LESSON 1.

INTRODUCITON INTO JET PROPULSION

It is known from physics course that body acting upon another body with a certain force
implies the second body’s exercising a reciprocal effect upon the first body by applying an equal
and opposite force. This interaction is described by the third Newton’s law, which expresses the
action and reaction phenomenon.
In addition, if we consider the effect from the first body upon the second one to be active
force, then the effect from the second body upon the first one is reactive force. At the same time,
the determination of which of the forces is active and reactive is quite arbitrary, since any of
these forces can provoke movement of the body if the interacting forces applied to different
bodies are not balanced.
Jet propulsion as a phenomenon occurs in nature; moreover, it has been known to people
from the earliest times and is widely used by people in various fields of their activities.
For instance, such representatives of fauna as squid and octopus normally move
according to the jet propulsion principle - they absorb water first and then expulse it vigorously.

Fig.1. Marine animals using reaction principle to move: a) octopus; b) squid

People have discovered jet propulsion and familiarized themselves with it a long while
ago. For instance, as far back as I century B.C., one of the greatest scientists of ancient Greece,
Heron of Alexandria, dissertated Pneumatica (Πνευματικά). This tractate contained a description
of machines using thermal energy. One of such devices was Aeolopile - the so-called Aeolus
sphere (Fig.2). (Aeolus was God of the winds in classical Ancient Greek mythology). The device
was a bronze boiler resting on supports. A pair of tubes with a sphere fastened thereon protruded
from the boiler lid upwards. The tubes were connected with the sphere so that the sphere could
rotate freely at the connection point. At the same time, steam from the boiler could enter the
sphere through the tubes. Two other tubes protruded from the sphere; they were curved so that
the steam blown off from them made the sphere rotate.

Fig.2. Heron’s aeolopile

1
As regards the first jet-powered vehicles, they were powder rockets (Fig. 3). The first references
to rockets are found in ancient Indian and Chinese writs dating back to some centuries before
AD.

Fig.3. Warlike application of powder rockets

Many centuries ago, people attempted to create vehicles using reactive principle. So, the
great English scientist Isaac Newton is credited with inventing a reactive cart (1680) driven by
the reaction of a steam jet flowing from a long nozzle (Figure 4).

Fig.4. Newton’s reactive cart

The reaction principle also underlies the flight of a propeller-driven aircraft. The
rotating propeller has an effect on air by applying force Р and sweeps away a large air mass at a
definite velocity. In turn, the air stream has an effect on the propeller and creates thrust for
aircraft movement by applying force R equal and opposite in direction to P. Thus, the propeller
thrust is the result of back action exercised by off-cast air masses upon the propeller.

Fig.5. Reaction principle of movement for an engine-propeller aircraft

2. The functional principle and classification of jet-propulsion engines

We have considered above how jet propulsion occurs; hence, the question arises what
should be meant by a jet propulsion engine or an engine using reaction principle.

2
Jet engine is such a heat engine whose thermal energy released by the fuel combustion is directly
converted into the kinetic energy of a gas jet flowing from the engine, while the occurring
reactive force is used as a propulsion force or thrust.
The classification of jet propulsion engines (Fig.6) is connected with the kind of fuel used,
methods of its production and usage. In jet engines, thermal energy is released due to thermo-
chemical oxidation or combustion reactions. As a rule, this reaction takes place if two
components – fuel and oxidizer - are available. As a fuel, jet propulsion engines normally use
kerosene, alcohol, hydrazine, liquid hydrogen, and others. As an oxidant, nitric acid, liquid
oxygen, air, etc. are used.

Jet propulsion engines

Rocket engines Air-breathing engines (ABE)

Hybrid jet propulsion engines

Solid-
propellant Ram rocket Ramjet Compressor-based ABE
rocket (gas turbine engines)
engine
Air-turbo-rocket
Ramjet Turbojet
Liquid-
fueled
rocket Air turbo-ramjet Augmented
engines

Turbofan
Pulsating
Rocket space
power plants Afterburn.turbofan

Тurboprop

Turbo-shaft

Fig. 6. Classification of rocket engines

Depending on the method of preparation and use of the oxidant, jet engines fall into two
broad classes: rocket and jet engines.
Rocket engines. Depending on the phase state of fuel, rocket engines are subdivided into
solid-propellant rocket engines and liquid rocket engines (fig.7). Fuel for rocket engines is stored
on board the aircraft, so the rocket engine supply with fuel and oxidant does not depend on the
state of the environment and flight mode. It should be noted that rocket engine thrust and fuel
consumption do not depend on the altitude and velocity of flight. That is why rocket engines are
used for flying at very high altitudes and in space, and within a wide range of supersonic and
hypersonic flight speeds.

3
 a) b)

Fig. 7. Rocket engines: а) liquid; b) solid:1 – igniter, 2- engine body, 3 – solid charge, 4 – support grid, 5 – propulsion
nozzle

These rocket engines have both advantages and disadvantages. Solid rocket motors are of
simple construction, featuring high reliability and, most importantly, they are easy to operate.
However, rocket engines are short-term ones, featuring uncontrolled thrust.
Liquid rocket engines are those with a long-term effect; their thrust can be adjustable
within a wide range. However, they have a much more complicated design than that of solid
motors; moreover, their operation may require special safety measures. Furthermore, a special
class of rocket space power plants (RSPP) used for movement in space can be distinguished.
Air-breathing engines use kerosene as a fuel, with oxygen from environmental
atmosphere serving as an oxidant. It is known that the higher is the flight altitude, the lower is air
density; moreover, oxygen content in air decreases at very high altitudes as well. Thus, the
weight flow rate of oxidant and, consequently, that of the fuel reduces with the increase of flight
altitude of an aircraft. Accordingly, ABE thrust drops inevitably with an increase in altitude.
Thus, ABE is a sea-level engine, and its operating efficiency is limited by the flight altitude 30-
50 km.
On the other hand, ABE thrust largely depends on flight velocity. The higher the flight
velocity, the larger is the incoming pulse, and the more difficult it is to enhance the outgoing
pulse of engine. This leads to the fact that thrust developed by any ABE at a high flight speed
inevitably begins to fall down to zero. Thus, ABE is an engine operating within a limited flight
velocity range. Maximum flight Mach number of an aircraft with conventional ABE types and
schemes does not exceed M = 4-6. At the same time, ABE is much more energy-efficient as
against rocket engines in terms of operation costs.
ABE are very diverse in terms of their structure, pattern, and principle of operation.
Depending on air compression method, they are subdivided into bypass (airless) and air-injection
type or gas turbine ABE.
The air-breathing engine cycle consists of air compression processes running in engine
air inlet and/or compressor, heating in combustion chamber, and extension in turbine and/or
nozzle channel.
In bypass engines, air compression is exercised at the expense of impact air pressure
inhibition in engine inlet embodied in the form of a diffuser section or an oblique shock-wave
system in the engine inlet – if the flight velocity is hypersonic. Such engines include ramjet ones
(aero ducts) and intermittent (pulse) jets (Fig.8).

4
 a) b)

Fig.8. Airless (injection) jet engines: а) ram jet, б) pulse jet

Ram jet ABE are meant, as a rule, for large hypersonic flight velocities, since they are
inefficient at low velocities and, in particular, they cannot develop takeoff thrust. That’s why
experts attempted to correct the fault by passing over to a pulse mode of fuel combustion in
engine, where air pressure rise takes place without using any ram air (impact air pressure) and
compressor. At present, three types of pulsating engines are known - valve, valveless, and pulse
detonation ones. The principle of operation of these power plants implies a periodical supply of
fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber where the ignition of fuel mixture with the
subsequent outflow of combustion gases from the nozzle takes place to form a jet thrust. Pulse
jet engine is believed to be simple and cheap to manufacture, and a keen interest in pulse engines
is lately expressed again.
In air-injection jet engines air compression is performed mechanically by using an axial
or a centrifugal-type compressor which is driven by gas turbines, i.e., both the compressor and
the turbine are connected with a mechanical coupling. Air-injection jet engines are called gas
turbine engines (GTE), since a source of mechanical energy therein is gas turbine, which is the
most important structural part of a gas turbine engine. Aircraft GTE engines, in turn, are
subdivided into turbo-jet engines (TJE), turbo-prop jets (TPJ) and by-pass turbo-jets (BPTJ).
If gas turbine power is equal to compressor power, the respective aircraft GTE is called a
turbo-jet. In TRD all the useful work cycle is spent to increase the kinetic energy of the working
medium, i.e., to accelerate the flow inside the engine and create traction work. Structurally,
turbojet engines may be of centrifugal or axial type, with one or two shafts (see Fig. 9).

Fig. 9. Construction diagrams of turbo-jets

If the power of gas turbine is also used for rotating propeller, fan, or an additional
compressor motor of the second circuit, the GTE respectively called a turboprop, a turbofan, and
5
a bypass turbofan engine. These jet engine thrust generate thrust in the two circuits, i.e. they
have two movers. Now, we give a brief description of these engines.
By-pass GTE. Bypass gas turbine engines are currently most widely used both on civil
since they are characterized by high efficiency subsonic flight, the possibility of using engine at
high supersonic speeds, low noise level, and high level of operational reliability.
A by-pass turbojet is an engine whose thrust is created in two ducts: the gas turbine (the
first or main duct) and the fan (the second or bypass duct).
The term fan is conventional: it means that the compressor of the second duct has a much
lower compression ratio than the compressor of the main duct. There is a wide variety of
schemes for by-pass turbojets (Fig.10).

Fig.10. Schematic constructions of by-pass engines

By-pass engines are embodied mainly as twin-spool and triple-spool ones. Depending on
exhaust efflux from engine ducts, engines may be split-discharge or mixed-flow turbofans. By-
pass engines have a fairly wide range of by-pass ratios (the ratio of air flow in by-pass duct to air
flow in the main duct); therefore, depending on by-pass ratio, we distinguish between engines
with a low (m=0,3…3), high (m=4…9), and ultra-high (m>=9) bypass ratios. The fan in by-pass
engines is mainly located in front of engine; however, if the engine fan is rear-mounted, the by-
pass fan blades are arranged above the blades of a separate turbine, thus forming a turbofan
extension.
Turbo-propeller engines. If the extracted working (net) power is applied to rotor drive
which creates thrust, such an engine is called a turbo-propeller one (ТP). TP thrust is basically
6
due to the propeller (85...90 %) and partly due to the exhaust nozzle (10...15 %). Such an engine
is equipped with one or two shafts.

Fig.11. Twin-spool turbo-propeller

If the propeller of turbo-prop engine is designed specifically to ensure efficient operation at high
subsonic flight speed, this engine is called unducted prop fan (Figure 12). In these engines
rotation is transmitted to the propeller through a gearbox which is connected with the
compressor.

Fig.12. Prop fan engine

Turboprop engine in which one turbine is mechanically connected to compressor and the
second turbine is free-power one, i.e. it is not mechanically connected to the engine compressor -
is called turbo-shaft (fig.13). Referring to this engine, the free turbine shaft is directly connected
to the reduction box with the propeller. The engine drive shaft may protrude both forward and
backward. In particular, rear mounting is typical to helicopter engines. In a turbo-shaft engine,
the whole useful thermal energy is converted into mechanical work in the turbine. With this type
of engines, the engine exhaust unit is embodied as a discharge diffuser (expanding one), i.e. the
outflow is not accelerated but retarded instead, which enables one to realize energy
transformation most efficiently and reduce loss of kinetic energy with exhaust gases.

Fig.13. Turbo-shaft engine

7
 Both turbo-shaft and prop-fan engines are a specific version of turboprop engine.
Combined engines. Striving to create an engine which would combine the advantages of
different types of engines led to the development of combined engines.
The combination of ram jets which are effective at high flight speeds, with turbo jets
(pure turbojets, turbofans), which in turn are efficient at subsonic flight speeds and have a take-
off thrust, forms a turbo-ramjet engine.

Fig.14. Turbo-ramjet

In a ram-rocket engine (RRE), the ram jet proper is united with a rocket engine providing
take-off thrust and acceleration to speeds making ramjet operation possible. A large class of
rocket-turbine engines (RTD) is formed by a combination of missile and gas turbine engine
components, which allows one, in particular, to increase the frontal thrust of GTE significantly.
Dozens of schemes for these engines have been offered, in particular, including those where
cryogenic fuels are used extending the potential of combined engines and improving their
efficiency.

Fig.15. Turbo-rocket engine

All the turbo-rocket engines considered above have definite airspeed-altitude envelopes
where they can be used (Fig.16).

8
 Circular (first cosmic)
velocity V=7.85 km/s

Lift limited

Aero-heating
constraints

1 – helicopter-installed GTE; 2 – turbo-prop and prop-fan; 3 –turbofan,

Fig.16. Air-breathing engines application domain

Jet engines wherein all the output work of the cycle is spent on accelerating the propellant
are called direct reaction engines. These include all types of rocket engines, combined engines,
ramjets and intermittent (pulse) jets, and, regarding GTE group - turbojet engines (TJE) and
bypass turbojet engines (turbofan).
If the main part of the useful work of the cycle in the form of mechanical works on
engine shaft is transmitted to a mover (propeller, fan) – the engine is called an indirect reaction
one. Indirect reaction engines comprise turboprop engines and individual cases referring thereto.
A classic example of an indirect reaction-engine is a piston-type engine-propeller combination.
In terms of creation of thrust load, there is no qualitative change between that combination and a
turbo-prop engine.
In indirect reaction engine - for example, a piston engine - thermal energy is converted
into mechanical energy of rotation of propeller shaft (engine), and then the mechanical energy of
rotation of propeller shaft is converted into thrust as a result of swinging air masses (mover).

A direct-reaction jet engine has no intermediate links for energy transformation; that is
why it doesn’t have any mover. Therefore, a direct-reaction jet combines an engine and a mover.