SFC is constant with V

PROPELLER
CHARACTERISTICS
Efficiency
It is the product of
(a) Thermodynamic cycle efficiency (
t
)
(b) Combustion efficiency (
c
)
(c) mechanical efficiency (
m
) and
(d) propulsive efficiency (
p
)

The thermodynamic efficiency depends on the thermodynamic
cycle on which the engine operates. It is of the order of 40 to 50%.

The combustion efficiency and mechanical efficiency would be
around 95%.
Efficiency
THRUST & EFFICIENCY
TURBOJET
SUBSONIC REGION
THRUST=mass-flow-rate x change in velocity
Variation with speed Nearly Constant
Even though the mass flow increases with speed, the
acceleration (v
w
-v
0
) decreases with speed.
Variation with Altitude -
Since mass flow is directly proportional to the
density, the thrust varies linearly with the density.
TSFC
Variation with Speed :
Variation with Altitude:
Nearly Constant
THRUST -
TSFC -
This rise is due to increased ram pressure in the
intake, as a result of the deceleration of the supersonic flow.
SUMMARY OF TURBOJET
TURBOFAN
It is a propulsive mechanism the design of which strives to
combine the high thrust of a turbojet with the high efficiency of
a propeller.
VARIATION OF THRUST
HIGH BYPASS RATIO
Variation with Altitude:
Variation with speed :
VARIATION OF SFC
HIGH BYPASS RATIO
Variation with Altitude: Almost constant
Variation with speed :
LOW BYPASS RATIO
Characteristics of Pratt and Whitney PW4056
turbofan engine - maximum cruise thrust
TURBOPROP
VARIATION OF THRUST
Variation with speed :
Variation with Altitude:
VARIATION OF SFC
RAMJET
The thrust varies considerably with flight speed

C
T

increases with M and falls off at high M because of temperature limitations
on the strength of materials, and some losses in the intake diffuser.

RAMJET
RAMJET
The thermal efficiency becomes attractive only at high speeds
where high compression ratio is obtained by ram.

At very high speeds (M>1) the mass flow is limited by
compression shocks at the duct inlet.

At higher speeds the propulsive efficiency remains constant
because the peak cycle pressure is the result of ram and
therefore the wake velocity is nearly proportional to flight
velocity.
ROCKET
The rate of fuel burning and jet velocity are approximately
constant for all speeds

Hence the rocket thrust, fuel consumption and thermal
efficiency are essentially constant for all speeds
Thermal Efficiency
Propulsive Efficiency
VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLER
(Constant Speed Propeller)
This loss of efficiency can be delayed to higher flight Mach numbers
by use of advanced propellers. These propellers have swept blades
and are being used on turboprop airplanes up to flight Mach number
of 0.7.
ADVANCED PROPELLERS
ASYMMETRICAL EFFECTS OF PROPELLERS
Torque reaction

Slipstream

Gyroscopic effect
These causes ill effects like Swing on take-off
( tendency for an aeroplane to swing to one
side during the take-off run)

If the propeller rotates clockwise, the torque reaction will be anti-
clockwise, the left-hand wheel will be pressed on the ground and the extra
friction should tend to yaw the aircraft to the left.
The slipstream -- assuming the same clockwise propeller -- will itself
rotate clockwise and will probably strike the fin and rudder on the left-
hand side, again tending to yaw the aircraft to the left.
The gyroscopic effect will only come in when the tail is being raised.
Again
the tendency will be to swing to the left if the propeller rotates clockwise.
GYROSCOPIC EFFECT: A rotating body tends to resist any
change in its plane of rotation, and if such change does take place
there is superimposed a tendency for the plane of rotation to
change also in a direction at right angles to that in which it is
forced.