SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING E230 W02a Manifold Pressure Sucks

Q1. What is your understanding of the term pressure?

Pressure is the compression and exertion of force over an area.

Q2. What happens to the ambient pressure when there is an increase in altitude?
When altitude increases, the pressure will decreases with the increased aliitude.

Q3. You came across the term inches Hg in the problem statement. It is one of the three commonly-used units in aviation to indicate pressure. Express the International Standard Atmospheric (ISA) pressure conditions at sea level in the following three units of pressure measurement: a) inches Hg (inches of mercury)
29.92

b) psi (pounds per square inch)

14.695

c) mb (millibar)
1013.25

Q4. The value of the atmospheric pressure that you obtained in Qn 3 is known as the absolute pressure. There are other ways of expressing pressure, known as gauge pressure and differential pressure.

a) Study the diagram below and explain the differences between atmospheric pressure, gauge pressure and differential pressure

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Gauge pressure uses 14.7PSI(atmospheric pressure) as its zero point. Absolute pressure is zero-referenced against a perfect vacuum, so it is equal to gauge pressure plus atmospheric pressure.. Differential pressure is the difference in pressure between two points

b) Calculate the gauge pressure given that the absolute pressure is 30 psi and the atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi.
Gauge pressure is the sum of atmosphere pressure and absolute pressure. Gauge pressure = 14.7psi + 30psi = 44.7psi

c) The gauge pressure of one of the tires of car is found to be twice as much as the other tires. Does that mean that the tire contains twice as much air as the other tires? Explain your answer.

Q5. The table below shows the various pressure indicators on an aircraft. Briefly describe the purpose of each of these gauges.

Manifold pressure gauge

Hydraulic pressure gauge

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Manifold pressure gauge measures the pressure inside the indication systems of an engine. Manifold pressure gauge is actually readingsuction not ram air pressure

Engine pressure ratio (EPR) indicator Engine oil pressure gauge

Oxygen pressure indicator

Suction pressure gauge

Cabin pressure gauge

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Q6. In order to detect pressure changes, pressure-measuring instruments require a sensing element that will deflect according to variations in pressure. The common types of pressure sensing elements includes diaphragms, bellows, capsules and bourdon tubes. a) The diagram below shows a pressure indicator that makes use of a capsule. Describe how the capsule works to detect changes in pressure.

Image courtesy of Jeppesen

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b) The diagram below shows a pressure indicator that makes use of a bourdon tube. Describe how the bourdon tube works to detect changes in pressure.

c) Capsules and bourdon tubes are examples of direct-reading instruments. In modern aircrafts, most of the instruments are of the remote-indicating type. What are the advantages of remote-indicating over direct-reading instruments?

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Q7. The photograph below shows the intake manifold (seen as grey tubings) of the engine on a Mooney aircraft. The intake manifold is the part that directs air into the engine.

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Intake manifold

a) The manifold pressure gauge highlighted in the problem statement measures the air pressure in the intake manifold. Why is this pressure of importance to an aircraft?

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Within the intake manifold, there is a component known as the throttle valve (highlighted in yellow) which can open and close as shown in the photograph below.

b) What happens to the airflow when the throttle is closed?

c) What happens to the airflow when the throttle is opened?

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Q8. The following diagram show the intake manifold leading to the combustion chamber of the engine.

a) What will be the manifold pressure when engine is not running?

b) Describe how the manifold pressure changes when the engine transits from stationary to running with throttle closed and finally running with throttle opened.

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Going further... Q9. What could be a possible reason for the abnormally-high manifold pressure reading of Jacks aircraft in the problem statement?

Q10. What could have happened if Jack had decided to carry on with his flight in spite of a faulty manifold pressure gauge?

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