Aircraft Propulsion

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The design and operational behaviour of the major components in aircraft gas turbine engines.
• The way the various components interact with each other.
• The performance limitations of various types of aircraft engines based on the gas turbine cycle.
• The factors that limit the performance of these components.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Devise appropriate plots for analysis, communication and justification of design decisions
• Communicate complex concepts and advanced technical information in a clear and wellstructured manner, providing appropriate evidence
• Use computational analysis in support of aerodynamic design

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Develop preliminary design specifications for gas turbine engines based on user requirements and representative component performance characteristics.
• Characterise and adapt turbomachinery designs using understanding of flow dynamics and performance data.
• Select and apply appropriate non-dimensional scaling parameters for aero-thermal systems
• Estimate the mechanical work transfer and flow properties in turbomachinery systems using hand calculations
• Interpret the results of performance measurements and design analysis, recognising the limitations of the design analysis used in this module and in industry

Full CEng Programme Level Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Evaluation of the environmental and societal impact of aircraft propulsion solutions, and approaches to minimise impact. Including full life cycle assessment.
• Critical application of engineering principles to evaluate and justify robust design and operational decisions in aircraft propulsion technology in the face of incomplete information.
• Critical application of engineering principles to solution of complex problems in aircraft propulsion, accounting for competing technical and environmental drivers.

Part 1, Preliminary Design of a Turbofan Engine for a New Efficient Aircraft:

• Aircraft propulsion requirements.
• The gas turbine cycle and creation of thrust in a jet engine.
• Selection of fan pressure ratio, specific thrust and bypass ratio.
• Dynamic scaling and dimensional analysis.

Part 2, Turbomachinery Analysis and Design

• Types of turbomachinery.
• Turbomachinery analysis: Euler’s equation, velocity triangles, design parameters.
• Dimensional analysis and turbomachinery characteristics.
• Mean-line analysis of compressor and turbine stages.
• Blade aerodynamics and losses.
• Three-dimensional effects.
• Multi-stage compression systems.
• Running point estimation.

Part 3, Gas turbine combustion

• Combustion processes and thermodynamics
• Gas turbine combustor technology

Teaching methods include

• Lectures.
• Videos.

Learning activities include

• Directed reading.
• Set problems.
• Analysis exercises.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.