PROPULSION I

UNIT II
INLETS
 INLETS FUNCTIONS

• Inlet interchanges the kinetic and thermal energies

of the gas in an adiabatic process.
• The perfect inlet will correspond to isentropic
process.
• The primary purpose of the inlet is to bring the air
required by the engine from free stream condition to
the condition that are required at the entrance of the
fan or compressor with minimum total pressure loss.
• The fan or compressor works best with a uniform
flow of air at a Mach number of 0.5
Types Subsonic
Types Super sonic
Super sonic External Compression
 Performance Characteristics
• High total pressure ratio πd
• Controllable flow matching requirements
• Good uniformity of flow
• Low installation drag
• Good starting and stability
• Suitable for both subsonic and supersonic conditions
• Should not be unduly sensitive to manovoures (pitch &
yaw)
• Flow velocity and direction leaving the duct to be uniform,
distortion affects the compressor blade
• Low signature (Acoustic, radar etc.)
• Minimum weight
Subsonic Diffuser Performance
 Difference between Subsonic and supersonic inlets

Subsonic inlets Supersonic inlets

Near isotropic internal Internal aerodynamic performance

diffusion with respect to is a major design problem
the inlet flow rate can Difficult to achieve efficient and
be easily achieved stable supersonic diffusion over a
wide range of Mach numbers is
difficult
Must be able to capture its
required mass flow rate which may
require variable geometry to
minimise inlet loss and drag to
provide stable operation
Subsonic inlet Nomenclature
Subsonic inlet streamline pattern
Subsonic inlet streamline pattern
 Flow Pattern

• Level Cruise: The stream line pattern may

include some deceleration of the entering
fluid external to the inlet plane {Fig 6.1(a)}
• Take off and climb: During low speed high
thrust operation engine may demand more
mass flow and the stream line pattern may
resemble Fig 6.1(b) which illustrates external
acceleration of the stream near the inlet. In
both the cases there is an external change of
state which is essentially isentropic
Major design variables for subsonic inlets
• Internal total pressure ratio and drag at cruise
• Engine location on wing or fuselage to avoid damage from
foreign object, inlet flow up wash and down wash, ground
clearance and exhaust gas re-injection
• Aircraft attitude envelope ( angle of attack, yaw angle, cross
wind take off)
• Inlet total pressure ratio and distortion level required for
engine operation
• Engine out wind milling air flow and drag (nacelle and engine)
• Integration of diffuser and fan flow path contours
• Flow field interaction between nacelle pylon and wing
• Integration of external nacelle contours with thrust reverser
and accessories
• Noise separation requirements
Locations of Boundary layer separation
 Internal Flow
• The flow in the inlet behaves as though it were in a diffuser.
• In a typical subsonic inlet there is a stringent requirement that the
flow velocity entering the compressor be steady and uniform.
• In the actual inlet separation can take place in any of three zones as
shown in Fig.
• Separation of the external flow in zone (1) may result from local high
velocities and subsequent deceleration over the outer surface.
• Separation on the internal surfaces may take place in either zone (2)
or (3) depending on the geometry of the duct and operating
conditions.
• Zone (3) may be the scene of quite large adverse pressure gradients,
since the flow accelerates around the nose of the center body then
decelerates as the curvature decreases. In some installations it has
not been possible to make the exit area of the intake more than about
30% greater than the inlet area without the incidence of stall and
large losses. At high angles of attack all three zones are subjected to
unusual pressure gradients
 Inlet total pressure ratio πd
• Inlet total pressure ratio πd
is assumed to be constant
for subsonic inlets and is
equal to πdmax ( total
pressure due to friction)
• Due to the complex nature
of the flow calculating the
inlet total pressure ratio is
difficult
• The fig presents attainable
πd and its variation with
different flight conditions
 Inlet- Throat diameter
• The diameter at the
throat of the
subsonic inlet is
designed such that
Mach number does
not exceed 0.8.
• This will provide a
margin for growth
or error where
Mach number at the
throat will
correspond to actual
inlet choke which is
about 0.9
 Inlet Flow distortion
• Inlet operated with high angles of flow incidence
will result in flow separation inside the inlet. The
flow separation will cause larger region of low total
pressure as shown in the figure.
 Inlet distortion
• Inlet distortion gives the magnitude of the distortion from
the desired uniform flow which is given by the
expression( PAmax - PAmin)/PAavg. It is the function inlet
geometry, mass flow rate, flight Mach numbers and flow
incidence angle. The effect of high distortion is w.r.t shifting
the fan or compressor surge line to values of higher mass
flow rate
Type of Flows
Types of flow in straight walled diffusers
External Flow - Thrust Calculation
• Design of an inlet requires a compromise
between external and internal deceleration.
External deceleration must be limited to
prevent excessive nacelle drag. Fig 6.3 shows a
typical stream line pattern for large external
deceleration. The external flow is accelerated
to high velocities and this high velocity and
the accompanying low pressure can affect the
boundary layer adversely and leads to
boundary layer separation which results in
poor pressure recovery and drag.
• The external cross section of the inlet grows into maximum area of
Amax and the body remains cylindrical form downstream. The
control surface extends far from the inlet on the sides and crosses
the inlet at the minimum area Ai The external flow enters and
leaves the control volume with an axial velocity component ua .The
internal flow enters the control volume with a velocity ua and
leaves with a velocity ui
• Net momentum flux out of the control volume ignoring changes in
the air density

• From continuity the side flow rate

• Net momentum flux can be expressed as = ρAi (Ui2 – Ui Ua)

• Net force in the axial direction =
• Applying Bernoulli’s equation
• Pa + ρUa2/2 = Pi + ρUi 2 /2
• Pi - Pa = ρ(Ua2- Ui 2)
• It shows that greater the deceleration (i.e., the smaller the
Ui/Ua ) the larger must be the thrust increment
• Co efficient of pressure CP

On the outer surface of the nozzle we define average pressure

difference
• Where ‘S’ is a factor between 0 and 1 we can
write
Nacelle size required for the low drag
which dependant on degree of
external deceleration
 Further Inference
• The external pressure rise is fixed by the external compression and the
ratio of Amax/Ai of maximum area to internal area
• The internal pressure rise depends on the reduction of velocity between
entry to the inlet diffuser and entry to compressor
  Losses in Inlet
• Additive drag ( self-drag of engine due to mounting)
• Boundary layer
• By pass ratio
• Bleed air
 Separated flow entering engine may degrade engine performance
 To reduce rise of the flow separation the intake lip is well rounded which
always result in thicker lip
 Due to the vicinity of the aircraft component such as pylons, wing and
fuselage deviation from ideal will result in degrade
 Engine mounted under the wing results in ground vortex can develop
which is swallowed by the intake. Disappears when aircraft take off and is
a case for rear mounted engine
 Inlet Performance

• Isentropic Efficiency ηd
• ηd = {(P02/Pa)(γ-1)/ γ-1}/{{(γ-1)M2}/2} 
• Stagnation pressure ratio rd = P02/P0a
 Supersonic Inlets

• Present designs demand that flow leaving inlet system be

subsonic.
• Supersonic flow through compressors results in excessive
shock losses.
• Subsonic compressor stage –inlet Mach 0.4
• Transonic compressor stage –Inlet Mach 0.6/0.7
• How to decelerate a supersonic stream to subsonic velocities?
• Reverse Nozzle Diffuser
• Supersonic C-D nozzle operated in reverse to achieve isentropic
deceleration –ideal possibility
• Operation of reversed nozzle inlet over a range of flight Mach
numbers is difficult.
• Serious problems of interaction of internal shocks with
boundary layers & Flow instability.
 The starting problem

• Internal supersonic deceleration in a converging

passage is difficult to establish due to shocks that
arise during deceleration process.
• Design conditions can be achieved by
momentarily over speeding the inlet air or varying
the diffuser geometry.
• Analysis of starting behaviour of converging-
diverging diffuser neglecting boundary layer
effects.
• Analysis is one dimensional and isentropic except
for losses due to normal shocks.
 Starting Problem
• Aa - Capture area, Ai - Inlet area, At – Throat area
• (a) Low subsonic speed – No chocking.
• Upstream capture area determined by conditions
downstream of inlet.
• (b) Flow sonic at throat, though the flight velocity is sub
sonic, flow assumed to be accelerated mass flow limited by
chocking.
• For isentropic flow At = A* , and the upstream capture area
Aa is given by
• Aa/A*= Aa/At = (2(1+(γ-1)M2/2))/(γ+1))((γ+1)/2(γ-1)/M
• For high subsonic values of M, Aa < Ai and spillage occurs
around inlet. Aa/A*= Aa/At < Ai/At
• Once shock is established, flow entering the inlet is
no longer isentropic. Hence at design Mach number,
reversed isentropic nozzle mass flow cannot pass
through the throat area At as choked mass flow is
proportional to po and the fluid suffers stagnation
pressure loss in traversing the shock.
For the flow that enters inlet (Subscript 2 – conditions just downstream of a
normal shock)
 Conditions c and d
• For sonic or supersonic flight speeds the spillage mechanism is
non-isentropic. That is in order to sense the presence of the
inlet and flow around it the spilled air must be reduced to
subsonic velocity upstream of the inlet plane. Suppose when
the air first reached supersonic there was no shock. Then flow
has to enter without deviation and Ai will act as capture area
Aa. From Fig where all the conditions are represented as a
plot, it can be seen for low supersonic Mach numbers Ai /At >
Aa /A* ie; capture area is less than Ai. Hence there will be
accumulation of mass and increase in pressure at inlet. This
pressure rise will build up until a strong shock moved
upstream and allow required spillage. The mechanism of
spillage is detached “ bow wave” that stands sufficient
upstream to allow required spillage
 Conditions e,e’ &f
• Inlet area Ai will remain too large and spillage will
continue even beyond design Mach number MD
unless inlet is over speeded to a Mach number Mo.
A slight increase in speed results in shock entering
the inlet and settling in the divergent section.
• The flow to the throat is now isentropic and the area
ratio
• Aa/A*> Aa/At since At> A*
• Incoming flow is decelerated from Ai to At,
reaccelerated supersonically in the divergence.
• After establishing isentropic flow Mach number can
be reduced back to MD
Acceleration and over speeding of a 1-D
supersonic inlet Ai/At= 1.5
 
 Starting problem
• Inlet having Ai/At> 1 requires spillage for supersonic
flight speeds since Aa/At has a minimum value of 1at
sonic flight velocity.
• It is necessary to perform some operation other than
just accelerating to the design speed to swallow the
shock. Over speeding is one such operation.
• Remedies
• Over speeding
• Geometry variation
• Porous diverging inlet
• Simple diverging inlet
• Kantrowitz-Donaldson inlet
 Shock swallowing by area variation
• If over speeding is not feasible, it might be
possible to swallow the shock by a variation of
geometry.
• Suppose inlet is accelerated to the design Mach
number with the starting shock present. Now, if
the actual area ratio can be decreased from Ai/At
to the value that can ingest the entire inlet flow
behind the shock , the shock will be swallowed
to take up a position downstream of the throat.
• This involves a momentary increase of throat
area.
Shock swallowing by area variation
 Porous Convergent walls
• Similar to area variation of area can be achieved
byuse of porous convergent walls. With the shock
external the high static pressure within the
convergence causes considerable leakage through the
walls. This effectively increase the throat area and
permits shock swallowing. But the total porosity
required is even greater than throat area and hence
there will be a high mass flow loss under operating
conditions. This method is advantageous to the
extent that it removes the boundary layer fluid but
the lost fluid is decelerated internally but not used
causing drag within the engine
 Fixed geometry diffuser with intentional
normal shocks at design Mach number MD
 Simple Divergent Inlet
• We can avoid the starting problem by using simple
divergent inlet wherein Ai/At=1 as shown in Fig. For
supersonic flight speeds and sufficiently low back
pressure it is possible to accelerate the internal flow
within the divergence before decelerating into a shock.
To reduce stagnation pressure losses it is desirable to
have the shock occur at the minimum possible Mack
number. This condition can be achieved by adjusting the
back pressure ( by varying the engine exhaust area) so
that the shock is positioned at the inlet lip
Simple Divergent Inlet
 Kantrowits-Donaldson inlet
• This inlet configuration uses the maximum internal
convergence that will just permit the shock swallowing of the
design flight Mach numbers. As shown in Fig it is just Ai/At’ for
a design Mach number MD. As in the case of simple divergent
it is necessary to adjust the back pressure to assure that the
shock occurs at the minimum possible Mach number.
• Advantage: Due to internal convergence minimum Mach
number is less than free stream Mach number
• Disadvantage: Abrupt change in performance at the Design
Mach number since shock will not be swallowed below this
value and will be disgorged if the speed falls off slightly from
the design value. Since Shocks of any origin are unstable
within the convergence, this type of inlet would be sensitive
to changes in angle of attack
Kantrowits-Donaldson inlet
Operational classification
• Critical : Condition in which shock just hangs
on the inlet lip
• Supercritical: Operation with the shock
swallowed
• Subcritical: Operation with a detached shock
and spillage may occur as a result of chocking
in the inlet
 External Deceleration
• Some external deceleration must occur upstream of
inlet plane to reduce Mach number of normal shock
and the stagnation pressure losses to improve
performance
 The shock –boundary layer problem
• Large fraction of BL is subsonic and pressure rise due to
shock is sensed ahead of the normal shock. This upstream
pressure gradient causes the BL to grow rapidly.
• For free stream Mach number above 1.25 the wall
boundary layer thickens rapidly in the flow direction
causing the BL to separate.
• The pressure gradient near the wall becomes too large for
the slow moving fluid near the wall to continue moving in
the main flow direction.
• Inference: Oblique shock is better than normal shock due
to less pressure rise.
• Shock interaction should be at the location where BL is
thinnest.
Typical configurations of Oblique shock
Diffusers
 Isentropic external diffusion
• Can function at only one Mach
number
• Performance is very sensitive to
angle of attack.

• BL along the curved surface

would be subject to high
adverse pressure gradient.
• At high flight Mach numbers
flow needs to turn through large
angles resulting in large cowl
angle with high drag.
• Variable geometry is inevitable
for an engine inlet operating at
subsonic and supersonic speeds.
Cross section of variable geometry Intake
for Concorde Supersonic aircraft
 Modes of Inlet operation
 Critical
• Design point operation.
Actual (m1) and Ideal
(mi) flow rates are same
• Terminal shock occurs
just inside the cowl lip.
Internal shocks may not
be present. Normal
shock is located exactly
at the cowl lip. No
spillage occurs M1=1
Sub Critical Operation
 Sub Critical Operation
• The flow rate is decreased, the pressure in the diffuser increases
owing to decreased Mach numbers below the design value. Normal
shock is pushed outside the inlet plane and it occurs ahead of cowl
lip. It is stronger and causes larger total pressure loss. Normal shock
joins with the oblique shock to form a ‘λ’ shock.
• In this condition the entire air encompassed by A1a will not enter the
diffuser and much of the air will be spilled and lead to high external
drag due to spillage. This situation is undesirable as the engine is
compressing air using shock outside the diffuser and not being used
thereby wasting power. Mach number at inlet plane M1 <1. This
condition is further subdivided into Low sub critical and High sub
critical
• When flight Mach number M0 further decreases further more air is
spilled and because of decreased pressure achieved gross thrust
reduces. If this condition is not stopped then the engine will come to a
halt. One way to avoid this condition is to increase the area ratio A2 /A1
which requires variable area diffuser
 Super Critical Operation
• When the flow increases
beyond design value pressure
in the diffuser decreases and
the normal shock moves into
the diffuser.
• Shock occurs in the diverging
section of the diffuser at high
Mach numbers and results in
higher losses as the normal
shock occurs in a region of
higher Mach number.
• Mach number at inlet plane
M1>1 and hence the mass
flows m1 and mi are same. No
spillage occurs for this
condition
 Buzz –instability at subcritical operation

• Inlet Buzz is Rapid oscillation of inlet shock and flow

pattern resulting in internal flow disturbance and
detrimental to engine performance. This type of problem
happens when the aircraft begins to fly at or near the
speed of sound. At these speeds sonic waves are developed
which if not controlled will give high duct loss in pressure
and air flow and will set up vibrating conditions
• Buzz is an airflow instability caused by the shock wave
rapidly being alternatively swallowed and expelled at the
inlet. This is highly detrimental to inlet performance
• Buzz is a function of conditions only at, and immediately
downstream of, the inlet.
• BL bleed from central body and use of non-divergent
subsonic passage just downstream of the inlet