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MECH 535
COURSE NOTES
These course notes are for the sole use of students enrolled in
MECH 535 at McGill
COURSE OUTLINE:
Subject Chapter
Propulsion fundamentals. 3
Centrifugal compressors. 9
Please note that each lecture set is not necessarily covered in exactly one lecture.
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 3
MECH 435/535
TURBOMACHINERY
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION, HISTORY,
TYPES OF ENGINES
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 4
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 SHAFT ARRANGEMENTS
1.2.1 Single Shaft
1.2.2 Twin Shaft or Free Power Turbine
1.2.3 Multi Spool or Compounding
1.4 MISCELLENEA
1.4.1 Bypass ratio
1.4.2 Water Injection
1.4.3 Afterburning
1.4.4 Thrust reversers
1.4.5 Engine Stations Designations
1.4.6 Methods of Securing Blades
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 5
FOR HISTORY OF THE GAS TURBINE SEE THE TREAGER REFERENCE. [CHAPTER 1]
and http://url.ie/jna, http://url.ie/jnb, http://www.aircraftenginedesign.com/
FOR APPLICATIONS: see http://url.ie/jnw (although web site of a service company, the titles
give you an excellent idea of range of applications)
http://www.aircraftenginedesign.com/epics.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/ge-aviation-1
http://www.answers.com/topic/jet-engine.
http://url.ie/k1g
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 7
- Suitable when a gas turbine is required to operate at a fixed speed and fixed load condition
such as in peak load power generation schemes.
- It is unimportant in this case how rapidly the machine can accommodate itself to changes
of load and rotational speed. Efficiency at part speed is unimportant.
- The high inertia due to the drag of the compressor is an advantage because it reduces the
danger of over-speeding in the event of a loss of electrical load.
- Gas generator and free turbine (mechanically independent). The high-pressure turbine
drives the compressor and the two act as a gas generator for the low pressure power
turbine.
- Good when flexibility in operation is of paramount importance such as in road, rail and
marine application.
- Used for large-scale electrical generating units, with the power turbine designed to run at
the alternator speed without the need for an expensive reduction gearbox.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
Rapid over-speeding of power turbine if electric load removed. The control system must be
designed for this.
If a gas turbine has a high-pressure ratio and is run at a speed much lower than its design speed it
would not be able to produce the design density at the outlet and hence mass continuity requires
the axial velocity to be very high. Similar to an aircraft wing the blades would stall resulting in
very high vibration. For such applications two mechanically independent spools are used: on the
first would be the low-pressure (LP) compressor + LP turbine and on the second the HP
compressor + HP turbine. Note that the speeds of the shafts will be AERODYNAMICALLY
dependent.
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 8
- A machine designed for the sole purpose of producing high-velocity gases at the jet
nozzle.
- Engine is started by rotating the compressor with a starter, and then igniting the mixture
of fuel and air in the combustion chamber with one or more igniters resembling
automatic plugs.
- Once engine is started and its compressor rotating at sufficient speed, igniters are turned
off.
- First good compressor was centrifugal designed by Frank Whittle in England (1937), run
by a rear-mounted turbine much as today's arrangements.
An engine with a 12:1 compression ratio that produces 10,000 pounds of thrust has to produce
35,000 shaft horsepower to drive the compressor when the engine is operating at full thrust.
CHARACTERISTICS
- High thrust specific fuel consumption at low altitudes and airspeeds. Disadvantage
decreases as speed and altitude increase: The turbojet is used in military aircraft.
- Ability to take advantage of high ram pressure ratios (will become clear later).
VARIANTS
1. The extra turbine stage is incorporated in the turbine assembly that rotates the compressor.
The additional power produced drives the propeller gearing directly from the compressor
drive shaft: DIRECT-DRIVE TURBOPROP.
2. The turbo-shaft engine is used in helicopters. It is also called a shaft turbine engine. Free or
power turbine drives the helicopter rotor through a form of bevel gearing and 2 engines are
coupled to a single rotor for backup.
Also used to power boats, ships, trains and automobiles and to pump natural gas in cross-
country pipelines. To drive various types of industrial equipment such as air compressors and
large electric generators.
CHARACTERISTICS
- The disadvantage of the propeller at higher aircraft speeds is its rapid fall off in
efficiency due to shock waves created around the propeller as the blade tip speed
approaches Mach 1.0.
However, with the advent of supercritical airfoils it is now possible to extend the range
of speed for propeller engines.
- More complicated and heavier than a turbojet engine of equivalent size and power, but
will deliver more thrust at low subsonic airspeeds: shorter takeoff.
- Much like a turboprop but ratio of secondary airflow (through fan or propeller) to the
primary airflow through the basic engine is less.
- Gear-driven propeller is replaced by a duct-enclosed, axial flow fan with rotating blades
and stationary vanes, which are considerably larger but otherwise similar to the blades
and vanes of an axial flow compressor.
- Can be front fan or aft fan also high by-pass or low-bypass. [Slides 31-32]
- Long ducts can have non-mixed exhaust or mixed exhaust [Slides 31-32]
CHARACTERISTICS
- Combines the good operating efficiency and high thrust capability of a turboprop and the
high speed, high altitude capability of a turbojet.
- Fundamental difference between turbofan and turboprop is that the airflow through the
fan is controlled by the engine air inlet duct in such a manner that the velocity of the air
through the fan blades is not affected greatly by the speed of the aircraft.
∴ at high speeds, O.K. unlike turboprop.
- Specific fuel consumption (SFC) and specific weight falls between turbojet and
turboprop.
To sometimes improve the takeoff thrust, climb or combat performance extra power is needed for
a short time. Two ways are available:
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 11
1.3.4 THE PROPFAN (this section taken from Answers.com, minus some naïve statements)
A propfan is a modified turbofan engine, with the fan placed outside of the engine
nacelle on the same axis as the compressor blades. Propfans are also known as ultra-
high bypass (UHB) engines. The design is intended to offer the speed and performance
of a turbofan, with the fuel economy of a turboprop.
Turboprops have a fairly strict sweet spot at speeds below about 450 mph (700 km/h).
The reason is that all propellers lose efficiency at high speed, due to an effect known as
wave drag that occurs just below supersonic speeds. This powerful form of drag has a
sudden onset, and led to the concept of a sound barrier when it was first encountered in
the 1940s. In the case of a propeller, this effect can happen any time the prop is spun
fast enough that the tips of the prop travel near the speed of sound, even if the plane is
sitting still.
This can be controlled to some degree by adding more blades to the prop, using up more
power at a lower rotational speed. This is why most WWII fighters started with two-
blade props and were using five-blade designs by the end of the war. The only downside
to this approach is that adding blades makes the propeller harder to balance and
maintain. At some point, though, the forward speed of the plane combined with the
rotational speed of the propeller will once again result in wave drag problems. For most
aircraft this will occur at speeds over about 450 mph.
Progress propfan on the Antonov An-70. The propfan concept was intended to deliver
35% better fuel efficiency than contemporary turbofans, and in this they succeeded. In
static and air tests on a modified DC-9, propfans reached a 30% improvement. This
efficiency comes at a price, as one of the major problems with the propfan is noise,
particularly in an era where aircraft are required to comply with increasingly strict Stage
III and Stage IV noise requirements.
General Electric's GE36 Unducted Fan was a variation on NASA's original propfan
concept, and appears similar to a pusher configuration piston engine. GE's UDF has a
novel direct drive arrangement, where the reduction gearbox is replaced by a low-speed
7-stage turbine. The turbine rotors drive one prop, whilst the other prop is connected to
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 12
the 'unearthed' turbine stators and rotates in the opposite direction. So, in effect, the
power turbine has 14 stages. Boeing intended to offer GE's pusher UDF engine on the
7J7 platform, and McDonnell Douglas were going to do likewise on their MD-94X
airliner.
In the 1980s, Allison collaborated with Pratt & Whitney on demonstrating the 578-DX
propfan. Unlike the competing GE36 UDF, the 578-DX was fairly conventional, having
a reduction gearbox between the LP turbine and the propfan blades. The 578-DX was
successfully flight tested on a McDonnell Douglas MD-80.
The Progress D-27 propfan, developed in the U.S.S.R, is even more unconventional in
layout, with the propfan blades at the front of the engine in a tractor configuration. Two
rear-mounted D-27's propfans propelled the Antonov An-180, which was scheduled for
a 1995 entry into service. Another Russian propfan application was the Yakovlev Yak-
46.
However, none of the above projects came to fruition, mainly because of excessive
cabin noise and low fuel prices.
During the 1990s, Antonov also developed the An-70, powered by four Progress D-27s
in a tractor configuration; the Russian Air Force placed an order for 164 aircraft in
2003, which was subsequently cancelled. However, the An-70 remains available for
further investment and production.
With the current high price for jet fuel and the emphasis on engine/airframe efficiency to reduce
emissions, there is renewed interest in the propfan concept for jetliners that might come into
service beyond the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350XWB.
MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 13
1.4 MISCELLENEA
Since GT engines are very sensitive to compressor inlet T, they experience an appreciable power
loss on a hot day. Water is injected in the compressor air inlet or into the compressor diffuser case,
i.e. between compressor and combustor.
The water injected in compressor air inlet cools air and increases mass flow in engine.
The water injected in compressor diffuser section increases the mass flow through the turbine for a
given compressor mass flow and lowers the combustor inlet T. Additional fuel may therefore be
burned without exceeding the maximum turbine inlet T.
Is a way of periodically augmenting the thrust of turbojets (sudden bursts of power for fighters)
and more recently used in some turbofan engines.
- The afterburner is like a ramjet increasing thrust by adding fuel to the exhaust gases after
they have passed through the turbine section, raising the velocity and hence thrust.
- A 50% increase of power will use 3 times as much fuel so after burning is used only on
takeoff, climbing and maximum bursts of speed.
- Must have a variable area exhaust nozzle to accommodate non-after burning and after
burning conditions without causing an increase in back pressure affecting the compressor
characteristic.