MOUNTING OF ENGINES ON AIRCRAFT

LOADS ACTING ON ENGINE MOUNTING

POINTS

GE 414 low by pass turbofan

Front Mounting point

Rolls Royce RB 211 turbofan

Forward attachment

Rear attachment

Typical attachment of turbofan engine on wing pylon

Transport aeroplane

pylon

Wing-mounted nacelles can be placed so that the gas

generator is forward of the front spar to minimize wing
structural damage in the event of a disk or blade failure.
Engine installations that do not permit this, such as the
original 737 arrangement may require additional
protection such as armoring of the nacelle, to prevent
catastrophic results following turbine blade failure.

Attachment of gas turbine on engine pod

Front mount

Gas turbine engine on the aircraft

Front mount

Truss structure

Loads acting on engine mounting points

Forces are due to
i) Thrust generated by the turbine
ii) Weight of the engine and inertia force due
to load factor
iii) Aerodynamic forces - side ward during
slide slip motion
iv) Gyroscopic forces of the rotating masses
during pitch and
yaw motions of the aero plane

Gyroscopic effect or precession of axi - symmetric rotating

bodies
Axis of spin of the wheel = z
Axis of nutation = x about which moment Mx will have to be applied to
cause precession
Axis of precession of the shaft = y

Gyroscopic effect

x
y

Right hand screw

concept

Aircraft is turned
Left by rudder input

Propeller rotates
clockwise looking
from rear

Upward force is required at tail

to maintain level flight

Spin direction is constant

The three vectors, spin velocity, input angular velocity and
output angular velocity follow right hand thumb rule
A torque applied perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and
therefore perpendicular to L, results in a rotation about an
axis perpendicular to both and L. This motion is called
precession. The angular velocity of precession P is given by
the cross product (vector product)

= P x L

where L is the angular momentum of the shaft

P

Gyroscopic effectZ (left turn)

Example of a car

forces acting on the

shaft

Y torque axis
The gyroscope/engine is spinning at a fairly high speed
in a clockwise direction, as seen from the back of the car and as
shown in the diagram above. When the car is turned to the left,
the torque applied to the shaft by the support is along y axis.
Reactions to forces A and B are applied to the
Structure of the car forcing the front end of the car up and
the rear end down.
If the gyroscope is spinning in the opposite direction then the
reverse will happen.

Gyroscopic effect
z

Precession
Along z axis

Additional information
From US patent Engine mount system for a turbofan gas turbine engine
US 8267349 B2

A gas turbine engine may be mounted at various points on an aircraft such

as a pylon integrated with an aircraft structure. An engine mounting
configuration ensures the transmission of loads between the engine and
the aircraft structure. The loads typically include the weight of the engine,
thrust, aerodynamic side loads, and rotary torque about the engine axis.
The engine mount configuration must also absorb the deformations to
which the engine is subjected during different flight phases and the
dimensional variations due to thermal expansion and retraction.
One conventional engine mounting configuration includes a pylon having a
forward mount and an aft mount with relatively long thrust links which
extend forward from the aft mount to the engine intermediate case
structure. Although effective, one disadvantage of this conventional type
mounting arrangement is the relatively large punch loads into the engine
cases from the thrust links which react the thrust from the engine and
couple the thrust to the pylon. These loads tend to distort the intermediate
case and the low pressure compressor (LPC) cases. The distortion may
cause the clearances between the static cases and rotating blade tips to
increase which may negatively affect engine performance and increase fuel
burn.