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04-BS-7 · December 2018

Question 8 of 13: Turbojet Engine — Inlet Area and Thrust

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

Notes on this paper

Reference texts: White, F.M., Fluid Mechanics (8th ed.) — fluid statics and hydrostatic force on plane/curved surfaces incl. gravity-dam stability (Ch. 2), buoyancy and Archimedes' principle (Ch. 2), orifice/nozzle discharge and jet momentum forces (Ch. 3, 6), viscous flow in ducts and the Moody chart (Ch. 6), open-channel flow and the hydraulic jump (Ch. 10), drag and stability of bluff bodies (Ch. 7), turbomachinery and jet propulsion (Ch. 11).

Question 8: Turbojet Engine — Inlet Area and Thrust (5 marks)

Question text not reproduced: the examination questions are © Engineers and Geoscientists BC. Open the official past paper (linked at the top of this page) to read the question, then follow the worked solution below.

Given.

QuantityValue
Ambient / exhaust pressure, $p_0$100 kPa
Inlet air temperature, $T_{in}$20°C = 293.15 K
Exhaust gas temperature, $T_{ex}$700°C = 973.15 K
Exhaust velocity, $V_{jet}$900 m/s
Aircraft velocity, $V_{ac}$900 km/hr
Exhaust flow area, $A_{ex}$0.3 m²
V_jet=900 m/s V_ac=250 m/s inlet: T=20°C, A_in=? exhaust: T=700°C, A=0.3 m²
Turbojet control volume: air enters at the aircraft's own velocity and ambient density, is heated and accelerated, and leaves as hot exhaust gas at the given exit velocity and area.

Find. The inlet flow area $A_{in}$; the thrust $F$.

Approach. Fuel mass is neglected, so the SAME mass flow rate $\dot{m}$ passes through both the inlet and the exhaust. Compute $\dot{m}$ from the exhaust conditions (density from the ideal gas law at the given $p_0,T_{ex}$, times $A_{ex}V_{jet}$), then use continuity to back out the inlet area from the inlet density and the aircraft's own velocity; finally apply the propulsion thrust relation from the reference sheet.

  1. Aircraft velocity in SI units. $$V_{ac}=900\ \text{km/hr}=\frac{900\times1000}{3600}=\boxed{250\ \text{m/s}}$$
  2. Mass flow rate from the exhaust station. Treating the exhaust gas as an ideal gas with air's gas constant, $$\rho_{ex}=\frac{p_0}{RT_{ex}}=\frac{100{,}000}{(287)(973.15)}=0.3580\ \text{kg/m}^3$$ $$\dot{m}=\rho_{ex}A_{ex}V_{jet}=(0.3580)(0.3)(900)=\boxed{96.7\ \text{kg/s}}$$
  3. Inlet area from continuity. Inlet air density at ambient conditions, $$\rho_{in}=\frac{p_0}{RT_{in}}=\frac{100{,}000}{(287)(293.15)}=1.189\ \text{kg/m}^3$$ Since $\dot m=\rho_{in}A_{in}V_{ac}$, $$A_{in}=\frac{\dot m}{\rho_{in}V_{ac}}=\frac{96.7}{(1.189)(250)}=\boxed{0.325\ \text{m}^2}$$
  4. Thrust. Using the reference-sheet propulsion relation $F_{thrust}=\dot m(V_{jet}-V_{aircraft})$, $$F=(96.7)(900-250)=(96.7)(650)=\boxed{62.8\ \text{kN}}$$
QuantityValue
Aircraft velocity, Vac250 m/s
Mass flow rate, ṁ96.7 kg/s
Inlet flow area, Ain0.325 m²
Thrust, F62.8 kN