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University of Baghdad
College of Engineering
Aeronautical Department

Aircraft Propulsion Systems

Dr. Anmar H. Ali
University of Baghdad
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1.4. Engine Thrust

The most important characteristic of a jet engine is its thrust-producing
capability. The thrust equations are developed for two different engine types: the
turbojet and the turbofan with an exhausted fan.
1.4.1. Turbojet
Figure below shows a turbojet. A control volume is drawn around the engine
as shown. The engine is moving in air to the left with velocity ua. The large-diameter
cylindrical control volume (CV1), which is fixed to the engine and thus is moving,
cuts through the engine strut. Fuel is also injected into the engine through the control
volume. One surface is at the exit plane of the engine, and the front plane is far from
the inlet.

Writing the general linear momentum equation in rectangular coordinates yields

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if the flow is considered to be steady, the surface forces are due to pressures on the
control volume and to the cutting of the strut, F, which is the force holding the engine
in place. Thus, the force, F, represents the developed thrust. the pressure is uniform
and at atmospheric conditions, pa, at this surface. At the front surface, the air flows
at velocity ua across an area Aa + A1. at the engine exit, the pressure in the engine is
uniformly pe, and the pressure outside of the engine is the atmospheric pressure pa.
The velocity of the engine exhaust is uniformly ue, the area of the engine
exhaust is Ae. At the rear of the control volume, air exits at uniform velocity ua across
area A2. The fuel is injected at a mass flow rate of mf with velocity -ufx in the x-
direction, but it does not usually contribute significantly to the flux portion of the
momentum equation. A mass flow term, mr, can exit from the sides of the control
volume owing to displacement of air by the engine, which must be evaluated and
included in the analysis. Thus, evaluating each of the terms and rewriting the
momentum equation yields

uniform flow is assumed across areas Ae and Aa. The mass fluxes across these inlets
and exit surfaces respectively, are

Where

three equations with yields;

but;

Then CV1 yields

using the preceding two equations, we obtain;

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the x-component of fuel velocity is negligible, resulting in

This is the general equation for a turbojet engine. And for mf<<ma then;

It is important to note that the resulting thrust has two contributions. One is
due to the mass flux and flow acceleration. The second results from pressure
differences between the engine exit and atmosphere. One should note that, although
derived for a turbojet, the preceding equations apply for a fully mixed turbofan as
well, for only one inlet and one exit exists.

Example 1.1: A turbojet operates at sea level and moves at (243.8 m/s). It ingests
(113.4 kg/s) of air and has negligible fuel flow. The diameter of the exit is (0.762
m). The exit pressure is (151.7 kPa), and the exit velocity is (396.2 m/s). Find the
developed thrust.
SOLUTION:
From the problem statement,
pa == 101.3 kPa
Pe == 151.7 kPa
m == 113.4 kg/s

Ae =0.4554 m2
ua = 243.8 m/s
ue = 396.2 m/s

F = 40270 N

1.4.2. Turbofan with a Fan Exhaust

In Figure below, a turbofan with a fan exhaust is shown. A cylindrical control
volume is once again drawn that moves with the engine (CV1). The front surface is
far away from the inlet, and the control volume has been drawn so that the rear
control surface is at the core exhaust as well as the fan exit. The control volume once
again cuts through the strut.
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The general momentum equation is the same as for that of the turbojet. At the
front surface, air moves at velocity ua, uniformly across area Aa +A1. Part of this air
enters the core, and part enters the fan. In the most general case (hybrid turbofan),
the portion of air that enters the fan can be divided so that a portion exits through the
fan exhaust and another part of it is mixed into the core and exits through the primary
nozzle. Two exit areas must be considered. At the core exit, the pressure is pe and
the gas velocity is ue; At the fan exhaust, the pressure is ps and the air velocity is us.
At the back of the control volume, air exits at velocity ua across area A2. Fuel
is once again injected at a flow rate of mr. Once again, the body force in the x-
direction is zero. for steady flow yields;
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where ma is the total flow entering the engine, me is the primary exhaust air
flow, and m, is the fan (or secondary) exhaust airflow. Thus,

From continuity equation;

and CVl yields;

thus,

If the x-component of the fuel velocity is small,

For mr « ma

Then, thrust is;

A limiting case that could be considered is the fan becoming very small with a
reduced flow rate, which is a turbojet.

Example 1.2: A turbofan (approximately the same size as a commercial turbofan

(engine) operates at sea level and moves at 269.7 m/s. It ingests 121.1 kg/s of air
into the core and five times this amount into the fan (the bypass ratio), which all
exhausts through the fan exhaust. The fuel flow is negligible. The exit areas of the
fan and core are 1.580 and 1.794 m2, respectively. The exit pressures from the fan
and core are 154.4 and 144.8 kPa, respectively. The "exhaust velocities from the fan
and core are 328.6 and 362.7 m/s, respectively. Find the thrust.
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SOLUTION:
From the problem statement,
pa = 101.3 kPa ua = 269.7 m/s
ps = 154.4 kPa us = 328.6 m/s
pe = 144.8 kPa ue = 362.7 m/s
me = 121.1 kg/s
ms = 5 x 121.1 kg/s = 605.4 kg/s
As = 1.580 m2
Ae = 1.704 m2

Therefore, we obtain;
F = Ae (pe - pa) +As (ps - pa) + me (ue - ua) + ms (us - ua)

F = 74,120 + 83,900 + 11,260 + 35,660

= 85,380 + 119,560

F = 204,940 N

By examining the four different terms, one can see that 85,380 N of thrust is
generated by the core, and 119,560 N comes from the fan.

1.4.3. Turboprop
As a result, the derivation of the thrust equation is very similar to that for the turbojet.
That is, the thrust is given by;

where Fp is the additional thrust due to the propeller. Once again, the fuel flow is
often much smaller than the airflow (mf « ma). As a result;

1.5. Performance Measures

1.5.1. Propulsion Measures
One of the most important parameters quantifying aircraft engine performance
is obviously thrust, F. If an engine does not generate enough thrust to overcome
airframe drag, a given aircraft cannot fly. However, a quantity that is just as
important as thrust is the thrust-specific fuel consumption (TSFC), which is defined
as;
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where mft is the total mass flow rate of fuel (primary burner and afterburner).
The TSFC is a measure of how much fuel is used for given thrust and allows
for efficiency comparisons between different engines and engine types. The TSFC
can conveniently be nondimensionalized using the ambient sound speed:

A second quantity sometimes used to evaluate fuel economy for rocket engines is
the specific impulse I. This is defined as;

One can relate the specific impulse to TSFC by

The dimensionless thrust is defined as;

where m, is the total air mass flow rate into the engine and aa is again the local speed
of sound. That is, for a given dimensional thrust, the dimensionless thrust decreases
as the required mass flow (or physical size) increases and vice versa.
the propulsive efficiency is the ratio of thrust power to the rate of production-of-
propellant kinetic energy. In equation form, this is defined as;

To evaluate the overall performance of an aircraft engine, the thrust, TSFC,

nondimensional thrust, and sometimes the propulsive efficiency must all be
considered. The parameters cannot be treated independently. For different aircraft
applications, various objectives will have to be satisfied. For example, for fighter
aircraft the fuel consumption is less important than for a commercial carrier, but the
engine weight is extremely important.

1.5.2. Power-Generation Measures

For comparison, the most common evaluators for power-generation gas
turbines are the net power (Pnet) thermodynamic efficiency (ηth), heat rate (HR), and
specific fuel consumption (SFC). The latter three are given as;
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