TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION

MECH 535

COURSE NOTES

PROFESSOR W.G. HABASHI

® 2010 by W.G. Habashi

These course notes are for the sole use of students enrolled in
MECH 535 at McGill

They cannot be used in whole or in part,

by anyone,
including another instructor,
at McGill or elsewhere,
without the express written consent of Professor Habashi
 MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 2

COURSE OUTLINE:

Subject Chapter

Introduction, History, General Aspects, Types of turbo-propulsion for 1

aircraft: Turboprop, Turbofan and Turbojet.

Thermodynamics and cycles. 2

Propulsion fundamentals. 3

The Euler Turbine Equation and energy transfer in turbomachines; 4

Velocity triangles.

Axial flow compressors; Mean-line analysis. 5

Aerodynamic losses in turbomachines, Mechanisms, 6

Empirical relations, Correlations.

Three-dimensional motion in turbomachinery; 7

The radial equilibrium equation

Numerical solution of the REE. (Computer Project) * 8

Centrifugal compressors. 9

Dimensional analysis of turbomachines,

Compressor and turbine performance maps, Surge and stall. 10

Axial-flow (and Radial-flow) turbines. 11

Prediction of performance and matching of characteristics. 12

CFD in turbomachinery (a qualitative familiarization lecture) 13

_______________________________________________________

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

Professor Wagdi G. Habashi

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION, HISTORY,
TYPES OF ENGINES
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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

1.3 TYPES OF JET ENGINES

1.3.1 The Turbojet
1.3.2 The Turboprop and Turboshaft
1.3.3 The Turbofan
1.3.4 The Propfan

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

1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

THE MAJOR JET ENGINE MANUFACTURERS [Slide 3]

GENERAL PROPULSIVE APPLICATIONS [Slides 4-5]

A LORIN-TYPE JET ENGINE [Slide 6]

A VON OHAIN-TYPE JET ENGINE [Slides 7-8]

A WHITTLE-TYPE JET ENGINE [Slides 9-10]

SINGLE-SHAFT ENGINES: TURBOPROP/TURBOFAN/TURBOJET [Slides 27-28]

MAJOR COMPONENTS OF A TURBOJET [Slide 29]

MAJOR COMPONENTS OF A TURBOFAN [Slides 30-32]

HOW DOES THE JET ENGINE WORK [Slides 34-40]

COMPARISON OF TURBOJET AND I.C.E. [Slide 41]

TWIN-SHAFT OR FREE POWER TURBINE (PT6) [Slides 42-43]

TURBOSHAFT APPLICATIONS [Slides 44, 46]

TWIN-SPOOL ENGINES [Slide 47]

TRIPLE-SPOOL ENGINES [Slide 48]

NEW AND NEAR-FUTURE TYPE ENGINES [Slides 49-52]

AUXILIARY POWER UNIT [Slide 53]

ELECTRICITY GENERATION [Slides 54-55]

GAS EXPLORATION AND PIPELINE APPLICATIONS [Slides 56-57]

ENGINES ON CURRENT JJ, RJ AND VLJ [Slides 58-69]

AFTERBURNING [Slides 70-74]

THRUST REVERSERS [Slides 75-76]

METHODS OF SECURING BLADES [Slides 78-80]

MECH 535 / TURBOMACHINERY & PROPULSION / COURSE NOTES / DR. W.G. HABASHI / CHAPTER 1 PAGE 6

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)

FOR A COMPLETE SURVEY OF ENGINES BY MANUFACTURERS AND INSTALLED

AIRCRAFT SEE TREAGER. [CHAPTERS 2, 20-26] or visit:

http://www.aircraftenginedesign.com/epics.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/ge-aviation-1

FOR A COMPREHENSIVE ARTICLE ON JET ENGINES: visit:

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

1.2 SHAFT ARRANGEMENTS

1.2.1 SINGLE-SHAFT [Slides 27-28]

- 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.

1.2.2 TWIN-SHAFT OR FREE POWER TURBINE [PT6] [Slides 42-43]

- 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

Starter unit need only be sized to turn over gas generator.

Small reduction gearbox.

DISADVANTAGES

Rapid over-speeding of power turbine if electric load removed. The control system must be
designed for this.

1.2.3 MULTI-SPOOL OR COMPOUNDING [Slides 47-48]

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.
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1.3 TYPES OF JET ENGINES

1.3.1 THE TURBOJET [Slides 29-30]

- 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.

- To indicate how much power is absorbed by the compressor of a moderately large

turbojet:

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.

- This is done in less space than an automobile engine.

- About 3/4 of the turbine power is to drive the compressor.

CHARACTERISTICS

- Low thrust at low forward speeds.

- High thrust specific fuel consumption at low altitudes and airspeeds. Disadvantage
decreases as speed and altitude increase: The turbojet is used in military aircraft.

- Long takeoff distance.

- Small frontal area hence reduced ground-clearing problems.

- Ability to take advantage of high ram pressure ratios (will become clear later).

INTERNAL PRESSURE VARIATION IN A TYPICAL TURBOJET [Slide 127]

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1.3.2 THE TURBOPROP AND TURBOSHAFT

- Compressor and Turbine called gas generator. [Slides 33 and 44]

- Gas generator rotates an additional turbine that drives a propeller (TURBOPROP) or a

shaft (TURBOSHAFT, through a speed-reducing gear system.

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.

- This advantage, however, decreases as flight speed increases:

Propulsive efficiency (output/input) ↓ as speed
Turbojet (output/input) as speed
at normal cruising speed ranges.

- Impressive performance at takeoff and climbing because of ability of propeller to

accelerate a large mass of air while the aircraft is moving at a relatively low ground and
flight speed.

- Since the air has lower mean velocity: less noise.

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1.3.3 THE TURBOFAN

- 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]

- Can have long ducts or short ducts [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.

- No propeller reduction gearing or governing system.

- 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.

Hence improved operational efficiency over turbojet in a given speed range.

- Low noise due to 2 reasons:

- Annular propulsive jet of cool air surrounding the hot jet.

- Extraction of more power from the engine exhaust gases as they pass through
the additional turbines (to drive the fan) serves to reduce velocity of engine
exhaust. Hence less noise.
On engines such as JT9D and CF6 inlet guide vanes (IGVs) have been
eliminated thus the noise due to the fan blades cutting through the wakes of the
IGVs has been reduced.

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

Intercooling : Water injection

Reheat : Afterburning

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.

A method of decreasing wave drag was discovered by German researchers in WWII:

sweeping the wing backwards. Today, almost all aircraft designed to fly much above
450 mph use a swept wing. In the 1970s, NASA started researching propellers with
similar sweep. Since the inside of the prop is moving more slowly than the outside, the
blade is progressively more swept toward the outside, leading to a curved shape similar
to a scimitar.

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.

McDonnell Douglas developed a proof-of-concept aircraft by modifying their company-

owned MD-80. They removed the JT8D turbofan engine from the left side of the
fuselage and replaced it with the GE36. A number of test flights were conducted,
initially out of Mojave, CA, which proved the airworthiness, aerodynamic
characteristics, and noise signature of the design. Following the initial tests, a first-class
cabin was installed inside the aft fuselage and airline executives were offered the
opportunity to experience the UDF-powered aircraft first-hand. The test and marketing
flights of the GE-outfitted "Demo Aircraft" concluded in 1988, demonstrating a 30%
reduction in fuel burn over turbo-fan powered MD-80, full Stage III noise compliance,
and low-levels of interior noise/vibration. Due to jet-fuel price drops and shifting
marketing priorities, Douglas shelved the program the following year.

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.
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1.4 MISCELLENEA

1.4.1 BYPASS RATIO [Slide 70]

1.4.2 WATER INJECTION [Slide 71]

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.

1.4.3 AFTERBURNING [Slides 72-74]

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.

1.4.4 THRUST REVERSERS [Slides 75-76]

1.4.5 ENGINE STATIONS DESIGNATIONS [Slide 77]

1.4.6 METHODS OF SECURING BLADES TO ROTOR AND

TO COMPRESSOR CASING [Slides 78-81]

1.4.7 SERIES OF TECHNICAL MAGAZINE ARTICLES ON

RECENT DIRECTIONS IN GAS TURBINE DESIGN. [Many Articles]