Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104

Intake-engine matching for high-speed civil transport

powerplant design and analysis
Adolf H.W. Bos*
Instituto Superior Te& cnico, Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract
This paper addresses the necessity to incorporate an intake-engine matching procedure in any procedure
to analyze the o!-design performance of engines designed to power high-speed civil transport aircraft. Most
methods known to the author that are useable in the conceptual design phase of the aircraft (a phase
characterized by the fact that very few design variables are known) only analyze the performance of the
engine, without taking into account the design and performance of the intake. It will be shown in this paper,
that the intake and the design exhibit a strong mutual in#uence, that cannot be neglected. An alternative
method of analysis is presented. Particular reference will be made to the phenomenon of excess air and the
resulting spillage drag. It will be shown that spillage air can be quite large in case of an HSCT design,
especially in case the engine is designed for a high cruise Mach number. Assuming the presence of
a sophisticated intake system generating multiple shocks in order to optimize the intake e$ciency at the
cruise condition, excess air at lower Mach numbers can amount to more than 60%. 1999 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. O4-design matching of the engine and intake mass6ow
Assuming a "xed nozzle corrected mass #ow (choked nozzle, constant throat area), or a choked
low-pressure turbine throughout the operational envelope of the engine, the high-pressure turbine
will operate at a "xed point (constant pressure ratio, constant corrected mass#ow). Under these
* Kruisstraat 30, 2611 MJ, Delft, Netherlands. Tel.: 00-31-15-2135050.
Invited Auxiliary Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Present address: National Aerospace Labora-
tory (NLR), Amsterdam, Netherlands.
E-mail address: ahwbos@nlr.nl (A.H.W. Bos)
1369-8869/99/$- see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 6 9 - 8 8 6 9 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 0 9 - 9
Nomenclature
A capture area
M Mach number
m mass#ow
p pressure
temperature
Greek letters
speci"c heat ratio
pressure ratio
e$ciency

"
intake recovery factor (intake e$ciency)
bypass ratio
relative engine temperature ratio
coe$cient
X coe$cient
coe$cient
Subscripts
0 ambient or free stream conditions
c compressor
des design point
t total
station numbers according to de"nition (Fig. 1)
Acronyms
CPR compressor (total) pressure ratio
HPT high-pressure turbine
HSCT high-speed civil transport
LPT low-pressure turbine
SST supersonic transport
TET turbine entry temperature
circumstances the following relation may be derived for the o!-design variation of the compressor
pressure ratio [1]:

"+1#('A'AE

!1),AE'A', (1)
in which the in#uence of the fuel-to-air ratio was neglected.
96 A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104
Fig. 1. Station de"nition.
The parameter represents the engine temperature ratio relative to the value at the design point:
,
(
"
/
`
)
(
"
/
`
)

. (2)
These expressions are valid for a turbojet engine or a turbofan according to the aft-fan concept (fan
compresses cold air only). For a front-fan arrangement similar expressions can be derived [1].
Eq. (1) is of limited use in the analysis of a powerplant installation designed to power an HSCT
design. In case the engine is designed for a high Mach number cruise condition, operating at lower
Mach numbers may lead to a value of in excess of 1, yielding an o!-design compressor pressure
ratio that is higher than the design value. Therefore, a constraint has to be imposed on the
compressor pressure ratio, which will lead to extra spillage, as will be demonstrated hereafter.
The above analysis will be used in this paper merely for illustrative purposes. An alternative
method for the o!-design analysis of engines for high-speed civil transport aircraft was derived by
the author within the framework of a Ph.D. study [2,3]. Fig. 2 illustrates the variation of the
compressor pressure ratio with .
By writing

"
p
`
p
`
"
p
`
p
"
(
"
(
`
(m (
`
/p
`
)
(m (
"
/p
"
)
"C
(
"
(
`
m (
`
p
`
, (3)
the following expression can be found for the corrected mass#ow through the engine, relative to the
design value (the pressure ratio over the combustion chamber is taken as a constant):
(m (
`
/p
`
)
(m (
`
/p
`
)

"

1
(
. (4)
This expression yields the corrected mass#ow required by the engine (under the condition of
a choked HPT; under the condition of a "xed HPT operating point, the relation between the CPR
and its design value in (4) is given by (1)). In Fig. 3 it is plotted both for unlimited and limited
compressor pressure ratio. In order to match the required air#ow with that provided by the intake,
the captured air#ow is written as follows:

m (
`
p
`

"

m (
"
p
"

1

"
1

1#
!1
2
M`
"

'A>'`'A'
(5)
A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104 97
Fig. 2. O!-design compressor pressure ratio variation.
Fig. 3. Engine mass#ow variation.
or (for simplicity, constraining the analysis to the stratosphere):
(m (
`
/p
`
)
(m (
`
/p
`
)

"
m
m

p
"
p
"

"

0

(1#(!1)/2 M`
"
)
(1#(!1)/2 M`
"
)
'A>'`'A'
. (6)
98 A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104
The "rst two terms on the right-hand side can be substituted by
m
m

p
"
p
"
"
A
"
A
"
M
"
M
"
(7)
yielding:
A
"
A
"
"
(m (
`
/p
`
)
(m (
`
/p
`
)

"

"
M
"
M
"

1#(!1)/2 M`
"
1#(!1)/2 M`
"

'A>'`'A'
(8)
Or, by substituting (4):
A
"
A
"
"
1
(

"

"
M
"
M
"

1#(!1)/2 M`
"
1#(!1)/2 M`
"

'A>'`'A'
. (9)
This equation combines the corrected mass#ow required by the engine and that provided by the
intake. In case the amount of air captured by the intake is larger than that required by the engine
(A
"
smaller than design value) the excess air has to be spilt, either by means of a dump door in front
of the fan, or through the oblique shockwave system (intake operating in subcritical condition).
This leads to a loss of momentum in the "rst alternative and hence to a reduction in net thrust and
to spillage or additional drag in the second alternative and hence to a loss of installed thrust. In
most cases, the "rst alternative will lead to a bigger loss of thrust, even if dumping takes places
under zero angle with the oncoming #ow [2].
In case the required corrected mass#ow is larger than that captured by the intake a decrease of
the intake e$ciency has to take place (intake operating in the supercritical condition).
2. Determination of the amount of excess air
For an aircraft operating in the stratosphere at supersonic speeds equation (9) can be rewritten
as [2]:
A
"
A
"
"

"R

"

"

"
M
"
M
"

1#(!1)/2 M`
"
1#(!1)/2 M`
"

A'A'
. (10)
In principle, relations (9) and (10) have general validity as long as it is assumed that the
high-pressure turbine at least remains choked or has a constant operating point; the relation
between the compressor pressure ratio and its design value is not speci"ed (Eqs. (9) and (10) can be
derived as well by writing the corrected mass#ow through the high-pressure turbine in terms of
A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104 99
free #ow quantities and putting it equal to its design value [2]). In case of a front-fan arrangement
the relative fan pressure ratio also enters the equations. This will not be treated here.
Now assuming an engine designed for a Mach number of 2.5 #ying at Mach 1.5, and ne-
glecting the in#uence of the intake e$ciency for the time being, it follows that 64% of the
captured air has to be dumped, if the compressor pressure ratio is not increased and/or the turbine
entry temperature decreased. To avoid spillage completely, the compressor pressure ratio should
become almost three times as high as its design value, which is not tolerable. Assuming a design
turbine entry temperature of 1500 K and reducing this value to 1200 K in the o!-design would still
require 60% spillage. Further reduction of the TET to a value of 968 K will require 56% spillage
and this constitutes the minimum amount for this Mach number ("1). Reduction of the TET
below this value will result in a counterproductive decrease of the CPR and the spillage will
increase.
This is illustrated in Fig. 4 which shows the amount of spillage of an engine designed for a Mach
number of 2.5, with a design compressor pressure ratio of 5. The o!-design compressor pressure
ratio is limited to a maximum of this value. Lines of a constant Mach number and of a constant
relative turbine entry temperature are plotted, as well as constraints preventing the compressor exit
temperature to exceed 850 K and the turbine entry temperature from becoming less than the
compressor exit temperature. The latter can be written as a bound on by putting the turbine
entry temperature in (2) equal to the compressor exit temperature and substituting (1):
5
1
((
"
/
`
)

!'A'AE
A
#1)
. (11)
Fig. 4. Spillage air: limited CPR; in#uence of intake neglected.
100 A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104
3. The in6uence of the intake e7ciency
There are two reasons for the large amounts of spillage air (apart from the fact that the
engine was designed for a high Mach number cruise condition). First of all, the limitation
of the compressor pressure ratio causes extra spillage as illustrated by Fig. 5, in which the
situation is drawn for the same engine but with unlimited compressor pressure ratio. This
is not a realistic situation, however. Although the compressor pressure ratio may increase
with a small margin beyond its design value it is physically limited by the number of compressor
stages.
The second reason is the fact that the in#uence of the intake e$ciency was neglected so far. This
implies not only an overestimation of the amount of spillage air, it also disregards the iterative
relation between the intake e$ciency and the amount of spillage air [2] (unless spillage takes
place by means of a dump door, it results in a change of intake e$ciency, which in turn a!ects the
pressure level in the engine and hence the amount of spillage required). For illustrative purposes,
the same analysis is now carried out after adding a pitot intake to the model (straight shockwave).
This not only will account for the change in intake e$ciency with changing Mach number, it also
eliminates the iterative relation, since spillage over a straight shock will not lead to a change in
intake e$ciency (the shock will separate, but close to the centerline of the #ow it will essentially
continue to be a straight shock). Therefore, the above analysis can be applied in a straightforward
manner and the closed-form relationships are retained. This analysis is illustrated in Fig. 6. The
ratio of the intake e$ciency to the design value is illustrated in Fig. 7 for a number of relative
Fig. 5. Spillage air: unlimited CPR; in#uence of intake neglected.
A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104 101
Fig. 6. Spillage air: limited CPR; pitot intake.
Fig. 7. Intake e$ciency relative to design value; pitot intake.
turbine entry temperatures (design Mach number 2.5). At the point where the o!-design Mach
number becomes equal to 1, the ratio stays constant at a value of 2 (a straight shock at Mach 2.5
generates a total pressure ratio of 0.5).
102 A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104
Fig. 8. Intake e$ciency; pitot intake and multiple shock intake.
In a realistic engine design for an HSCT, however, the intake will be equipped with adjustable
#ow de#ection ramps or a translating spike, generating multiple external and internal shocks. In
this case, the situation as illustrated in Fig. 4 will remain valid, since the change in intake e$ciency
will be small (Fig. 8 illustrates the change in the intake e$ciency with Mach number for a pitot
intake and for an intake with multiple oblique shocks, represented by a generalized relation [4]).
Thus, the spillage drag of an HSCT engine designed for a high Mach number cruise will be large
indeed. For accurate analysis, it is necessary to take the coupling between the intake e$ciency and
the amount of spillage air into account [2,3], as mentioned before.
A method to account for the strong coupling between the intake and the engine was
developed by the author within the framework of a Ph.D. research study [2,3]. This method
was designed to be applicable in combination with global optimization methods (such methods
are notorious for making large jumps through the design space). Therefore, no limits are imposed
on the operational envelope of the engine, other than hard physical limitations such as the
compressor pressure ratio, compressor exit temperature and turbine entry temperature. An intake
model is used that optimizes the intake e$ciency for the design condition and adapts itself to the
mass#owrequirements of the engine in the o!-design by means of adjustable #ow de#ection ramps.
The matching equation for the intake and the engine, the power equations of the high- and
low-pressure spools and a condition for mixing the hot and the cold #ow are combined into the
following relation, that yields the mass#ow through the engine as a function of the bypass ratio
only [2,3]:
m
`
"(1#)

((!X)/(!X))`AE'A'
((!X)/(!X))!1
. (12)
A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104 103
For a given value of the LPT pressure ratio, the coe$cients , X and are "xed. The coe$cient
takes care of the matching of the intake and the engine and depends on the intake e$ciency and
therefore on the mass#ow through the engine. During the iterative procedure to solve Eq. (12), all
pressure ratios in the engine stay constant, only pressure levels change. Eq. (12) was derived under
the assumption that the fan compresses the cold #ow only. For the front-fan arrangement, a similar
expression may be derived [3].
4. Conclusions
From the analysis presented here it can be concluded that the phenomenon of spillage air (and
drag) is extremely important in the design of a powerplant installation for an HSCT project. This
calls for a method of analysis that takes the close coupling between the intake and the engine into
account by implementation of a detailed intake model. It was also shown that Eq. (1) for the
o!-design analysis of the engine is of limited use. Even worse, the prerequisite of a "xed working
point for the high-pressure turbine ("xed nozzle throat area or choked low-pressure turbine) may
not be ful"lled at all points of the #ight envelope of an HSCT. Imposing this requirement on the
design will lead to a reduction in the dimensionality of the design space that cannot be a!orded in
the complex enterprise of designing a second-generation supersonic transport aircraft, with its
con#icting requirements on low- and high-speed operation as well as severe environmental
constraints. Thus, a special, #exible method for the o!-design analysis of engines designed to power
second-generation SSTs is required.
References
[1] Wittenberg H. Prediction of o!-design performance of turbojet and turbofan engines. AGARD CP 242, May 1978.
[2] Bos AHW. Multidisciplinary design optimization of a second-generation supersonic transport aircraft using
a hybrid genetic/gradient-guided algorithm. Ph.D. Dissertation, ISBN 90-5623-041-7, Delft University of Tech-
nology, 1996.
[3] Bos AHW. A #exible method for the o!-design analysis of SST powerplant installations suitable for global
optimization. Aircraft Design 1998;1:13}24.
[4] Fabri J, editor. Air intake problems in supersonic propulsion. AGARDograph 27, 1958.
104 A.H.W. Bos / Aircraft Design 2 (1999) 95}104