Engine Selection as Part of the

Aircraft Design Process

Right Propulsion System for Right Job

Low bypass turbofan

Solid fuel rocket

2 GE J85 turbojets

Hybrid rocket motor using

nitrous oxide & HPTB rubber
2 HBR Turbofans
Rotax 4-Stroke w/ 2 Blade Prop
 Engine Operational Environments

• Engine selection is an important part of the aircraft

design process - engine requirements are largely
dictated by the aircraft mission profile and
aerodynamic & structural requirements (L/D & GTOW)
Scramjet
Turbofan/turbojet Ramjet Rockets

Turboprop Lift
Limit

Temperature
Reciprocating Limit
Altitude

VTOL
Structural
Limit

Mach Number

Engine Development

• Metrics: power (hp) and power loading (hp/lb)

 Propulsion

• When selecting a propulsion system for a aircraft, in

general, determine your desired thrust generation
method
» Propeller
» Jet (turbojet/rocket)
» Other (ornithopter)
• then determine how much power you will need and
which power generation fits best
» Gasoline engine (recip.)
» Gas turbine
» Other chemical (rocket)
» Electric

Propulsion Selection

• Important Criteria
» Thrust required (determined by drag)
» Power required (determined by drag and velocity)
» Weight of engine
» Type of propulsion (propeller, turbine, other)
» Efficiency
» Fuel consumption (SFC or TSFC)
» Range
o Combine with fuel consumption to determine amount of fuel required
» Power loading (hp/W)
• Note that on the thrust and power curves, the maximum velocity
is the same (Umax for power and thrust are identical)
• However, the velocity for minimum thrust and minimum power
are different
 How Much Fuel?

• Assume characteristics of JP-8, used for almost all jet aircraft

» Density: 6.7 lb/gallon (0.8 kg/l) or 42 lb/ft3 (1 gallon = 0.134 ft3)
slightly heavier than gasoline (6.0 lb/gallon)
» hpr: 18,400 BTU/lbm (42,800 kJ/kg)
• Weight of fuel is determined by the mission range and profile, and
TSFC - this must be determined iteratively since
» The TSFC changes with throttle setting for different portions of the
mission
» The drag changes as fuel is burned and weight of the aircraft drops
• However, you can use the endurance eq’n to estimate (dr’vd later)
1 L W η L 1 Wi
E= ln i for jets E≈ ln for recips
ct D W f c D V Wf

where W i is the initial weight (w/ fuel) and W f is the final weight
(w/o fuel) - note that L/D is usually not constant as W drops!
• Find E, then volume of fuel from fuel flow rate (SFC or TSFC)

Fuel Volume Examples

 Real Engine Performance

• While idealized, these plots reveal the trends seen in

real engines - note that engine thrust, power, and
TSFC are functions of temperature and density,
hence altitude

Number and Placement

• Number and placement of

engines is dependent
available thrust from
individual engines, required
thrust, and other aircraft
requirements (such as
maintenance, stealth,
V/STOL, FOD, FAA, etc.)
• Start with available engine
specs and iterate around
your plane design
 Evolution of Engine Placement - General Aviation

• Propeller aircraft; simple

» 1 engine: nose
» 2 engines: wing
» Rare exceptions (pods, tail)

Evolution of Engine Placement - Transports

• Dictated by cost and efficiency

» 4 variations that eventually converge to a single configuration
 Engine Placement - Transports
• Rear-Mounted Engines
» Advantages
o Aerodynamically clean, particularly wings Still used for commuter
o Small asymmetric moments and business jets
o Reduced cabin noise levels
» Disadvantages
o Heavier wing structure for lost bending relief
o c.g. further aft, resulting in larger tail to balance moments (also limits tail
design)
o Long slender forebody tendency for deep stall
o Engines closer to passengers in crashes
o More difficult to reach for maintenance Now only design option
• Wing Mounted Engines for larger commercial jets
» Advantages
o Can be placed for optimal bending relief on wing, area ruling and flutter
o Easier to maintain and replace
o Closer to c.g., thus easier to balance and install different engine sizes
» Disadvantages
o Higher drag, both nacelle and interference
o Higher noise, both for passengers and surroundings
o Large range of intake angle of attack results in inlet inefficiencies
o Engines closer to ground (FOD, clearance for smaller aircraft)

• Flow field before and behind wing showing AoA at

intakes of both underwing podded engine and rear-
mounted engine configurations
• Flow field characteristics of underwing installation

• Overwing noise shielding

Commuter & Business Jets

 FOD

• Foreign Object Debris

» Can occur in flight, but particularly important for engines on TO-L
» Engines close to the tarmac act like a vacuum and suck up objects
on the ground

» Solution: keep engine or engine inlet away from runway

» Some designs vary inlet shape to avoid FOD (e.g. Mig-29)

Engine Location Summary Table

Criterion Wing-Mounted Fuselage-Mounted
Ground clearance Poor, particularly on Good
small aircraft
Cabin noise Fair Good
Fatigue Flaps and wings Fuselage
Crash safety Good Possible problems
Propulsive efficiency Good OK if well positioned
Longitudinal stability Good - delays tip stall Poor - short tail arm
(pitch) and tip stall
Asymmetric thrust Poor - large moment Good
arm
Weight Good - wing bending Poor - heavy tail,
and torsion relief heavy fuselage frame
Maintenance Good Fair
Wing aerodynamics Possible flap and LE Very good
interference
Fuel line location Good Passes through cabin
Anti-icing bleed Good Passes through cabin
FOD Poor Good
 Supersonic Transports

• External wing boxes are used to take advantage of the

shock at the inlet to increase the inlet compression ratio

Evolution of Engine Placement - Fighters

• Dictated by performance (supersonic speed and stealth)

» 2+ variations that converge to a single configuration (w/ exceptions)

Inlet placement key

• Internal engine placement results in efficient
aerodynamics and signature masking, making it the
most obvious choice for fighter engine placement

Saab Viggen JSF (VTOL version)

Special Cases - UAVs

 Asymmetry

Rutan Boomerang

VTOL/VSTOL Design Choices

• Which have been tested? Put in service?