A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion . The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the additional fan stage. It consists of a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanical energy from combustion, and a ducted fan that uses the mechanical energy from the gas turbine to force air rearwards. Thus, whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the combustion chamber and turbines, in a turbofan some of that air bypasses these components. A turbofan thus can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust .
93-640: The Xi'an MA60 ( 新舟60 , Xīnzhōu liùshí , "Modern Ark 60") is a turboprop -powered airliner produced by China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The MA60 is a stretched version of the Xi'an Y7-200A , which was produced based on the An-24 to operate in rugged conditions with limited ground support and has short take-off and landing (STOL) capability. The airplane received its type certificate from
186-406: A constant-speed propeller increase their pitch as aircraft speed increases. Another benefit of this type of propeller is that it can also be used to generate reverse thrust to reduce stopping distance on the runway. Additionally, in the event of an engine failure, the propeller can be feathered , thus minimizing the drag of the non-functioning propeller. While the power turbine may be integral with
279-419: A discordant nature known as "buzz saw" noise. All modern turbofan engines have acoustic liners in the nacelle to damp their noise. They extend as much as possible to cover the largest surface area. The acoustic performance of the engine can be experimentally evaluated by means of ground tests or in dedicated experimental test rigs. In the aerospace industry, chevrons are the "saw-tooth" patterns on
372-410: A fixed total applied fuel:air ratio, the total fuel flow for a given fan airflow will be the same, regardless of the dry specific thrust of the engine. However, a high specific thrust turbofan will, by definition, have a higher nozzle pressure ratio, resulting in a higher afterburning net thrust and, therefore, a lower afterburning specific fuel consumption (SFC). However, high specific thrust engines have
465-426: A high dry SFC. The situation is reversed for a medium specific thrust afterburning turbofan: i.e., poor afterburning SFC/good dry SFC. The former engine is suitable for a combat aircraft which must remain in afterburning combat for a fairly long period, but has to fight only fairly close to the airfield (e.g. cross border skirmishes). The latter engine is better for an aircraft that has to fly some distance, or loiter for
558-416: A higher nozzle pressure ratio than the turbojet, but with a lower exhaust temperature to retain net thrust. Since the temperature rise across the whole engine (intake to nozzle) would be lower, the (dry power) fuel flow would also be reduced, resulting in a better specific fuel consumption (SFC). Some low-bypass ratio military turbofans (e.g. F404 , JT8D ) have variable inlet guide vanes to direct air onto
651-416: A large amount of air by a small degree than a small amount of air by a large degree, a low disc loading (thrust per unit disc area) increases the aircraft's energy efficiency , and this reduces the fuel use. Propellers work well until the flight speed of the aircraft is high enough that the airflow past the blade tips reaches the speed of sound. Beyond that speed, the proportion of the power that drives
744-572: A long time, before going into combat. However, the pilot can afford to stay in afterburning only for a short period, before aircraft fuel reserves become dangerously low. The first production afterburning turbofan engine was the Pratt & Whitney TF30 , which initially powered the F-111 Aardvark and F-14 Tomcat . Low-bypass military turbofans include the Pratt & Whitney F119 , the Eurojet EJ200 ,
837-401: A pound of thrust, more fuel is wasted in the faster propelling jet. In other words, the independence of thermal and propulsive efficiencies, as exists with the piston engine/propeller combination which preceded the turbojet, is lost. In contrast, Roth considers regaining this independence the single most important feature of the turbofan which allows specific thrust to be chosen independently of
930-403: A pure-jet of the same thrust, and jet noise is no longer the predominant source. Turbofan engine noise propagates both upstream via the inlet and downstream via the primary nozzle and the by-pass duct. Other noise sources are the fan, compressor and turbine. Modern commercial aircraft employ high-bypass-ratio (HBPR) engines with separate flow, non-mixing, short-duct exhaust systems. Their noise
1023-550: A static thrust of 4,320 lb (1,960 kg), and had a bypass ratio of 6:1. The General Electric TF39 became the first production model, designed to power the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy military transport aircraft. The civil General Electric CF6 engine used a derived design. Other high-bypass turbofans are the Pratt & Whitney JT9D , the three-shaft Rolls-Royce RB211 and the CFM International CFM56 ; also
SECTION 10
#17328452696851116-575: A test-bed not intended for production. It first flew on 20 September 1945. From their experience with the Trent, Rolls-Royce developed the Rolls-Royce Clyde , the first turboprop engine to receive a type certificate for military and civil use, and the Dart , which became one of the most reliable turboprop engines ever built. Dart production continued for more than fifty years. The Dart-powered Vickers Viscount
1209-473: A turbofan engine is the ratio between the mass flow rate of the bypass stream to the mass flow rate entering the core. A bypass ratio of 6, for example, means that 6 times more air passes through the bypass duct than the amount that passes through the combustion chamber. Turbofan engines are usually described in terms of BPR, which together with overall pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature and fan pressure ratio are important design parameters. In addition BPR
1302-421: A turbojet engine uses all of the engine's output to produce thrust in the form of a hot high-velocity exhaust gas jet, a turbofan's cool low-velocity bypass air yields between 30% and 70% of the total thrust produced by a turbofan system. The thrust ( F N ) generated by a turbofan depends on the effective exhaust velocity of the total exhaust, as with any jet engine, but because two exhaust jets are present
1395-496: A turbojet even though an extra turbine, a gearbox and a propeller are added to the turbojet's low-loss propelling nozzle. The turbofan has additional losses from its greater number of compressor stages/blades, fan and bypass duct. Froude, or propulsive, efficiency can be defined as: η f = 2 1 + V j V a {\displaystyle \eta _{f}={\frac {2}{1+{\frac {V_{j}}{V_{a}}}}}} where: While
1488-704: A turbojet which accelerates a smaller amount more quickly, which is a less efficient way to generate the same thrust (see the efficiency section below). The ratio of the mass-flow of air bypassing the engine core compared to the mass-flow of air passing through the core is referred to as the bypass ratio . Engines with more jet thrust relative to fan thrust are known as low-bypass turbofans , those that have considerably more fan thrust than jet thrust are known as high-bypass . Most commercial aviation jet engines in use are high-bypass, and most modern fighter engines are low-bypass. Afterburners are used on low-bypass turbofans on combat aircraft. The bypass ratio (BPR) of
1581-429: Is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller . A turboprop consists of an intake , reduction gearbox , compressor , combustor , turbine , and a propelling nozzle . Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel is then added to the compressed air in the combustor, where the fuel-air mixture then combusts . The hot combustion gases expand through the turbine stages, generating power at
1674-507: Is best suited to high supersonic speeds. If it is all transferred to a separate big mass of air with low kinetic energy, the aircraft is best suited to zero speed (hovering). For speeds in between, the gas power is shared between a separate airstream and the gas turbine's own nozzle flow in a proportion which gives the aircraft performance required. The trade off between mass flow and velocity is also seen with propellers and helicopter rotors by comparing disc loading and power loading. For example,
1767-410: Is considerable potential for reducing fuel consumption for the same core cycle by increasing BPR.This is achieved because of the reduction in pounds of thrust per lb/sec of airflow (specific thrust) and the resultant reduction in lost kinetic energy in the jets (increase in propulsive efficiency). If all the gas power from a gas turbine is converted to kinetic energy in a propelling nozzle, the aircraft
1860-430: Is due to the speed, temperature, and pressure of the exhaust jet, especially during high-thrust conditions, such as those required for takeoff. The primary source of jet noise is the turbulent mixing of shear layers in the engine's exhaust. These shear layers contain instabilities that lead to highly turbulent vortices that generate the pressure fluctuations responsible for sound. To reduce the noise associated with jet flow,
1953-482: Is normally a constant-speed (variable pitch) propeller type similar to that used with larger aircraft reciprocating engines , except that the propeller-control requirements are very different. Due to the turbine engine's slow response to power inputs, particularly at low speeds, the propeller has a greater range of selected travel in order to make rapid thrust changes, notably for taxi, reverse, and other ground operations. The propeller has 2 modes, Alpha and Beta. Alpha
SECTION 20
#17328452696852046-413: Is quoted for turboprop and unducted fan installations because their high propulsive efficiency gives them the overall efficiency characteristics of very high bypass turbofans. This allows them to be shown together with turbofans on plots which show trends of reducing specific fuel consumption (SFC) with increasing BPR. BPR can also be quoted for lift fan installations where the fan airflow is remote from
2139-494: Is sacrificed in favor of shaft power, which is obtained by extracting additional power (beyond that necessary to drive the compressor) from turbine expansion. Owing to the additional expansion in the turbine system, the residual energy in the exhaust jet is low. Consequently, the exhaust jet produces about 10% of the total thrust. A higher proportion of the thrust comes from the propeller at low speeds and less at higher speeds. Turboprops have bypass ratios of 50–100, although
2232-420: Is sufficient core power to drive the fan. A smaller core flow/higher bypass ratio cycle can be achieved by raising the inlet temperature of the high-pressure (HP) turbine rotor. To illustrate one aspect of how a turbofan differs from a turbojet, comparisons can be made at the same airflow (to keep a common intake for example) and the same net thrust (i.e. same specific thrust). A bypass flow can be added only if
2325-424: Is that combustion is less efficient at lower speeds. Any action to reduce the fuel consumption of the engine by increasing its pressure ratio or turbine temperature to achieve better combustion causes a corresponding increase in pressure and temperature in the exhaust duct which in turn cause a higher gas speed from the propelling nozzle (and higher KE and wasted fuel). Although the engine would use less fuel to produce
2418-404: Is the mode for all flight operations including takeoff. Beta, a mode typically consisting of zero to negative thrust, is used for all ground operations aside from takeoff. The Beta mode is further broken down into 2 additional modes, Beta for taxi and Beta plus power. Beta for taxi as the name implies is used for taxi operations and consists of all pitch ranges from the lowest alpha range pitch, all
2511-411: Is very fuel intensive. Consequently, afterburning can be used only for short portions of a mission. Unlike in the main engine, where stoichiometric temperatures in the combustor have to be reduced before they reach the turbine, an afterburner at maximum fuelling is designed to produce stoichiometric temperatures at entry to the nozzle, about 2,100 K (3,800 °R; 3,300 °F; 1,800 °C). At
2604-472: The Bristol Olympus , and Pratt & Whitney JT3C engines, increased the overall pressure ratio and thus the thermodynamic efficiency of engines. They also had poor propulsive efficiency, because pure turbojets have a high specific thrust/high velocity exhaust, which is better suited to supersonic flight. The original low-bypass turbofan engines were designed to improve propulsive efficiency by reducing
2697-677: The General Electric F110 , the Klimov RD-33 , and the Saturn AL-31 , all of which feature a mixed exhaust, afterburner and variable area propelling nozzle. To further improve fuel economy and reduce noise, almost all jet airliners and most military transport aircraft (e.g., the C-17 ) are powered by low-specific-thrust/high-bypass-ratio turbofans. These engines evolved from the high-specific-thrust/low-bypass-ratio turbofans used in such aircraft in
2790-616: The P-3 Orion , and the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. The first turbine-powered, shaft-driven helicopter was the Kaman K-225 , a development of Charles Kaman 's K-125 synchropter , which used a Boeing T50 turboshaft engine to power it on 11 December 1951. December 1963 saw the first delivery of Pratt & Whitney Canada's PT6 turboprop engine for the then Beechcraft 87, soon to become Beechcraft King Air . 1964 saw
2883-830: The Piper Meridian , Socata TBM , Pilatus PC-12 , Piaggio P.180 Avanti , Beechcraft King Air and Super King Air . In April 2017, there were 14,311 business turboprops in the worldwide fleet. Between 2012 and 2016, the ATSB observed 417 events with turboprop aircraft, 83 per year, over 1.4 million flight hours: 2.2 per 10,000 hours. Three were "high risk" involving engine malfunction and unplanned landing in single‑engine Cessna 208 Caravans , four "medium risk" and 96% "low risk". Two occurrences resulted in minor injuries due to engine malfunction and terrain collision in agricultural aircraft and five accidents involved aerial work: four in agriculture and one in an air ambulance . Jane's All
Xi'an MA60 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2976-590: The Tupolev Tu-114 can reach 470 kn (870 km/h; 540 mph). Large military aircraft , like the Tupolev Tu-95 , and civil aircraft , such as the Lockheed L-188 Electra , were also turboprop powered. The Airbus A400M is powered by four Europrop TP400 engines, which are the second most powerful turboprop engines ever produced, after the 11 MW (15,000 hp) Kuznetsov NK-12 . In 2017,
3069-421: The 1960s. Modern combat aircraft tend to use low-bypass ratio turbofans, and some military transport aircraft use turboprops . Low specific thrust is achieved by replacing the multi-stage fan with a single-stage unit. Unlike some military engines, modern civil turbofans lack stationary inlet guide vanes in front of the fan rotor. The fan is scaled to achieve the desired net thrust. The core (or gas generator) of
3162-546: The Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) suspended the airworthiness certificate of the MA60 following a tail strike accident. The aircraft was allowed to operate again one day later. In August 2020, Nepal Airlines grounded its fleet of 2 MA60s due to their sub-standard performance and high operating costs. The aircraft had been acquired in 2012 and as per a Nepal Airlines board member, "The 2012 decision to buy
3255-630: The Civil Aviation Administration of China in June 2000. The MA60 has not applied for FAA (US) and EASA (Europe) type certification, and is not certified for use in the European Union or the US. The general designer of MA-60 series is Lü Hai ( 吕海 ). As of October 2006, XAC has received over 90 MA60 orders. The factory had delivered 23 MA60s by the end of 2006, and expects to deliver an additional 165 by
3348-519: The Soviet Union had the technology to create the airframe for a jet-powered strategic bomber comparable to Boeing's B-52 Stratofortress , they instead produced the Tupolev Tu-95 Bear, powered with four Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprops, mated to eight contra-rotating propellers (two per nacelle) with supersonic tip speeds to achieve maximum cruise speeds in excess of 575 mph, faster than many of
3441-585: The World's Aircraft . 2005–2006. Turbofan The ratio of the mass-flow of air bypassing the engine core to the mass-flow of air passing through the core is referred to as the bypass ratio . The engine produces thrust through a combination of these two portions working together. Engines that use more jet thrust relative to fan thrust are known as low-bypass turbofans ; conversely those that have considerably more fan thrust than jet thrust are known as high-bypass . Most commercial aviation jet engines in use are of
3534-464: The aerospace industry has sought to disrupt shear layer turbulence and reduce the overall noise produced. Fan noise may come from the interaction of the fan-blade wakes with the pressure field of the downstream fan-exit stator vanes. It may be minimized by adequate axial spacing between blade trailing edge and stator entrance. At high engine speeds, as at takeoff, shock waves from the supersonic fan tips, because of their unequal nature, produce noise of
3627-422: The afterburner, raising the temperature of exhaust gases by a significant degree, resulting in a higher exhaust velocity/engine specific thrust. The variable geometry nozzle must open to a larger throat area to accommodate the extra volume and increased flow rate when the afterburner is lit. Afterburning is often designed to give a significant thrust boost for take off, transonic acceleration and combat maneuvers, but
3720-441: The aircraft is going forwards, leaving a very fast wake. This wake contains kinetic energy that reflects the fuel used to produce it, rather than the fuel used to move the aircraft forwards. A turbofan harvests that wasted velocity and uses it to power a ducted fan that blows air in bypass channels around the rest of the turbine. This reduces the speed of the propelling jet while pushing more air, and thus more mass. The other penalty
3813-571: The aircraft was prompted by greed for commissions. The Nepali experts submitted a fabricated report. The Y12E was compared with the Twin Otter , and the MA60 was compared with the ATR 72 . Nepal Airlines is paying the price now". Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004 General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Turboprop A turboprop
Xi'an MA60 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3906-471: The average stage loading and to maintain LP turbine efficiency. Reducing core flow also increases bypass ratio. Bypass ratios greater than 5:1 are increasingly common; the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G , which entered commercial service in 2016, attains 12.5:1. Further improvements in core thermal efficiency can be achieved by raising the overall pressure ratio of the core. Improvements in blade aerodynamics can reduce
3999-417: The compressor intake is at the aft of the engine, and the exhaust is situated forward, reducing the distance between the turbine and the propeller. Unlike the small-diameter fans used in turbofan engines, the propeller has a large diameter that lets it accelerate a large volume of air. This permits a lower airstream velocity for a given amount of thrust. Since it is more efficient at low speeds to accelerate
4092-459: The control system. The turboprop system consists of 3 propeller governors , a governor, and overspeed governor, and a fuel-topping governor. The governor works in much the same way a reciprocating engine propeller governor works, though a turboprop governor may incorporate beta control valve or beta lift rod for beta operation and is typically located in the 12 o'clock position. There are also other governors that are included in addition depending on
4185-602: The country. The New Zealand Government suspended its programme of development aid to Tonga's tourism industry in July 2013 after an MA60 donated by the Chinese Government was delivered to the airline Real Tonga . In August 2013 the New Zealand Government also issued a statement advising tourists to not travel on Real Tonga's MA60 on the grounds that "this aircraft has been involved in a significant number of accidents in
4278-430: The end of 2016. The aircraft is popular with air charter companies and small feeder airlines, and is operated by private individuals and companies. As of 13 November 2015, there had been 14 accidents involving the MA60. One accident was fatal (MZ8968) resulting in 21 passenger and 4 crew deaths. This caused New Zealand to suspend tourism aid to Tonga, and warned tourists about flying the aircraft which had been donated to
4371-445: The engine and doesn't flow past the engine core. Considering a constant core (i.e. fixed pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature), core and bypass jet velocities equal and a particular flight condition (i.e. Mach number and altitude) the fuel consumption per lb of thrust (sfc) decreases with increase in BPR. At the same time gross and net thrusts increase, but by different amounts. There
4464-427: The engine must generate enough power to drive the fan at its rated mass flow and pressure ratio. Improvements in turbine cooling/material technology allow for a higher (HP) turbine rotor inlet temperature, which allows a smaller (and lighter) core, potentially improving the core thermal efficiency. Reducing the core mass flow tends to increase the load on the LP turbine, so this unit may require additional stages to reduce
4557-416: The engine, from the gas generator, to a ducted fan which produces a second, additional mass of accelerated air. The transfer of energy from the core to bypass air results in lower pressure and temperature gas entering the core nozzle (lower exhaust velocity), and fan-produced higher pressure and temperature bypass-air entering the fan nozzle. The amount of energy transferred depends on how much pressure rise
4650-516: The exhaust velocity to a value closer to that of the aircraft. The Rolls-Royce Conway , the world's first production turbofan, had a bypass ratio of 0.3, similar to the modern General Electric F404 fighter engine. Civilian turbofan engines of the 1960s, such as the Pratt & Whitney JT8D and the Rolls-Royce Spey , had bypass ratios closer to 1 and were similar to their military equivalents. The first Soviet airliner powered by turbofan engines
4743-411: The fan is designed to produce (fan pressure ratio). The best energy exchange (lowest fuel consumption) between the two flows, and how the jet velocities compare, depends on how efficiently the transfer takes place which depends on the losses in the fan-turbine and fan. The fan flow has lower exhaust velocity, giving much more thrust per unit energy (lower specific thrust ). Both airstreams contribute to
SECTION 50
#17328452696854836-493: The first jet aircraft and comparable to jet cruising speeds for most missions. The Bear would serve as their most successful long-range combat and surveillance aircraft and symbol of Soviet power projection through to the end of the 20th century. The USA used turboprop engines with contra-rotating propellers, such as the Allison T40 , on some experimental aircraft during the 1950s. The T40-powered Convair R3Y Tradewind flying-boat
4929-546: The first deliveries of the Garrett AiResearch TPE331 , (now owned by Honeywell Aerospace ) on the Mitsubishi MU-2 , making it the fastest turboprop aircraft for that year. In contrast to turbofans , turboprops are most efficient at flight speeds below 725 km/h (450 mph; 390 knots) because the jet velocity of the propeller (and exhaust) is relatively low. Modern turboprop airliners operate at nearly
5022-450: The first fan rotor stage. This improves the fan surge margin (see compressor map ). Since the 1970s, most jet fighter engines have been low/medium bypass turbofans with a mixed exhaust, afterburner and variable area exit nozzle. An afterburner is a combustor located downstream of the turbine blades and directly upstream of the nozzle, which burns fuel from afterburner-specific fuel injectors. When lit, large volumes of fuel are burnt in
5115-483: The fuel consumption of the turbojet. It achieves this by pushing more air, thus increasing the mass and lowering the speed of the propelling jet compared to that of the turbojet. This is done mechanically by adding a ducted fan rather than using viscous forces. A vacuum ejector is used in conjunction with the fan as first envisaged by inventor Frank Whittle . Whittle envisioned flight speeds of 500 mph in his March 1936 UK patent 471,368 "Improvements relating to
5208-400: The gas generator cycle. The working substance of the thermodynamic cycle is the only mass accelerated to produce thrust in a turbojet which is a serious limitation (high fuel consumption) for aircraft speeds below supersonic. For subsonic flight speeds the speed of the propelling jet has to be reduced because there is a price to be paid in producing the thrust. The energy required to accelerate
5301-558: The gas generator section, many turboprops today feature a free power turbine on a separate coaxial shaft. This enables the propeller to rotate freely, independent of compressor speed. Alan Arnold Griffith had published a paper on compressor design in 1926. Subsequent work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment investigated axial compressor-based designs that would drive a propeller. From 1929, Frank Whittle began work on centrifugal compressor-based designs that would use all
5394-443: The gas inside the engine (increase in kinetic energy) is expended in two ways, by producing a change in momentum ( i.e. a force), and a wake which is an unavoidable consequence of producing thrust by an airbreathing engine (or propeller). The wake velocity, and fuel burned to produce it, can be reduced and the required thrust still maintained by increasing the mass accelerated. A turbofan does this by transferring energy available inside
5487-455: The gas power produced by the engine for jet thrust. The world's first turboprop was designed by the Hungarian mechanical engineer György Jendrassik . Jendrassik published a turboprop idea in 1928, and on 12 March 1929 he patented his invention. In 1938, he built a small-scale (100 Hp; 74.6 kW) experimental gas turbine. The larger Jendrassik Cs-1 , with a predicted output of 1,000 bhp,
5580-429: The gross thrust of the engine. The additional air for the bypass stream increases the ram drag in the air intake stream-tube, but there is still a significant increase in net thrust. The overall effective exhaust velocity of the two exhaust jets can be made closer to a normal subsonic aircraft's flight speed and gets closer to the ideal Froude efficiency . A turbofan accelerates a larger mass of air more slowly, compared to
5673-409: The high-bypass type, and most modern fighter engines are low-bypass. Afterburners are used on low-bypass turbofan engines with bypass and core mixing before the afterburner. Modern turbofans have either a large single-stage fan or a smaller fan with several stages. An early configuration combined a low-pressure turbine and fan in a single rear-mounted unit. The turbofan was invented to improve
SECTION 60
#17328452696855766-474: The hot nozzle to convert to kinetic energy. Turbofans represent an intermediate stage between turbojets , which derive all their thrust from exhaust gases, and turbo-props which derive minimal thrust from exhaust gases (typically 10% or less). Extracting shaft power and transferring it to a bypass stream introduces extra losses which are more than made up by the improved propulsive efficiency. The turboprop at its best flight speed gives significant fuel savings over
5859-672: The last few years", and the type "is not certified to fly in New Zealand or other comparable jurisdictions". Real Tonga ceased operating the MA60 in early 2015 after the Tongan Government passed legislation adopting New Zealand's civil aviation regulations. A proposal to re-establish Royal Tongan Airlines to operate the MA60 was reported later in the year. Of the 57 MA60s exported by January 2016, at least 26 were in storage after safety concerns, maintenance problems or performance issues; six others were damaged beyond repair. On 26 March 2019
5952-417: The mechanical power produced by the turbine. In a bypass design, extra turbines drive a ducted fan that accelerates air rearward from the front of the engine. In a high-bypass design, the ducted fan and nozzle produce most of the thrust. Turbofans are closely related to turboprops in principle because both transfer some of the gas turbine's gas power, using extra machinery, to a bypass stream leaving less for
6045-406: The model, such as an overspeed and fuel topping governor on a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 , and an under-speed governor on a Honeywell TPE331 . The turboprop is also distinguished from other kinds of turbine engine in that the fuel control unit is connected to the governor to help dictate power. To make the engine more compact, reverse airflow can be used. On a reverse-flow turboprop engine,
6138-612: The most widespread turboprop airliners in service were the ATR 42 / 72 (950 aircraft), Bombardier Q400 (506), De Havilland Canada Dash 8 -100/200/300 (374), Beechcraft 1900 (328), de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (270), Saab 340 (225). Less widespread and older airliners include the BAe Jetstream 31 , Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia , Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner , Dornier 328 , Saab 2000 , Xian MA60 , MA600 and MA700 , Fokker 27 and 50 . Turboprop business aircraft include
6231-525: The number of extra compressor stages required, and variable geometry stators enable high-pressure-ratio compressors to work surge-free at all throttle settings. The first (experimental) high-bypass turbofan engine was the AVCO-Lycoming PLF1A-2, a Honeywell T55 turboshaft-derived engine that was first run in February 1962. The PLF1A-2 had a 40 in diameter (100 cm) geared fan stage, produced
6324-416: The pilot not being able to see out of the rear of the aircraft for backing and the amount of debris reverse stirs up, manufacturers will often limit the speeds beta plus power may be used and restrict its use on unimproved runways. Feathering of these propellers is performed by the propeller control lever. The constant-speed propeller is distinguished from the reciprocating engine constant-speed propeller by
6417-403: The point of exhaust. Some of the power generated by the turbine is used to drive the compressor and electric generator . The gases are then exhausted from the turbine. In contrast to a turbojet or turbofan , the engine's exhaust gases do not provide enough power to create significant thrust, since almost all of the engine's power is used to drive the propeller. Exhaust thrust in a turboprop
6510-494: The propeller that is converted to propeller thrust falls dramatically. For this reason turboprop engines are not commonly used on aircraft that fly faster than 0.6–0.7 Mach , with some exceptions such as the Tupolev Tu-95 . However, propfan engines, which are very similar to turboprop engines, can cruise at flight speeds approaching 0.75 Mach. To maintain propeller efficiency across a wide range of airspeeds, turboprops use constant-speed (variable-pitch) propellers. The blades of
6603-477: The propeller. This allows for propeller strike or similar damage to occur without damaging the gas generator and allowing for only the power section (turbine and gearbox) to be removed and replaced in such an event, and also allows for less stress on the start during engine ground starts. Whereas a fixed shaft has the gearbox and gas generator connected, such as on the Honeywell TPE331 . The propeller itself
6696-399: The propulsion airflow is less clearly defined for propellers than for fans. The propeller is coupled to the turbine through a reduction gear that converts the high RPM /low torque output to low RPM/high torque. This can be of two primary designs, free-turbine and fixed. A free-turbine turboshaft found on the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 , where the gas generator is not connected to
6789-414: The propulsion of aircraft", in which he describes the principles behind the turbofan, although not called as such at that time. While the turbojet uses the gas from its thermodynamic cycle as its propelling jet, for aircraft speeds below 500 mph there are two penalties to this design which are addressed by the turbofan. Firstly, energy is wasted as the propelling jet is going much faster rearwards than
6882-399: The same helicopter weight can be supported by a high power engine and small diameter rotor or, for less fuel, a lower power engine and bigger rotor with lower velocity through the rotor. Bypass usually refers to transferring gas power from a gas turbine to a bypass stream of air to reduce fuel consumption and jet noise. Alternatively, there may be a requirement for an afterburning engine where
6975-585: The same speed as small regional jet airliners but burn two-thirds of the fuel per passenger. Compared to piston engines, their greater power-to-weight ratio (which allows for shorter takeoffs) and reliability can offset their higher initial cost, maintenance and fuel consumption. As jet fuel can be easier to obtain than avgas in remote areas, turboprop-powered aircraft like the Cessna Caravan and Quest Kodiak are used as bush airplanes . Turboprop engines are generally used on small subsonic aircraft, but
7068-502: The sole requirement for bypass is to provide cooling air. This sets the lower limit for BPR and these engines have been called "leaky" or continuous bleed turbojets (General Electric YJ-101 BPR 0.25) and low BPR turbojets (Pratt & Whitney PW1120). Low BPR (0.2) has also been used to provide surge margin as well as afterburner cooling for the Pratt & Whitney J58 . Propeller engines are most efficient for low speeds, turbojet engines for high speeds, and turbofan engines between
7161-520: The technology and materials available at the time. The first turbofan engine, which was only run on a test bed, was the German Daimler-Benz DB 670 , designated the 109-007 by the German RLM ( Ministry of Aviation ), with a first run date of 27 May 1943, after the testing of the turbomachinery using an electric motor, which had been undertaken on 1 April 1943. Development of the engine
7254-497: The thrust equation can be expanded as: F N = m ˙ e v h e − m ˙ o v o + B P R ( m ˙ c ) v f {\displaystyle F_{N}={\dot {m}}_{e}v_{he}-{\dot {m}}_{o}v_{o}+BPR\,({\dot {m}}_{c})v_{f}} where: The cold duct and core duct's nozzle systems are relatively complex due to
7347-665: The trailing edges of some jet engine nozzles that are used for noise reduction . The shaped edges smooth the mixing of hot air from the engine core and cooler air flowing through the engine fan, which reduces noise-creating turbulence. Chevrons were developed by GE under a NASA contract. Some notable examples of such designs are Boeing 787 and Boeing 747-8 – on the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 and General Electric GEnx engines. Early turbojet engines were not very fuel-efficient because their overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature were severely limited by
7440-428: The turbine inlet temperature is not too high to compensate for the smaller core flow. Future improvements in turbine cooling/material technology can allow higher turbine inlet temperature, which is necessary because of increased cooling air temperature, resulting from an overall pressure ratio increase. The resulting turbofan, with reasonable efficiencies and duct loss for the added components, would probably operate at
7533-476: The two flows may combine within the ducts, and share a common nozzle, which can be fitted with afterburner. Most of the air flow through a high-bypass turbofan is lower-velocity bypass flow: even when combined with the much-higher-velocity engine exhaust, the average exhaust velocity is considerably lower than in a pure turbojet. Turbojet engine noise is predominately jet noise from the high exhaust velocity. Therefore, turbofan engines are significantly quieter than
7626-418: The two. Turbofans are the most efficient engines in the range of speeds from about 500 to 1,000 km/h (270 to 540 kn; 310 to 620 mph), the speed at which most commercial aircraft operate. In a turbojet (zero-bypass) engine, the high temperature and high pressure exhaust gas is accelerated when it undergoes expansion through a propelling nozzle and produces all the thrust. The compressor absorbs
7719-510: The use of two separate exhaust flows. In high bypass engines, the fan is situated in a short duct near the front of the engine and typically has a convergent cold nozzle, with the tail of the duct forming a low pressure ratio nozzle that under normal conditions will choke creating supersonic flow patterns around the core . The core nozzle is more conventional, but generates less of the thrust, and depending on design choices, such as noise considerations, may conceivably not choke. In low bypass engines
7812-410: The way down to zero pitch, producing very little to zero-thrust and is typically accessed by moving the power lever to a beta for taxi range. Beta plus power is a reverse range and produces negative thrust, often used for landing on short runways where the aircraft would need to rapidly slow down, as well as backing operations and is accessed by moving the power lever below the beta for taxi range. Due to
7905-676: The world, with an experience base of over 10 million service hours. The CF700 turbofan engine was also used to train Moon-bound astronauts in Project Apollo as the powerplant for the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle . A high-specific-thrust/low-bypass-ratio turbofan normally has a multi-stage fan behind inlet guide vanes, developing a relatively high pressure ratio and, thus, yielding a high (mixed or cold) exhaust velocity. The core airflow needs to be large enough to ensure there
7998-599: Was abandoned with its problems unsolved, as the war situation worsened for Germany. Later in 1943, the British ground tested the Metrovick F.3 turbofan, which used the Metrovick F.2 turbojet as a gas generator with the exhaust discharging into a close-coupled aft-fan module comprising a contra-rotating LP turbine system driving two co-axial contra-rotating fans. Improved materials, and the introduction of twin compressors, such as in
8091-629: Was derived from the General Electric J85/CJ610 turbojet 2,850 lbf (12,700 N) to power the larger Rockwell Sabreliner 75/80 model aircraft, as well as the Dassault Falcon 20 , with about a 50% increase in thrust to 4,200 lbf (19,000 N). The CF700 was the first small turbofan to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). There were at one time over 400 CF700 aircraft in operation around
8184-403: Was destroyed in a bombing raid. In 1941, the engine was abandoned due to war, and the factory converted to conventional engine production. The first mention of turboprop engines in the general public press was in the February 1944 issue of the British aviation publication Flight , which included a detailed cutaway drawing of what a possible future turboprop engine could look like. The drawing
8277-686: Was operated by the U.S. Navy for a short time. The first American turboprop engine was the General Electric XT31 , first used in the experimental Consolidated Vultee XP-81 . The XP-81 first flew in December 1945, the first aircraft to use a combination of turboprop and turbojet power. The technology of Allison's earlier T38 design evolved into the Allison T56 , used to power the Lockheed Electra airliner, its military maritime patrol derivative
8370-629: Was produced and tested at the Ganz Works in Budapest between 1937 and 1941. It was of axial-flow design with 15 compressor and 7 turbine stages, annular combustion chamber. First run in 1940, combustion problems limited its output to 400 bhp. Two Jendrassik Cs-1s were the engines for the world's first turboprop aircraft – the Varga RMI-1 X/H . This was a Hungarian fighter-bomber of WWII which had one model completed, but before its first flight it
8463-568: Was the Tupolev Tu-124 introduced in 1962. It used the Soloviev D-20 . 164 aircraft were produced between 1960 and 1965 for Aeroflot and other Eastern Bloc airlines, with some operating until the early 1990s. The first General Electric turbofan was the aft-fan CJ805-23 , based on the CJ805-3 turbojet. It was followed by the aft-fan General Electric CF700 engine, with a 2.0 bypass ratio. This
8556-593: Was the first turboprop aircraft of any kind to go into production and sold in large numbers. It was also the first four-engined turboprop. Its first flight was on 16 July 1948. The world's first single engined turboprop aircraft was the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba -powered Boulton Paul Balliol , which first flew on 24 March 1948. The Soviet Union built on German World War II turboprop preliminary design work by Junkers Motorenwerke, while BMW, Heinkel-Hirth and Daimler-Benz also worked on projected designs. While
8649-481: Was very close to what the future Rolls-Royce Trent would look like. The first British turboprop engine was the Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent , a converted Derwent II fitted with reduction gear and a Rotol 7 ft 11 in (2.41 m) five-bladed propeller. Two Trents were fitted to Gloster Meteor EE227 — the sole "Trent-Meteor" — which thus became the world's first turboprop-powered aircraft to fly, albeit as
#684315