AIRCRAFT PROPULSION

 AIRCRAFT PROPULSION – AN INTRODUCTION

 TYPES OF PROPULSION SYSTEMS
 ENGINE PARAMETERS AND PERFORMANCE
PRESENTED BY :
 RECENT TRENDS IN AIRCRAFT PROPULSION SYSTEMS
B. BALAJI – 111115019
 ENGINE TESTING DIBYAJYOTI NAYAK - 111115023
 INTRODUCTION
The foundations of powered flight can be
set in 1799 when Sir George Cayley, the
father of Aerodynamics, first identified the
four basic forces of flying: weight, lift,
drag, and thrust, and set forth the concept
of the modern aeroplane as a fixed-wing
flying machine (no flapping wings like in
bird flight), with separate systems for lift
(tilted planes), propulsion (engine), and
controls, designing the first successful
glider to carry a human being aloft.
Sustained aerodynamic flight requires
almost-permanent propulsion, as opposed
to other means.
 PROPULSION
 Propulsion – In Latin, pro means
forward and pellere means to drive. –
So, in English, propulsion means to
push or drive forward.
 Aerospace Propulsion System – A
device which is used to produce
thrust to drive an aerospace vehicle
(aircraft, missile launch or a
spacecraft) in a preferred direction.
 Thrust : The propulsive force which is
generated as a reaction to the change
in the momentum of a working fluid
(propellant).
An aircraft propulsion system generally consists of an aircraft engine and some means to generate
thrust, such as a propeller or a propulsive nozzle. An aircraft propulsion system must achieve two
things.
• First, the thrust from the propulsion system must balance the drag of the airplane when the
airplane is cruising.
• And second, the thrust from the propulsion system must exceed the drag of the airplane for the
airplane to accelerate. The greater the difference between the thrust and the drag, called the
excess thrust, the faster the airplane will accelerate.
EARLY ATTEMPTS (PISTON ENGINES)
 The first aero engine was developed by wright brothers for flyer I.
 It was a horizontal 4 cylinders in-line 4-stroke cycle piston engine of 80 kg, with
water-cooled aluminium-alloy frame, burning carburated gasoline within 0.1 m
bore 0.1 m stroke pistons (3.2 L total displacement), with a compression ratio
of r=4.4, delivering 9 kW at 1000 rpm to twin two-blade propellers of 2.4 m in
diameter (also of Wright's invention), chain-driven and counter-rotating at the
rear of the wings, with 3 m between their axes.
 Reciprocating gasoline engines have been used to propel aircraft (by driving a
propeller) from the first powered flight in 1903 to the 1950s and beyond, and
they are still used on small aircraft, initially in 2stroke cycles, and later in 4-
strokes. These engines first used the same gasoline fuel used in cars, although
Standard Oil developed the first aviation gasoline in 1918.
FLYER 1
RECIPROCATING
ENGINES
Piston engines today in airplanes
designed to fly at speeds less than
300 mph the range for the vast
majority of light, private, general
aviation aircraft. The basic operation
of these engines is a piston moving
back and forth (reciprocating) inside a
cylinder, with valves that open and
close appropriately to let fresh fuel-
air mixture in and burned exhaust
gases out. The piston is connected to
a shaft via a connecting rod that
converts the reciprocating motion of
the piston to rotational motion of the
shaft.
JET ENGINES
 A jet engine is a reaction engine discharging a fast moving jet that
generates the necessary thrust by jet propulsion.
 In common parlance, the term jet engine loosely refers to an internal
combustion airbreathing jet engine. These typically feature a rotating
air compressor powered by a turbine, with the leftover power
providing thrust via a propelling nozzle — this process is known as
the Brayton thermodynamic cycle.
 Early jet aircraft used turbojet engines which were relatively inefficient
for subsonic flight. Modern subsonic jet aircraft usually use more
complex high-bypass turbofan engines. These engines offer high speed
and greater fuel efficiency than piston and propeller aeroengines over
long distances.
 Different types of Jet Engines
• SCREW PROPELLER
• TURBO-JET
• TURBO-PROPELLER
• TURBO–FAN
• RAMJET
• SCRAM JET
1. SCREW
PROPELLER
 In this system, full expansion takes
place in the turbine, and total
power developed by turbine is
used to drive the compressor and
the propeller, power supplied to
propeller is controlled by
controlling the supply of fuel in the
combustion chamber. The rate of
efficiency of screw propeller is
higher at lower speed but the
efficiency falls rapidly at higher
speed above the sonic velocity.
FIG – SCREW PROPELLER WITH A SHAFT
2. TURBO-JET

 In the turbo-jet unit, the turbine of the gas turbine power plant
produces just sufficient power to drive the compressor by partial
expansion in the turbine. The gases coming out from turbine, which
are at higher pressure than atmosphere are expanded in a nozzle
and produce a very high velocity jet which gives a forward motion
to the aircraft by the jet reaction. The turbo jet gives higher
efficiency at higher speed and are best suited to the aircraft
travelling above 800 km/hr.
3. TURBO PROPELLER

 In this system the gases are partly expanded in the turbine and
partly in the nozzle. Nearly 80% percent of the expansion takes
place in the turbine and the remaining 20% in the nozzle.
 The total power developed by the turbine is used to run the
compressor as well as the propeller. The forward motion to the
aircraft is given partly by the jet produced by the nozzle.
 The turbo-propeller combines the merits of turbo-jet, i.e. low
specific weight and simplicity in design and merits of propeller i.e.,
high power for take off and high propulsion efficiency at speed
below 600 km/hr.
4. TURBO-FAN
 It has one or more rows of compressor blades extend beyond the
normal compressor blades. The result is that four times as much air
is pulled into the turbo-fan engine as in the simple turbojet.
 Most of this excess air is ducted through by passing around the
power section and out the rear with the exhaust gases.
 The turbofan has greater thrust for takeoff, climbing, and cruising
on the same amount of fuel than the conventional turbojet engine.
 It has the facility of thrust augmentation like (afterburner, bleed
burner) turbofan engine has gained lot more popularity then turbo
jet.
 FIG 2

FIG 1

FIG 1 : HIGH BYPASS TURBOFAN

ENGINE
FIG 2 : LOW BYPASS TURBOFAN
ENGINE
5. RAM JET

 After the achievement of turbine engines ,designers, engineers dreamed

of building the engine which could travel at high speeds and reach at any
point on earth in less time. These led to the development of ramjet,
scramjet engines. It is the simplest type of all jet engines because it has no
moving parts.
 Ramjet engines are used to fly at super sonic speeds. The pressure of the
incoming air is increased sufficiently with the help of diffuser action,
which is then sufficient enough to self ignite the fuel in combustion
chamber as temperature is also high and finally exits through a converging
nozzle.
 The temperature of the rammed air in ramjet is always above the self
ignition temperature. The essential parts of a ramjet are diffuser( used for
compression),combustion chamber and nozzle.
 It is suitable only for supersonic speeds and not suitable for flows less
than Mach No. (M) =1.
 FIG 2

FIG 1

FIG 1 : A TYPICAL RAMJET

ENGINE
FIG 2 : DIFFERENT FLOWS AT
INTAKE ON RAMJETS
Advantages and Disadvantages of Ramjet
Advantages Disadvantages
 No moving parts  It cannot be started on its own
 Light weight
from rest
 It has to be accelerated to
 Use of wide variety of fuels is
possible certain flight velocity using a
launching device
 It is always equipped with a
small turbojet which helps in
starting the ram jet.
6. SCRAM JET

 Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRAMJET) Engine works on

oblique shock waves.
 The shock waves pass through inlet and get compressed through
deflections occurred inside the walls and ignited with fuel and exit
through nozzle.
 It can travel more than Mach No. (M) = 10, suitable for hyper sonic
speeds. Mostly used in space launch vehicles , supersonic missiles.
FIG - The compression,
combustion, and expansion
regions of :-
(a) Turbojet Engine
(b) Ramjet Engine
(c) Scramjet Engines
ENGINE PARAMETERS AND
PERFORMANCE
 Deliverable power or thrust in jet engines – take-off thrust and engine
thrust (Usually expressed as Specific Thrust)
 Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) / Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption (TSFC)
 Specific Impulse
 Thermal Efficiency
 Propulsive Efficiency
 Engine Overall Efficiency
 Engine Sizing
 Thrust to Engine Weight ratio
 Engine Inlet and Exhaust Temperatures
 Mass Flow rates of Air and Fuel
 Altitude of the aircraft
 Flight Speed
PARAMETERS THAT IMPACT SPECIFIC
FUEL CONSUMPTION (SFC)
 Bypass ratio (BPR) - This is the ratio of the air passing through the bypass
duct to the air passing through the gas generator.
– a bypass ratio of 5 has a total airflow of 6 units 5 of which, go through
the bypass duct and 1 of which goes through the gas generator.
 Pressure ratio (PR) : This is the ratio of the air pressure at the entry to the
engine to the pressure at the outlet of the compression system (i.e. as it
enters the combustion section).
 Turbine entry temperature : This is the gas temperature at the entry to
the first turbine stage in the engine.
– Higher is better
PARAMETERS THAT
IMPACT SPECIFIC FUEL
CONSUMPTION (SFC)
 A parameter which
depends on the
combination of the
above characteristics is
called the specific thrust.
 This is defined as the
amount of thrust per unit
airflow:
(thrust) / (engine total
air mass flow)
- Higher is better
SOME CHARTS !
CHARTS CONT.
A vision for 2020- NASA AERONAUTICS BLUEPRINT
The challenges we are facing today are:
 Long duration and large, long-haul transportation to provide months aloft at high
altitudes and covering long distances.
 High speed commercial transportation to provide quiet, efficient and affordable
supersonic flight.
 Quiet and efficient, runway independent aircraft having extremely short takeoff
and landing, to provide door to door service.
 Autonomous operation capability for a whole range of aircraft from micro-
vehicles to heavy transports.
 Noise reduction to eliminate airport restrictions. This can be achieved by
integrating the airframe and propulsion system and by active flow and noise
control.
 Lower exhaust emissions to reduce greenhouse gases and improve local air
quality, by means of intelligent propulsion systems and fuel efficient vehicles.
 Improve safety and reduce accident rates by means of integrated health
monitoring, fault tolerant systems and more robust flight control systems.
 Develop light, strong and structurally efficient air vehicles by using nanostructures
which are 100 times stronger than steel and one sixth of its weight.
 Improve aerodynamic efficiency by means of active flow control.
Revolutionary materials and structures
Advanced aircraft propulsion system
Goals of the European ARTE21 (Aeronautical Research and
Technology for Europe in the 21st Century)
The following I/V (Integration / Validation) projects are being
promoted within the context of ARTE21.

1. Environmentally Friendly Aircraft

2. Environmentally Friendly Aero Engine
3. ATM of the future and FMS/CNS functionalities
4. Advanced Cabin, cabin systems and Multimedia services for
improved Passenger comfort and better Aircraft efficiency
5. Low Cost Airframe Integration
6. Maintenance Free Airframe Structures
7. Aero Engine for Affordable Air Travel
8. Novel rotorcraft configuration for gate to gate passenger transport
9. More Electrical Aircraft
10. Next Generation Small Turbofan
11. Aero engine new concepts
12. The environmental friendly Helicopter including new turboshaft engines
13. Common core engine
14. Airborne Integrated Systems for Safety improvement, Flight Hazard
Protection and All-weather Operation
15. Safe and Beneficial Approach/Landing and Ground Movement Procedures
and Technologies
16. All Composite Aircraft
17. Supersonic Cruise Jets : SSBJ and ESCT
18. Next Generation Air Systems
19. New Aircraft Concepts
20. The Virtual Engine and Engine Enterprise
21. Virtual Product Within Virtual Enterprise
22. Technologies and Techniques for new Maintenance Concepts
23. Security of Aircraft operation
RECENT AND FUTURE TRENDS IN AIRCRAFT
PROPULSION SYSTEMS

 The conceptual design of an aero gas turbine engine is quite

complex involving many engineering disciplines such as
aerothermodynamics, heat transfer, material technology,
component design, engine controls to arrive at the engine
configuration. The key emerging technologies for these propulsion
systems are the increased component efficiencies through active
control, advanced diagnostics and prognostics integrated with
intelligent control and distributed control with smart sensors and
actuators. All these technologies should emphasize overall engine
gas path performance. The present trend is to revolutionize the
aero engine industry by harnessing the Internet of Things (IoT).
 The analytic software in an aero engine enables engineers to carry out
analysis of voluminous data in the shortest time. In other words, the
analysis which, used to take months can be carried out in minutes.
Today in the aero engine industry, the emphasis is to improve the
component efficiencies through online monitoring of engine data and
exhaustive usage of advanced diagnostics and prognostics. Active
Controlled Components will mitigate the challenges related to:
 Inlet flow distortion, separation and noise
 Compressor aerodynamic losses, surge and stall
 Combustion instabilities and uneven temperature distribution
 Turbine aerodynamic losses and leakages
 Noise and pollution control
 High Cycle Fatigue
 IR signature (for military engines)
 The effectiveness of active control has been demonstrated in lab-scale
tests; however, significant R&D is required to implement these
technologies. It may be emphasized that, in particular, high
temperature sensors and actuators are the need of the hour.
Advanced diagnostics and prognostics
In order to adapt the engine control parameters to actual conditions and to
individual engines, Tracking Filters are employed. In the existing scenario the
Engine Health Monitoring (EHM) units are stand-alone units. The technology to
integrate both control and monitoring is emerging. One of the challenges is the
Engine Certification. Adaptive models are opening up the possibility of adapting
the control logic to maintain desired performance due to engine degradation.
Improved and new sensors are required to allow:
 Sensing at stations where the operating temperatures are high
 Additional monitoring of vibration, mass flows, fuel properties, exhaust gas
composition and gas path debris
Having seen the importance of active control of engine components and
advanced diagnostic and prognostic requirements, it will be highly useful and
cost effective if these analyses could be done in real time.
In all the above the requirement is to replace the after-the fact analysis with
real time analysis to drive faster and better decisions. In other words, one has to
process the data as it comes in. Here IoT becomes an effective tool to achieve
this.
 Flight data will be tracked in real time instead of downloading the data after
the fight is over.
 Sensors and actuators in the engine connected to internet will enable
immediate transmission of data for analysis
Since IoT catches things as they are progressing instead of waiting to analyse the data
afterwards, this real time tracking of data can be used to optimize
 Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC)
 Improve engine efficiency
 Reduce maintenance costs in the long term
 Reduce Life Cycle Cost
 Make minor changes to flight plans and aircraft speed to reduce flight times and fuel
consumption
 Detect an anomaly in the engine, employing right sensors and S/W
This can result in revolutionizing flight efficiency and profitability. In this context QuEST
Global is engaged in the following areas among other things:
 Engine performance trending for fleet engines
 Technical Analysis Report (TAR) for aero engine components addressing design
concessions
 Technical Variance (TV) report for aero engine components
Using IoT QuEST is open to contribute in:
 On line real time monitoring of engine performance data with a view to improve engine
performance and efficiency
 On line analysis of design concessions and generation of TAR and TV report