Propulsion Systems Laboratory

Practice 2 - Effect of Altitude, Mach Number and Pressure Ratio on Performance

Parameters.

José Ignacio Rodrı́guez Rojas (1943518), Mauricio Iñaki Flores Cedillo (1858918)
Carlos Daniel Rodrı́guez Ramos (1671812), Yussif Said Mátar Lizcano (1661070)

Facultad de Ingenierı́a Mecánica y Eléctrica.- Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Ingenierı́a Aeronáutica
Instructor: M.Sc. Christian Antonio Simental Estrello
Brigada: 408

Abstract—A ramjet analysis is performed to observe the
behavior of the specific thrust on the flight altitude and Mach
number. How the different engine parameters contributes to
the aircraft thrust and performance is analyzed using MATLAB
Simulink.
Index Terms—Ramjet, Mach, Altitude, Specific Thrust,
Simulink.
A. Justification
Understanding the engine parameters and ambient con-
ditions involved on the produced thrust can be helpful to
increase or improve the aircraft efficiency. This would mean
a significant reduction of combustion wasting.
B. General objective
To understand, calculate and graph a ramjet engine specific
thrust depending on the flight Mach number and considered
altitude.
I. I NTRODUCTION
In this investigation, the team members sought to analyze
and present in a synthesized way the manner in which several
factors such as the aircraft altitude or the ambient air tempera-
ture have an impact on the general performance of the aircraft
engine.
II. BACKGROUND
The altitude above sea level, z, has an important effect on
the conditions in which the air is found and on its composition.
In addition to the temperature variations typical of the different
layers of the atmosphere, the air pressure decreases as the alti-
tude of the measurement point increases, due to the reduction
in the weight of the column that supports it above, a reduction
that is due to both to the lowest height of the column and to
the lowest density of the air that occupies it. more specifically,
the pressure variation along a height differential element is due
to the weight of the air that occupies that element per section
unit, that is:
dp
= −gp (1)
dz
The density of the air and its composition are affected
by changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature, and
therefore the performance of any thermal machine. This issue
is accentuated in volumetric displacement thermal machines,
such as alternative internal combustion engines, and much
more so in naturally aspirated engines.
Stated performance decreases with altitude, primarily
due to lower cylinder pressure throughout the engine cycle,
although other effects related to fuel intake also play a role.
All this causes a loss of indicated power.
Although mechanical loss power decreases slightly with
altitude because pumping loss power and friction loss are
reduced by decreasing exhaust back pressure and cylinder
pressure, respectively, this decrease is much less significant
than that of the indicated power.
The environmental static temperature in the lower
atmosphere (Troposphere) falls linearly with a height from
15 C at sea level to -56.5 C at the Tropoause at 11 km. The
static pressure and density of the environment both decrease.
This causes a reduction in mass flow, which is the main
contributor to thrust at constant shaft speed. Effect of Flight
Velocity
If both the altitude and the shaft speed remain constant.
It is expected that the nozzle will expand completely. The
engine’s performance will be influenced by three key elements:
Momentum Drag, ram compression, and ram temperature rise.
As velocity increases, momentum drag reduces net thrust.
As the fluid’s flight velocity is increased, the quantity of
momentum supplied to it decreases.
The effect of ram compression is threefold. For starters, it
raises the input pressure, which increases flow density and
mass flow. The second effect is that the nozzle pressure ratio,
and hence gross thrust, increases.
The third impact, ram temperature rise, results in a higher
flow temperature at the compressor’s inlet. At constant shaft
Propulsion Systems Laboratory June 13th , 2022.

speed, this will result in a lower non-dimensional shaft speed 1) Initial Conditions: Assuming an adiabatic process, then
and power setting, and hence lower thermal efficiency. the total flight pressure can be calculated as:
 γ
 γ−1
III. C ASE OF S TUDY γ−1 2
Pt0 = P0 1+ M0 (2)
2
With the purpose to analyze the behavior of a real ramjet,
looking for the optimum flight Mach number to reach the Besides, the total flight temperature:
maximum specific thrust, the next component efficiencies are 
γ−1 2

considered: Tt0 = T0 1 + M0 (3)
2
The flight speed V0 is represented by:
Parameter Value
πd 0.90 V0 ≡ M0 · a0 (4)
πb 0.95
πn 0.90 2) Inlet: The total pressure at diffuser exit (inlet exit) can
ηb 0.98 be calculated with the diffuser pressure ratio (πd ).
p9 /p0 1
τλ 8.0 Pt2 = πd · Pt0 (5)
Q∗R 42,000 The adiabatic conditions assume an inlet exit temperature
the same as the total flight temperature.
Besides, the next cold and hot engine section gas properties:
Tt2 = Tt0 (6)

Cold Section 3) Compressor: To calculate the pressure at the compres-

Property Value sor’s exit, we need its pressure ratio (πc ). According to the
γc 1.4 literature ( [1]), an optimum compressor pressure ratio for the
∗
Cpc 1.004 maximum thrust is defined by:
Hot Section √ γ
! γ−1
Property Value τλ
πcOptimum = γ−1 (7)
γt 1.33 1+ 2 M02
∗
Cpt 1.156
Once we calculate the previous pressure ratio, the total
∗ in kJ/kg · K pressure at the compressor’s exit is defined by:
Considering an altitude range of operation, 0 ≤ h ≤ 37 kft. Pt 3 = π c · Pt 2 (8)

A. Calculations Besides, the compressor thermal ratio can be calculated with:

√
First of all, according to the provided data, since p9 /p0 = 1 τλ
τc = γ−1 (9)
therefore, p9 = p0 , which means that the engine nozzle is 1 + 2 M02
perfectly expanded.
This temperature ratio provides us the total temperature at the
Also, assuming a flight Mach number from 1.0 to 4.0. We
compressor’s exit.
use the Standard Atmosphere values provided by Farokhi [1]
Tt3 = τc · Tt2 (10)
to obtain the total temperature, pressure and the flight speed
according to the Mach number. 4) Burner: Now, to obtain the burner exit pressure (Pt4 ),
we can use the burner pressure ratio and the compressor’s exit
total pressure (Pt3 ).

Pt4 = πb · Pt3 (11)

The burner’s exit temperature is considered the higher in
the engine. And this can be calculated, assuming:
Pt Tt4
τλ ≡ (12)
cpc T0
Therefore:
Fig. 1. Schematic drawing of a turbojet engine. cpc T0 tλ
Tt4 = (13)
cpt

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With this, we are able to calculate also the fuel-to-air ratio,

like:
cpt Tt4 − cpc Tt3
f= (14)
QR ηb − cpt Tt4
5) Nozzle: The nozzle’s exit total pressure can be calculated
using its pressure ratio:

Pt9 = πn · Pt4 (15)

The Mach number M9 at the exit is obtained using:
v
u
u 2
"  γ−1 #
P t9
γ
M9 = t −1 (16)
γ−1 P9

And since the nozzle is perfectly expanded as mentioned

before, P9 = P0 , then Eq. 16 (for this case) can be rewritten.
v
u
u 2
"  γ−1 #
Pt9 γ Fig. 2. Standard Atmosphere Values
M9 = t −1 (17)
γ−1 P0

Then, the exhaust velocity V9 is calculated with:

s
τλ
V9 = a0 M9 (18)
1 + γ−1
2 M9
2

6) Thrust Analysis: According to Farokhi ??, the specific

thrust is calculated using the next equation:
  
Fn 1 P0
= (1 + f ) V9 1 + 1− − V0 (19)
ṁ0 γM92 P9
With P0 /P9 = 1, Eq. 19 can be reduced to:
Fn
= (1 + f )V9 − V0 (20)
ṁ0
Now, with Eq. 20, the aircraft specific thrust behavior from
the flight Mach number can be calculated.

To perform this analysis, we use the MATLAB Simulink

Software
B. Simulink
1) Initial Conditions: To start the engine analysis, we first
bring the standard atmosphere data from Farokhi literature Fig. 3. Initial Conditions Analysis
[1], to use 1-D LookUp Tables blocks in the diagram.

In Figure 2, the altitude can be introduced in kft, and then.

The Mach number is declared as a ramp block, which goes
the software provides the flight ambient temperature, pressure
from 1.0 to 5.0 with a 0.2 slide. Then, the written script in
and the speed of the sound at the proposed altitude. The gain
this last block is:
blocks are conversion factors to provide the parameters in K,
kP a and m/s, respectively.
1 function [Tt0,Pt0,V0] = fcn(T0,P0,a0,M0)
2 yc=1.4;
To calculate the inlet total pressure (Pt0 ), temperature (Tt0 ) 3 Tt0=T0*(1+(((yc-1)/2)*M0ˆ2));
and the flight speed (V0 ), we introduce a Matlab Function 4 Pt0=P0*(1+((0.2)*(M0ˆ2)))ˆ(3.5);
block to the diagram, connected to the Standard Atmosphere 5 V0=M0*a0;
data previously mentioned.

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2) Inlet: Another Matlab Function block is introduced to

1 function [Tt4,Pt4,f] = fcn(Tt3,Pt3,T0)
calculate the temperature and pressure on the compressor 2 BPR=0.95;
entrance. The proposed script is the next one: 3 cpc=1.004;
4 cpt=1.156;
5 QR=42000;
1 function [Tt2,Pt2] = fcn(Tt0,Pt0) 6 BEF=0.98;
2 DPR=0.9; 7 tl=8;
3 Pt2=DPR*Pt0; 8 Pt4=BPR*Pt3;
4 Tt2=Tt0; 9 Tt4=(cpc*T0*tl)/cpt;
10 f=((cpt*Tt4)-(cpc*Tt3))/((QR*BEF)-(cpt*Tt4));
where DPR is the diffuser pressure ratio πd provided since
the problem statement. 5) Nozzle: For this Matlab function block, Eq. from 15 to
3) Compressor: Then, using Eq. from 7 to 10, we devel- 18 were employed. Writting the next Matlab script.
oped the compressor analysis Matlab Function block with the
next script: 1 function V9 = fcn(P0,Pt4,a0)
2 yc=1.4;
3 tl=8;
1 function [Tt3,Pt3] = fcn(Tt2,Pt2,M0) 4 NPR=0.9;
2 tl=sqrt(8); 5 Pt9=NPR*Pt4;
3 CPR=(tl/(1+((0.2)*(M0ˆ2))))ˆ(3.5); 6 M9=sqrt(5*((Pt9/P0)ˆ((yc-1)/yc)-1));
4 tc=(tl/(1+((0.2)*(M0ˆ2)))); 7 FP=a0*M9;
5 Pt3=CPR*Pt2; 8 V9=FP*sqrt(tl/(1+(0.2*(M9ˆ2))));
6 Tt3=tc*Tt2;
This block only contributes the exhaust velocity to the next
4) Burner: For the next stage, another Matlab function Matlab function element, which is the final thrust analysis.
block was introduced:
6) Thrust Analysis: Employing Eq, 20, the specific thrust
can be calculated and plotted to observe its behavior while the
Mach number increases. The Matlab script is:

1 function ST = fcn(V9,f,V0,a0)
2 STs=((1+f)*V9)-V0;
3 ST=STs/a0;

This code provides the maximum aircraft specific thrust.

The complete Simulink diagram is found in Appendix I.

C. Results
Five different altitudes were considered, and the results
given by Matlab are plotted in the next figure:

Fig. 4. Burner Analysis

The flight ambient temperature T0 is connected to this block

as well. Given the equations used for this Matlab function
script, which are from Eq. 11 to 13. Besides, in this stage, the
fuel-to-air ratio f was obtained from Eq. 14. Then, the written
script for the burner analysis was:

Fig. 5. Specific Thrust vs Mach Number

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Propulsion Systems Laboratory June 13th , 2022.

As you can see, the specific thrust gets lower while the
Mach number increases. This can be explained by Eq. 7,
which is used to provide the higher specific thrust depending
on the flight Mach number.

Besides, when the aircraft gains altitude, its specific thrust

gets lower, might be explained due to the decompressing
ambient.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The atmospheric hydro static equation, assuming a
triangular temperature profile, can be used to determine the
effects of altitude on any internal combustion engine.

The atmospheric pressure and temperature, as well as the

concentration and composition of oxygen in the air, are all
affected by altitude above sea level. However, considering the
effect on thermodynamic conditions is sufficient to measure
the effect on engine performance.

In the entire range of rotational speeds, altitude significantly

affects the indicated power, and thus the effective power,
delivered by a normally aspirated engine. When the turbo
supercharges the engine, however, this effect is lessened, and
this reduction can even be compensated at high speeds.

Engineers have developed a variety of strategies to com-

pensate for the effects of altitude on aircraft engines, such as
turbocharging or the use of barometric sensors that feedback
to the electronic control unit, which then corrects the param-
eters of fuel injection. Some barometric pressure adjustment
solutions that do not require the use of extra sensors have
been implemented. These employ computation algorithms
based on compressible flow through restriction equations. The
algorithm’s inputs are gathered from the engine’s existing
sensors.
R EFERENCES
[1] S. Farokhi, Aircraft propulsion. John Wiley Sons, 2014.
[2] J. D. Mattingly, Aircraft engine design. AIAA, 2002.
[3] J. B. Heywood, ‘Combustion engine fundamentals’, 1ªEdição. Estados
Unidos, . 25, . 1117–1128, 1988.
[4] M. Lapuerta, O. Armas, J. R. Agudelo, ‘Estudio del efecto de la altitud
sobre las prestaciones de motores de combustión interna’, IV Jornadas
Nacionales de Ingenierı́a Termodinámica, La Rioja, España, 2005.