ENGINE THEORY Operation The jet engines are essentially a machine designed for the purpose of producing high

velocity gasses at the jet nozzle The engine is started !y rotating the compressor "ith the starter # the outside air enter to the engine The compressor "or$s on this incoming air and delivery it to the com!ustion or !urner section "ith as much as %& times or more pressure the air had at the front 't the !urner or com!ustion section # the ignition is igniting the mi(ture of fuel and air in the com!ustion cham!er "ith one or more igniters "hich some"hat li$es automo!ile spar$ plugs )hen the engine has started and its compressor is rotating at sufficient speed # the starter and igniters are turn off The engine "ill then run "ithout further assistance as long as fuel and air in the proper proportions continue to enter the com!ustion cham!er Only &*+ of the air is ta$ing part in the actual com!ustion process The rest of the air is mi(ed "ith the products of com!ustion for cooling !efore the gases enter the tur!ine "heel The tur!ine e(tracts a major portion of energy in the gas stream and uses this energy to turn the compressor and accessories The engine,s thrust comes from ta$ing a large mass of air in at the front and e(pelling it at a much higher speed than it had "hen it entered the compressor THR-.T # THEN # I. E/-'0 TO 1'.. 20O) R'TE TI1E. 3H'NGE IN 4E0O3ITY

The more air that an engine can compress and use # the greater is the po"er or thrust that it can produce Roughly 5*+ of the po"er generated inside a jet engine is used to drive the compressor Only "hat is left over is availa!le to produce the thrust needed to propel the airplane 6et Engine E7uation .ince 2uel flo" adds some mass to the air flo"ing through the engine # this must !e added to the !asic of thrust e7uation .ome formula do not consider the fuel flo" effect "hen computing thrust !ecause the "eight of air lea$age is appro(imately e7ual to the "eight of fuel added The follo"ing formula is applied "hen a nozzle of engine is 8cho$ed8 # the pressure is such that the gases are traveling through it at the speed of sound and can not !e further accelerated 'ny increase in internal engine pressure "ill pass out through the nozzle still in the form of pressure Even this pressure energy cannot turn into velocity energy !ut it is not lost

2actors 'ffecting Thrust The 6et engine is much more sensitive to operating varia!les Those are9 % : Engine rpm & : .ize of nozzle area ; : )eight of fuel flo" < : 'mount of air !led from the compressor * : Tur!ine inlet temperature = : .peed of aircraft >ram pressure rise: 5 : Temperature of the air ? : @ressure of air A : 'mount of humidity Note B item ?#A are the density of air Engine .tation Cesignations .tation designations are assigned to the varius sections of gas tur!ine engines to ena!le specific locations "ithin the engine to !e easily and accurately identified The station num!ers coincide "ith position from front to rear of the engine and are used as su!scripts "hen designating different temperatures and pressures at the front # rear # or inside of the engine 2or engine configurations other than the picture

!elo" should !e made to manuals pu!lished !y the engine manufacturer

N D .peed > rpm or percent : N% D 0o" 3ompressor .peed N& D High 3ompressor .peed N; D 2ree Tur!ine .peed @ D @ressure T D Temperature t D Total EGT D E(haust Gas Temperature E@R D Engine @ressure Ratio > Engine Thrust in term of E@R : @t5 E @t& E( 9 @t & D Total @ressure at .tation & > lo" pressure compressor inlet : @t 5 D Total @ressure at .tation 5 > tur!ine discharge total pressure :

Engine Revolutions per 1inute9

One of the most o!vious factors that affect the thrust output is the speed of rotor assem!ly# generally referred as revolutions per minute of the engine In case of gas tur!ine engines the effect of rpm on thrust is 7uite different from thrust characteristics of conventional piston engines 'n e(amination of the graph "ill sho" that a lo" rpm there is a very little increase in thrust "ith increase in revolution per minute

Increase of thrust with rpm

6000 5000 static thrust 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 8000 9000 10000 rpm 11000 12000

Ho"ever# at the higher range of revolution a very little increase in the throttle setting "ill produce large increase in thrust Fecause of the very high speed rotation of the rotor assem!ly of gas tur!ine engines# it has !een found more convenient to refer to engine revolutions in percentage of ma(imum rpm 2or e(ample if the ma(imum rpm of a typical engine "as %;#GGG half speed "ould !e *G+ rpmB idling# as ;G+B cruise# as A&+B ta$eHoff as %GGB etc Referring to graph again# it "ill !e noticed that "ith an increase in revolutions from ?#GGG to A#GGG per min# an increase of appro(imately ;*G l! of thrust is realized

Ho"ever# "hen the revolutions are increased from %%#GGG to %&#GGG per min# the thrust increase is %#*GG l! 't the lo"er settings fuel consumption is high for the amount of thrust produced 2or this reason gas tur!ines are operated near their ma(imum rpm 3ruise is generally ?* to%GG percent of ma(imum# as compared to the <G to 5G percent generally associated "ith conventional pistonH propeller engines 'irspeed9 )ith respect to airspeed# tur!ojet engines are referred to as constant thrust machines The study of thrust formula sho"s that if the velocity of the jet remains constant for any airplane speed# then# as the airplaneIs speed increases# the thrust "ould decrease in direct proportion Fecause of the effect of ram air inta$e# ho"ever# the mass flo" and the velocity of jet also increase "ith airplane speed# so that the net resultant thrust is practically constant "ith increased airspeed 2igure !elo" illustrates this point !y sho"ing ho" the thrust curve dips slightly and then clim!s again "ith increase in airspeed# resulting in almost constant thrust for almost all practical purposes It "ill also !e noted that this holds for different altitudes

Sea level

10,000 ft

Thrust

20,000 ft 30,000 ft 40,000 ft

Airplane speed

'ltitude9 The a!ove figure sho"s that there is an apprecia!le thrust loss "ith increase in altitude 'ny change in !arometric pressure# therefore "ill affect the engine thrust "ise In tests conducted on the 'vro 3%G& 6et liner# it "as found that the thrust loss at ;G#GGG ft "as appro(imately <G+ It must !e realized# ho"ever# that the drag "as reduced considera!ly# !eing less than &* percent )ith a thrust variation of only * percent from &GG to *GG mph# it !ecomes apparent that the tur!ojet po"ered aircraft must !e flo"n at a high altitude and relatively high speed to attain the highest degree of efficiency Temperature9 'tmospheric temperature is another factor that affects the thrust of a gas tur!ine engine )ith increase in air temperature less thrust is developed !y the engine 't a temperature of %%G2# a thrust loss of %= percent "as e(perienced in the flight tests of the 'vro 3%G& 6etliner On

large airplanes that re7uire considera!le heating and ventilating airflo"# air !led off the compressor for these purposes "ill result in thrust loss 'dditional air is also used internally in the engine for !earing and tur!ine cooling Ho"ever# this air is returned to the main engine air stream at the tur!ine e(haust @erformance losses at full engine rpm are incurred "ith fi(ed area e(haust nozzles !ecause tailpipe temperature varies "ith speed and altitude )ith the e(haust nozzle limiting the tailpipe temperature on ground under static conditions# a drop of *G to =G 2 "ill accompany a speed increase to clim!ing speed or high speed level flight This temperature drop is illustrated in a!ove figure It results# of course in a loss of thrust
Variation of tailpipe temperature with airspeed
106 104 102 100 98 96 94 92 90 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Airplane speed, knots Tailpipe temperature

'nother cause for

performance loss is the sharp increase in tailpipe temperature at high altitude# usually a!ove ;G#GGG ft To prevent the temperature from e(ceeding the limiting value# the fuel flo" must !e reduced The fuel control units include "ith most tur!ojet fuel systems automatically control fuel

flo" to prevent e(cessive temperature This reduction in fuel flo" "ill result in loss of thrust