AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL Revision F

Advanced Jets November 2017

“It’s What You Need” to Know: on the Inlet Section of a Gas Turbine Engine a.n.c

Name : ______________________________________________. Date: __________

THE INLET SECTION

I. Terms to Know
A. Subsonic = below the speed of sound
B. Supersonic = above the speed of sound
C. The speed of sound is approximately 762 MPH at sea level
1. As the density of the medium through which sound travels increases the speed of sound increases
D. Duct = is a passageway for fluid flow ( air or water ).
1. Convergent Duct - is where the duct goes from a larger cross-sectional area to a smaller
cross-sectional area. In other words, the duct walls come in towards each other.

Airflow Direction Convergent Duct

2. Divergent Duct - is where the duct goes from a smaller cross sectional area to a
larger cross sectional area. In other words, the duct walls separate out.

Airflow Direction Divergent Duct

E. Diffuser: is a duct that, by its shape, increases the pressure and reduces the velocity of fluid
flowing through it.

II. Inlet Section Components

A. The inlet section consists of the inlet duct and the inlet case or Fan Case.
B. The inlet duct is considered part of the airframe.
1. The duct slows down the air and directs that air into the compressor with as little drag as
possible.
C. The inlet case or fan case is part of the engine. It is the most forward section of the engine.
D. The Inlet case is found on Turbo-Jet engines and small Turbo-Fan engines.
1. The inlet case provides for structural support of the most forward engine bearing.
E. The Fan case is found on large Turbo fan engines. It has no inlet case.
1. The fan case is not a structural supporting section of the engine. It simple surrounds the
fan and provides for fan blade containment in the rare event a blade detaches from the
disk hub.

Notebook Page #:_____

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III. Inlet Section / Inlet Duct Functions.
A. Must deliver a uniform, relatively distortion free, high energy supply of air into the compressor
with minimum energy loss from drag, turbulence & ram air pressure losses.
It must do this under all flight conditions.
1. Delivering a nice, smooth flow of air to the compressor with a minimum of drag is
accomplished by the inlet duct’s smooth, aerodynamic shape.
B. Must recover or save as much of the Ram Air energy as possible.
C. Must hold the drag of the incoming air to a minimum. (Inlets are very aerodynamic)
The air pressure (potential energy) loss in the inlet is caused by friction of the air along both
sides of the duct, by bends in the duct and by how long the duct is. For this reason:
1. The ideal inlet duct should be as short and as straight as possible to minimize drag.
2. The drag effect of the inlet duct on the aircraft must also be kept to a minimum.
D. Acts as a Diffuser.
1. In order to save as much of the ram air energy, all inlet ducts on Gas Turbine Engines act as
diffusers.
2. The diffuser decreases the velocity of the incoming ram air and increases it static pressure.
a. The diffuser for subsonic airflow is a divergent shaped duct.
b. The diffuser for supersonic airflow is a convergent shaped duct.
We want the air to smoothly flow (no turbulence) into the engine as oppose to crashing into it,
And we also don’t want the airflow to choke the compressor; we therefore slow the air down.

As we can see from section III of this handout, most of the inlet section’s functions are accomplished by the
inlet duct. Saving as much energy in the air flow is mainly accomplished by the inlet duct slowing the air
down and by changing the air’s velocity or kinetic energy to static pressure or potential energy. To do this,
all gas turbine engine inlet ducts act as diffusers, that is, they slow the air down & increase its pressure.

E. The inlet case ( on turbo-jet & small turbo-fan engines) provides structural support for the
engine to aircraft pylon mounts & the for most forward engine bearing.

Note : Air going into a gas turbine engine’s compressor must ALWAYS be below the speed of sound
regardless of the aircraft’s speed (i.e. the subsonic traveling Boeing 747 or the supersonic traveling
Concorde or F-14 ).

IV. Inlet Duct / Diffuser Shapes

A. For Subsonic Traveling Aircraft a Divergent Duct is used.
1. Aircraft traveling at subsonic speeds use a divergent shaped inlet duct to act as a Diffuser.
Velocity will decrease and Pressure will increase as air flows through the inlet duct.
a. Pressure inside the inlet duct will always be higher than the ambient or outside
pressure.

V &P

Notebook Page #:_____

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B. For Supersonic Traveling Aircraft a Convergent then Divergent Duct are used as diffusers.
1. For aircraft traveling at supersonic speeds we use a convergent then divergent shaped
inlet duct ( C-D duct ) to act as a diffuser. The convergent section of the duct acts as a
diffuser for supersonic airflow; The air inside this duct will be slowed down until it
transitions to subsonic airflow. The divergent section will then act acts as a diffuser for
the now subsonic airflow.

V
V &P
&P

Inlet duct shape for a supersonic traveling aircraft (convergent then divergent)
_
REMEMBER, The shape of the inlet duct diffuser is dependent on the speed of the air entering it.
a. A Divergent Duct acts as a diffuser for subsonic traveling airflow.
b. A Convergent Duct acts as a diffuser for supersonic traveling airflow.
c. The variable geometry inlet ducts on supersonic traveling aircraft employ two separate
diffusers. A convergent diffuser for the incoming supersonic airflow then a divergent diffuse,
once the airflow has slowed to at or below the speed of sound.
d. A supersonic capable aircraft ( the Concorde) that is traveling below the speed of sound will
use the same divergent shaped diffuser as any other subsonic traveling aircraft ( a Boeing 747).
For more information on why airflow behaves like it does flowing into different shaped ducts, please see the
handout on Airflow Energy in the Lesson #4 folder on Google Drive

V. Inlet Duct Locations.

A. The location of engine’s inlets may be:
1. The most common place to find the inlet duct is directly in front of the compressor.
It is usually mounted to the inlet case or fan case.
a. This is known as a pitot type duct.
b. Mounting the inlet duct on the front of the engine reduces air inlet duct’s length which
reduces drag and increases the inlet’s efficiency.
2. Wing Mounted inlets are used when the engines are mounted inside the wings.
a. On this type , the inlet ducts are in the wings leading edge close to the wing root
3. Fuselage mounted air inlets are used when the engine is mounted inside the fuselage.
a. Air inlet is in the nose of the aircraft with the engine mounted in the rear of the aircraft.
b. The increased length of this inlet causes increased drag which decreases the inlet’s
efficiency.

4. Inlets mounted on the side of the fuselage

a. Here the inlet duct(s) are not directly in front of the engine.
b. Works well for both single and twin engine aircraft.
c. Side mounted inlets allow for shorter duct(s) to engine(s) located in the rear of
the aircraft. Shorter ducts mean less drag. Less drag increases the efficiency of the duct
d. A disadvantage of this side mounted inlet arrangement is that sudden and drastic
flight maneuvers can cause an imbalance in air entering the two intakes.

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VI. The Inlet Case
A. Is part of the engine. It is usually the most forward section of the actual engine and it
immediately follows the inlet duct.
B. It is found on small gas turbine engines like the turbo-jet & small turbo-fan engines.
C. Contains and supports the most forward engine bearings
1. Provides for structural support of the most forward
Bearing Via its inlet guide vanes.
D. Contain the inlet guide vanes (& struts on older engines)..
E. Not found on large turbo fan engines).
1. Large turbo-fan engines start with a fan case instead of the inlet case. The fan case is not a
structurally supportive part of the engine. However, It must be impregnable enough to prevent a fan “blade
out” from exiting the fan case and possibly piercing the aircraft’s fuselage with catastrophic results.
A blade out is when the fan blade breaks off within the engine. The FAA requires a test that shows an
engine can survive a fan blade breaking off within the engine without fragments being thrown through the
outside enclosure of the fan / engine. The engine must pass this test in order to be certified?

Inlet Guide Vanes

Inlet Case

VII. The Inlet Guide Vanes

A. Are part of the inlet case
B. The Inlet guide vanes’ ( IGV’s ) main function is to direct air into the
compressor at the proper angle, that is, in the direction that the
compressor is rotating.
C. The inlet guide vanes also support the most forward engine bearing on some turbo-jet
(e.g. the Pratt &Whitney J79 ) and small Turbo-fan engines (e.g. the P& W JT8D).
E. Some inlet guide vanes are hollow for:
1. The routing of Oil lines to the engine’s most forward bearing, and for the
2. Circulation of hot compressor bleed air to prevent ice from forming on the blades. (anti-icing)
Note. Anti-icing is the means by which ice is prevented from forming on critical aircraft
surfaces. De-icing is the method by which we remove existing ice from aircraft surfaces.

Notebook Page #:_____ Bleed Air From the Compressor

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F. Inlet guide vanes (and the inlet case that supports them) are not found on large turbo-fan engines. The
reason is that the large guide vanes that would be needed would produce excessive drag and would be
an aerodynamic liability.
G. On large turbo-fan engines( without the IGV’s), the forward engine bearing is supported by
internal struts located in a structural intermediate case that is immediately following the fan case.

Fan Case

Internal Struts

No Inlet Guide Vanes

VIII. Bellmouth Inlets.

A. So named because they are bell shaped.
B. The typical Bell Mouth inlet is short in length and has very rounded shoulders that offer
very little resistance to airflow coming in from the sides and slightly behind the engine’s inlet.
C. The main benefit of the bell mouth inlet is that they are very aerodynamically
efficient inlets because they allow for the maximum usage of the cross sectional area of the
inlet duct. The bell mouth’s very rounded, bell shaped inlet allows the air flow
coming in from the sides of and slightly behind the engine to merge efficiently
into the airstream flowing into the engine from directly in front of the engine. At
slow aircraft speeds and for engines running in a test stand, it allows the
incoming air to used 100% of cross sectional diameter of the inlet duct.
We find Bell Mouth inlets
being used on helicopters
and some slow moving aircraft to
maximize the aerodynamic efficiency of
the inlet. They are not used on fast
moving aircraft because their larger size
would create a lot of drag. In addition,
the speed of the incoming ram air at
high speeds would effectively block the
air from coming in from the sides of the
engine.
They are always used on engines being
run in ground test stands.

Notebook Page #:_____

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IX. Inlet Duct Blow-in-Doors
A. Blow-In Doors are also know as sucker doors or auxiliary air inlet doors.
B. Are located around the perimeter of the inlet duct on turbo-jet & small turbo-fan engines
C. These doors open, by suction of the compressor, to allow for more air to be drawn into the
engine when the engine is operating at high power or break away thrust on the ground and air
requirements are in excess of the amount the normal intake system can supply
( break-a-way thrust is thrust used on the ground to get the aircraft moving from a standstill.)

Blow-In Doors

Pratt &Whitney JT8D Model Turbo-Fan Engine

Notebook Page #:_____

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