AIRCRAFT CONCEPTUAL

DESIGN [INLET DESIGN]

Group Members
2018380144 CEESAY OUSMAN
2018380198 SHEERE HRIDOY GOSH
2018380034 AJETUNMOBI IFEDOLAPO
2018380195 MAYAMBA SUSAN IVWANJI
2018380031 PERSIS MUGISHA AINEMBABAZI
 1

Overview
The inlet is the part of the aircraft that brings air into the
propulsion system. The inlet design affects the performance of the
propulsion system. In turn, the varying airflow demands of the
engine affect the performance of the inlet and the flight envelope
of the aircraft. A “good” inlet design allows the engine to produce
high thrust and low fuel usage over a wide range of flight
conditions and throttle conditions. A “poor” inlet design limits the
operating range of the engine and aircraft

The inlet is so important to overall aircraft operation, therefore it

is usually designed and tested by the airframe company, not the
engine manufacturer

Goals
The goal of this article is to discuss:
1. Engine dimension
2. Inlet geometry
3. Inlet location
4. Nozzle integration
 2

Engine Dimension
Our selected engine that meets our desired requirements (PW535-E), is
an existing engine therefore we get our data directly from the
manufacturer.

Thrust SFC (kg) BPR (-) Length Diameter Dry Mass

3,360(*2) 0.1996 2.55 1.68 1.082 317

Importance of the Inlet

The inlet functions to capture and decelerate air prior to entry into the
compressor. While the inlet is often optimized for cruising conditions, it
must provide adequate mass flow during all other engine operating
conditions including takeoff, landing, and maneuvering. At high speeds,
a good inlet will allow the aircraft to maneuver to high angles of attack
and sideslip without disrupting flow to the compressor. Because the inlet
is so important to overall aircraft operation, it is usually designed and
tested by the airframe company, not the engine manufacturer

Requirement for Inlet Design

Requirements for good inlet design are: Low internal pressure losses at Takeoff,
Climb and Cruise, minimum drag in cruise, minimum flow distortion into the engine
to avoid fan blade flutter and compressor instability. Sufficient length of the inlet
duct is necessary for noise suppression liners. Throat area of the inlet must allow a
mean throat Mach number of not more than 0.85. At higher mean Mach numbers
local Mach numbers along the curvature of the internal lips tend to become
supersonic and lead to additional pressure losses and distortion.
In high speed flight, typical for cruise, the inlet flow around the external surface of
the inlet is a critical design parameter. Flow separation will lead to an increase in
Spillage Drag and can also lead to rear-end drag of the fan cowl. Additional
interference drag from the complex flow between fan upper cowl surface and pylon,
will need to be checked
 3

Further points to be taken into account for the inlet:

• Ground clearance for under-wing nacelles: Sufficient clearance to

avoid foreign object suction due to ground vortex at high power and
static to very low forward speeds (take-off initiation).

• Cross-wind capability: Mainly a problem of engine/inlet

compatibility due to flow distortion in the inlet. Engine manufacturers
to define their requirements

• Installation of noise reduction liners in the inlet: Ensure sufficient

length and depth for liners in the inlet from throat to engine attachment
flange. Late modifications are extremely costly.
 4

Inlet Geometry

The design of airbreathing propulsion systems almost always involves

having to deal with the mismatch between the flow conditions in the
freestream and those required by the engine at the entrance to the fan or
compressor. Achieving the required transformation is the central role of
the inlet and the efficiency of this process is the main objective that drives
its design. An inlet is said to be efficient if a large proportion of the
available freestream total pressure is recovered at the compressor
entrance. A good inlet design will thus maximize pressure recovery, while
at the same time minimizing drag, fan face pressure distortions, weight,
complexity, and cost, and satisfying a number of other constraints.
 5

Pressure and Drag

The total pressure pt through the inlet changes, however, because of
several flow effects. Aerodynamicists characterize the inlet's pressure
performance by the inlet total pressure recovery, which measures the
amount of the free stream flow conditions that are "recovered". The
pressure recovery pt2 / pt0 depends on a wide variety of factors, including
the shape of the inlet, the speed of the aircraft, the airflow demands of the
engine, and aircraft maneuvers. On the slide we show some simple
equations for the pressure recovery that are used as standards. Recovery
losses associated with the boundary layers on the inlet surface or flow
separations in the duct are included in the inlet efficiency factor ni:

ni = pt2 / pt1

For subsonic flight speeds, these losses are the only losses. For Mach
number M less than 1

M < 1 : pt2 / pt0 = ni * 1

There is an additional propulsion performance penalty charged against the

inlet called spillage drag. Spillage drag, as the name implies, occurs when
an inlet "spills" air around the outside instead of conducting the air to the
compressor face. The amount of air that goes through the inlet is set by
the engine and changes with altitude and throttle setting. The inlet is
usually sized to pass the maximum airflow that the engine can ever
demand and, for all other conditions, the inlet spills the difference
between the actual engine airflow and the maximum air demanded. As the
air spills over the external cowl lip, the air accelerates and the pressure
decreases. This produces a lip suction effect that partially cancels out the
drag due to spilling. Inlet aerodynamicists account for this effect with a
correction factor K that multiplies the theoretical spillage drag. Typical
values of K range from .4 to .7. But for a given inlet the value is
determined experimentally. The form of the theoretical spillage drag D
spill is very similar to the thrust equation, with a mass flow m dot times
velocity term V and a pressure p times area A term:
 6

D spill = K * (mdot i * [V1 - V0] + A1 * [p1 - p0])

As the air is brought from free stream to the compressor face, the flow
may be distorted by the inlet. At the compressor face, one portion of the
flow may have a higher velocity or higher pressure than another portion.
The flow may be swirling, or some section of the boundary layer may be
thicker than another section because of the inlet shape. The rotor blades
of the compressor move in circles around the central shaft. As the blades
encounter distorted inlet flow, the flow conditions around the blade
change very quickly. The changing flow conditions can cause flow
separation in the compressor, a compressor stall, and can cause structural
problems for the compressor blades. A good inlet must produce high
pressure recovery, low spillage drag, and low distortion.
 7

Subsonic Pitot Inlet

Pitot inlets are used for subsonic aircraft. A pitot inlet is little more than a
tube with an aerodynamic fairing around it.
When an aircraft is not moving, and there is no wind, air approaches the
intake from all directions: directly ahead, from the side, and from behind.

At low airspeeds, the stream tube approaching the lip is larger in cross-
section than the lip flow area, whereas at the intake design flight Mach
number the two flow areas are equal. At high flight speeds the stream tube
is smaller, with excess air spilling round the lip.

.
 8

How to Design a Subsonic Pitot Inlet

• Cowl lip radius

(10/100) * (1.08/2) =0.054

• Diffuser length

1.08*0.6=0.648

During the geometric design of inlets, different requirements have to be

satisfied to ensure reliable operation, while achieving high efficiency.
These requirements lead to contrary design solutions. On the one hand, it
is necessary to avoid flow separations and potentially resulting hazardous
events during take-off and climb operation up to Mach 0.3. On the other
hand, the inlet should be highly efficient during cruise operation at high
flight velocities above Mach 0.8.
 9

High efficiency at high subsonic flight velocities can be achieved by a thin

lip contour combined with a small entry area 𝐴1 to minimize drag. Also,
a longer diffuser can be required to avoid flow separations when the entry
area is reduced. Pitot inlets can be used for flight Mach numbers up to 1.6
without significant losses. This way, resulting losses, due to spillage drag,
can be reduced

At low aircraft velocities during take-off and climb, where high angles
of incidence and crosswind can occur, a sharp or thin lip contour is
susceptible to flow separation and its potential negative consequences. A
round and thick inlet lip with a large inlet area is ideal for these
operating conditions. However, such a ‘blunt’ lip geometry causes
higher drag, and thus reduced efficiency during operation at higher flight
Mach numbers.

Hence, conventional rigid inlets can only accomplish a geometry that

provides a trade-off concerning minimum drag at high velocities and
avoidance of flow separation at low velocities. This results in increased
drag at high flight velocities compared to an ideal contour for these
operating conditions. Nevertheless, the limitations of conventional rigid
inlets can be circumvented better by using variable pitot inlets, which
adjust the ideal inlet geometry for each flight condition. As a result,
efficiency can be improved, and maximum flight speed can be increased
up to Mach 1.6, while flow separations are avoided.
A potential reason is that these studies focus on subsonic operation,
where limited efficiency gains are expectable. The small expectable
advantages of the improved aerodynamics could be eliminated or even
negated by the additional weight and the higher complexity of the
variable design. Hence, supersonic applications up to flight speeds of
Mach 1.6 are investigated in this study. However, the exact aerodynamic
 10

potential of supersonic pitot inlets must be identified by determining and

analyzing the ideal geometries for the expected operating conditions.

The parameterized sketch is used to examine the influence of geometric

parameters on the inlet drag and losses, as well as the provided mass
flow quantity and the occurrence of flow separation at subsonic and
supersonic flight conditions by means of a flow analysis. The geometric
parameters, which are utilized to investigate the influence on the inlet
evaluation criteria during the optimization, are:

• The inlet length 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑙, comprising the diffuser length 𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑓 and the lip
length 𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝,

• The radial lip height h𝑙𝑖𝑝 and length 𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝, which contribute to the lip
fineness ratio 𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑝⁄h𝑙𝑖𝑝 [2],

• The inlet throat radius 𝑟, which contributes to the lip contraction ratio
(𝑟 + h )2⁄(𝑟 )2 [2] and 𝑡h 𝑡h 𝑙𝑖𝑝 𝑡h
 11

• The forebody height h𝑒𝑥𝑡 that describes the curvature and thickness of
the external contour.

Capture Area Calculation and Normal Shock Inlet (Ma<1.6)

To have the normal shock placed at the entrance of the inlet and minimum
station of the inlet be critical, M min= 1.6, we must have a specific area
ratio for the inlet that will permit this situation to exist. The flight Mach
number for which this situation exists is called the starting Mach
number, Ms. The required area ratio at this Mach number, noting that
under the condition of maximum captured stream tube area A 1 =A 0, is
given as follows:

These requires the ratio of the critical area in the free stream, A 0 ∗, to the
critical area within the inlet, A min. The relationship between the critical
area in free stream A 0 ∗ and the critical area in inlet A min may be
obtained from the condition for mass conservation across a normal shock
wave.
Note that because the stagnation pressure across a shock wave always
decreases, the critical area behind the shock is always larger than that
upstream of the shock. With this information, the expression for the inlet
geometry at the starting Mach number becomes:

Consideration of the stream tube capture area for all operating regimes
can be determined as follows. For flight at subsonic Mach
number, M 0 <1.6, the maximum value of the ratio of the stream tube
capture area to the inlet entrance area is:
 12

But for maximum mass flow at this subsonic flight condition, the inlet
minimum, or throat, area A min =A 0 ∗so that

" # #%&.($) *
= ( )
"∗ $ #.(
# #%&.((&.+)) *
= ( )
&.+ #.(
= 0.747

Total Pressure Recovery

The performance of an aero engine inlet is primarily evaluated by its

achieved pressure recovery, provided flow uniformity and produced
external drag. The pressure recovery of the inlet influences the amount
of thrust that an engine can provide. Hereby, 10% loss of pressure
recovery is equal to 1 % up to 15 % loss of thrust. At high-speed flight,
the inlet converts the free stream air in front of the aero engine to an
internal air flow of a lower Mach number and a higher static pressure to
satisfy the requirements of the engine. Thereby, the free stream total
pressure 𝑝𝑡0 is reduced to a value 𝑝𝑡2 at the fan face due to losses.
These losses of total pressure can be caused by surface friction, turbulent
 13

mixing in association with flow separation, and compressible effects,

shock waves. The pressure recovery ratio of 𝑝𝑡2 to 𝑝𝑡0 is commonly
fused to describe the efficiency of an inlet

Aft Fuselage Mounted

Advantages:

• Greater maximum lift coefficient due to elimination of wing-pylon

and exhaust-flap interference, i.e., no flap cut-outs.
• Less drag, particularly in the critical take-off climb phase, due to
eliminating wing-pylon interference
• Less asymmetric yaw after engine failure with engines close to the
fuselage.
• Lower fuselage height permitting shorter landing gear and air stair
lengths.
• Last but not least - it may be the fashion.

Disadvantages:

• The center of gravity of the empty airplane is moved aft - well

behind the center of gravity of the payload. Thus, a greater center
of gravity range is required. This leads to more difficult balance
problems and generally a larger tail.
• The wing weight advantage of wing mounted engines is lost.
 14

• The wheels kick up water on wet runways and special deflectors

on the gear may be needed to avoid water ingestion into the
engines.
• At very high angles of attack, the nacelle wake blankets the T-tail,
necessary with aft-fuselage mounted engines, and may cause a
locked-in deep stall. This requires a large tail span that puts part of
the horizontal tail well outboard of the nacelles.
• Vibration and noise isolation for fuselage mounted engines is a
difficult problem.
• Fuselage mounted engines reduce the rolling moment of inertia.
This can be a disadvantage if there is significant rolling moment
created by asymmetric stalling. The result can be an excessive roll
rate at the stall
Nozzle Integration
Cruise efficiency:
0.7*0.747=0.5229

Exhaust nozzle design produce maximum thrust (relative to the ideal

thrust) for the given engine exhaust conditions of flow, pressure, and
temperature and minimize the external interference drag in low-speed
(takeoff, approach) and in cruise at different engine power settings. For
industrial and cost reasons all nacelles on the aircraft are similar and inter-
changeable. There is thus normally one definition of exhaust system on
an aircraft. The exhaust system of the engine constitutes the rear part of
the nacelle. Nozzle exhaust areas and the internal contour of the exhausts
have to be adapted to nozzle pressure ratios and exhaust profiles for
optimum performance. Core flow exhaust nozzles with or without an
external center plug must be adapted to flow conditions,

pressures, and temperatures at the exit of the last turbine stage (low
pressure turbine) for optimum performance. The pylon, sometimes called
Strut, affects not only the external flow but also the internal exhaust flow
in the bypass duct and nozzle. Pylon layout inside the bypass exhaust and
externally in the exhaust stream must take into account com- plex flow
 15

conditions to avoid drag increase and degradation of the exhaust

performance, particularly in cruise conditions with supersonic flow out of
the bypass exhaust. Pylon sizing and internal volume must take into
account the internal supporting structure for the engine mounting, the
systems conduits for air, hydraulics, fuel, electrical circuits, and in some
installations additional air-coolers. A critical load case the fan blades out
at maximum engine speed. Additional items are fire-protection, and heat
shielding from the hot exhaust gases. Thrust reversers are a means to
decelerate the aircraft on the runway. Although today’s aircraft
certification rules do not allow any allowance for reverse thrust for the
certified stopping and landing distances, they are the only means
controlling the aircraft on slippery runways and provide an additional
means of slowing down the aircraft during ground operation.

• High bypass-ratio engines (typical of current modern transport

aircraft) only install reversers for the fan flow. Reversers for the core
(hot) engine flow are not used due to the very little reverse thrust
and weight, complexity and cost of a reverse system for the hot
exhaust.

• Current thrust reversers either of the cascade type (turning flow

through cascades and blocking the flow into the exhaust nozzle by
blocker doors) or of the pivoting door type (pivoting doors replace
cascades and blocker doors) can only produce a reverse thrust in the
order of 20–22% of the forward thrust.

• Reverser operation on the runway shall not cause hot-gas re-

ingestion from the inlet.

• The thrust reverser is an integral part of the over-all nacelle

aerodynamic and systems definition and must be taken into account
 16

early in the design process to ensure optimum nacelle design and

airframe integration.