Turboprop

Not to be confused with propfan.

A turboprop engine is a turbine engine that drives an

In its simplest form a turboprop consists of an intake,

compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air is drawn into the intake and 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.
Some of the power generated by the turbine is used to
drive the compressor. The rest is transmitted through the
reduction gearing to the propeller. Further expansion of
the gases occurs in the propelling nozzle, where the gases
exhaust to atmospheric pressure. The propelling nozzle
provides a relatively small proportion of the thrust generated by a turboprop.

Turboprops are most ecient at ight speeds below 725

km/h (450 mph; 390 knots) because the jet velocity
of the propeller (and exhaust) is relatively low. Due
to the high price of turboprop engines, they are mostly
used where high-performance short-takeo and landing
(STOL) capability and eciency at modest ight speeds
are required. The most common application of turboprop engines in civilian aviation is in small commuter
aircraft, where their greater power and reliability than
reciprocating engines osets their higher initial cost and
fuel consumption. Turboprop airliners now operate at
near the same speed as small turbofan-powered aircraft
but burn two-thirds of the fuel per passenger.[2] However, compared to a turbojet (which can y at high altitude for enhanced speed and fuel eciency) a propeller
aircraft has a much lower ceiling. Turboprop-powered
aircraft have become popular for bush airplanes such as
An ATR-72, a typical turboprop aircraft.
the Cessna Caravan and Quest Kodiak as jet fuel is easier
[1]
aircraft propeller. In contrast to a turbojet, the engines to obtain in remote areas than is aviation-grade gasoline
exhaust gases do not contain enough energy to create sig- (avgas).
nicant thrust, since almost all of the engines power is
used to drive the propeller.
Schematic diagram showing the operation of a turboprop engine

The propeller is coupled to the turbine through a 1 Technological aspects

reduction gear that converts the high RPM, low torque
output to low RPM, high torque. The propeller itself is Exhaust thrust in a turboprop is sacriced in favor of shaft
normally a constant speed (variable pitch) type similar to power, which is obtained by extracting additional power
that used with larger reciprocating aircraft engines.
(up to that necessary to drive the compressor) from turTurboprop engines are generally used on small subsonic bine expansion. Owing to the additional expansion in the
system, the residual energy in the exhaust jet is
aircraft, but some aircraft outtted with turboprops have turbine
[3][4][5]
Consequently, the exhaust jet produces (typilow.
cruising speeds in excess of 500 kt (926 km/h, 575
cally)
less
than
10% of the total thrust,[6] and turboprops
mph). Large military and civil aircraft, such as the
[7][8][9]
although the
Lockheed L-188 Electra and the Tupolev Tu-95, have can have bypass ratios up to 50-100
propulsion
airow
is
less
clearly
dened
for
propellers
also used turboprop power. The Airbus A400M is pow[10]
than
for
fans.
ered by four Europrop TP400 engines, which are the third
most powerful turboprop engines ever produced, after the Unlike the small diameter fans used in turbofan jet enKuznetsov NK-12 and Progress D-27.
gines, the propeller has a large diameter that lets it accel1

HISTORY

the propeller to rotate freely, independent of compressor

speed.[15] Residual thrust on a turboshaft is avoided by
further expansion in the turbine system and/or truncating and turning the exhaust 180 degrees, to produce two
opposing jets. Apart from the above, there is very little
dierence between a turboprop and a turboshaft.[9]
Some commercial aircraft with turboprop engines include
the Bombardier Dash 8, ATR 42, ATR 72, BAe Jetstream 31, Beechcraft 1900, Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia,
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, Dornier 328, Saab 340
and 2000, Xian MA60, Xian MA600, and Xian MA700,
Fokker 27, 50 and 60.

2 History
Flow past a turboprop engine in operation

erate a large volume of air. This permits a lower airstream

velocity for a given amount of thrust. As it is more ecient at low speeds to accelerate a large amount of air
by a small degree than a small amount of air by a large
degree,[11][12] a low disc loading (thrust per disc area) increases the aircrafts energy eciency, and this reduces
the fuel use.[13][14]
Since propellers are not ecient when their tips reach
or exceed supersonic speeds,[5] reduction gearboxes are
placed in the drive line between the power turbine and
the propeller to allow the turbine to operate at its most
ecient speed. The gearbox is part of the engine and
contains the parts necessary to operate a constant speed
propeller. This diers from the turboshaft engines used A Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent on a test rig at Hucknall, in March
in helicopters, where the gearbox is remote from the 1945
engine.[3][4]
Propellers lose eciency as aircraft speed increases,
so turboprops are normally not used on high-speed
aircraft[3][4][5] above Mach 0.6-0.7.[6] However, propfan
engines, which are very similar to turboprop engines, can
cruise at ight speeds approaching Mach 0.75. To increase propeller eciency, a mechanism can be used to
alter their pitch relative to the airspeed. A variable-pitch
propeller, also called a controllable-pitch propeller, can
also be used to generate negative thrust while decelerating on the runway. Additionally, in the event of an engine outage, the pitch can be adjusted to a vaning pitch
(called feathering), thus minimizing the drag of the nonfunctioning propeller.
While most modern turbojet and turbofan engines use
axial-ow compressors, turboprop engines usually contain at least one stage of centrifugal compression. Centrifugal compressors have the advantage of being simple
and lightweight, at the expense of a streamlined shape.

Kuznetsov NK-12M Turboprop, on a Tu-95

Alan Arnold Grith had published a paper on turbine design in 1926. Subsequent work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment investigated axial turbine designs that could
be used to supply power to a shaft and thence a propeller.
turWhile the power turbine may be integral with the gas From 1929, Frank Whittle began work on centrifugal
[16]
bine
designs
that
would
deliver
pure
jet
thrust.
generator section, many turboprops today feature a free
power turbine on a separate coaxial shaft. This enables The worlds rst turboprop was designed by the

3
on 24 March 1948.[25]

Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engine

Hungarian mechanical engineer Gyrgy Jendrassik.[17]

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.[18] The larger Jendrassik Cs-1, with a predicted
output of 1,000 bhp, was produced and tested at the
Ganz Works in Budapest between 1937 and 1941. It
was of axial-ow design with 15 compressor and 7 turbine stages, annular combustion chamber and many other
modern features. First run in 1940, combustion problems
limited its output to 400 bhp. In 1941,the engine was
abandoned due to war & the factory was turned over to
conventional engine production.The world rst turboprop
engine that went into mass production was designed by a
German engineer Max Adolf Mueller in 1942.[19]

The Soviet Union built on German World War II development by Junkers (BMW and Hirth/Daimler-Benz also
developed and partially tested designs). While the Soviet Union had the technology to create a jet-powered
strategic bomber comparable to Boeings 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 the rst 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 throughout the end of the 20th
century. The USA would incorporate contra-rotating turboprop engines, such as the ill-fated Allison T40, into a
series of experimental aircraft during the 1950s, but none
would be adopted into service.
The rst American turboprop engine was the
General Electric XT31, rst used in the experimental
Consolidated Vultee XP-81.[26] The XP-81 rst ew in
December 1945, the rst aircraft to use a combination
of turboprop and turbojet power. The technology of
the Lockheed Electra airliner was also used in military
aircraft, such as the P-3 Orion and the C-130 Hercules,
using the Allison T56. One of the most produced
turboprop engines is the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
engine.

The rst 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
[27]
The rst public mention of turboprop engine in a gen- to power it on 11 December 1951.
eral public press, was in the British aviation publication,
Flight, in February 1944 issue, which included a detailed
cutaway drawing of what a possible future turboprop en- 3 Current engines
gine could look like. The drawing was very close to
what the future Rolls-Royce Trent would look like.[20] Janes All the Worlds Aircraft. 20052006.
The rst British turboprop engine was the Rolls-Royce
RB.50 Trent, a converted Derwent II tted with reduction gear and a Rotol 7-ft, 11-in ve-bladed propeller.
4 See also
Two Trents were tted to Gloster Meteor EE227 the
sole Trent-Meteor which thus became the worlds
Jet engine
rst turboprop-powered aircraft, albeit a test-bed not in[21][22]
It rst ew on 20 Septemtended for production.
Jet aircraft
ber 1945. From their experience with the Trent, Rolls Jetboat
Royce developed the Rolls-Royce Clyde, the rst turboprop engine to be fully type certicated for military
Propfan
and civil use,[23] and the Dart, which became one of the
most reliable turboprop engines ever built. Dart pro Ramjet
duction continued for more than fty years. The Dart Scimitar propeller
powered Vickers Viscount was the rst turboprop aircraft of any kind to go into production and sold in large
Supercharger
numbers.[24] It was also the rst four-engined turboprop.
Its rst ight was on 16 July 1948. The worlds rst sin Tiltrotor
gle engined turboprop aircraft was the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba-powered Boulton Paul Balliol, which rst ew
Turbocharger

7
Turbofan
Turbojet
Turboshaft

5
5.1

References
Notes

EXTERNAL LINKS

[18] Magyar feltallk s tallmnyok - JENDRASSIK

GYRGY (1898 - 1954)". SZTNH. Retrieved 2012-0531.
[19] Green, W. and Swanborough, G.; Plane Facts, 'Max'Air
Enthusiast Vol. 1 No. 1 (1971), Page 53.
[20] Our Contribution - How Flight Introduced and Made Familiar With Gas Turbines and Jet Propulsion Flight, 11
May 1951, p. 569.
[21] James p. 251-2
[22] Green p.18-9

[1] Turboprop, Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Federal Aviation Administration, 2009.

[23] http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1950/
1950%20-%202035.html

[2] More turboprops coming to the market - maybe

[24] Green p.82

[3] "Turboprop Engine" Glenn Research Center (NASA)

[25] Green p.81

[4] "Turboprop Thrust" Glenn Research Center (NASA)

[26] Green p.57

[5] Variations of Jet Engines; Turboprop Engines

[27] Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - Collections - Kaman K-225 (Long Description)". National Air
and Space Museum. Retrieved 4 April 2013.

[6] "The turbofan engine", page 7. SRM University, Department of aerospace engineering
[7] Ilan Kroo and Juan Alonso. "Aircraft Design: Synthesis and Analysis, Propulsion Systems: Basic Concepts"
Stanford University School of Engineering, Department of
Aeronautics and Astronautics Main page

5.2 Bibliography
Green, W. and Cross, R.The Jet Aircraft of the World
(1955). London: MacDonald

[8] Prof.
Z. S. Spakovszky.
"11.5 Trends in thermal and propulsive eciency" MIT turbines, 2002.
Thermodynamics and Propulsion

Gunston, Bill (2006). The Development of Jet and

Turbine Aero Engines, 4th Edition. Sparkford, Somerset, England, UK: Patrick Stephens, Haynes Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-4477-3.

[9] Nag, P.K. "Basic And Applied Thermodynamics" p550.

Published by Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Quote: If
the cowl is removed from the fan the result is a turboprop
engine. Turbofan and turboprop engines dier mainly in
their bypass ratio 5 or 6 for turbofans and as high as 100
for turboprop.

Gunston, Bill (2006). World Encyclopedia of Aero

Engines, 5th Edition. Phoenix Mill, Gloucestershire,
England, UK: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 07509-4479-X.

[10] "Propeller thrust" Glenn Research Center (NASA)

[11] Paul Bevilaqua : The shaft driven Lift Fan propulsion system for the Joint Strike Fighter page 3. Presented 1 May
1997. DTIC.MIL Word document, 5.5 MB. Accessed:
25 February 2012.
[12] Bensen, Igor. "How they y - Bensen explains all" Gyrocopters UK. Accessed: 10 April 2014.
[13] Johnson, Wayne. Helicopter theory pp3+32, Courier
Dover Publications, 1980. Accessed: 25 February 2012.
ISBN 0-486-68230-7
[14] Wieslaw Zenon Stepniewski, C. N. Keys. Rotary-wing
aerodynamics p3, Courier Dover Publications, 1979. Accessed: 25 February 2012. ISBN 0-486-64647-5
[15] An Engine Ahead of Its Time. PT6 Nation. Pratt &
Whitney Canada.
[16] Gunston Jet, p. 120
[17] Gunston World, p.111

James, D.N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917 (1971).

London: Putnam & Co. ISBN 0-370-00084-6

6 Further reading
Van Sickle, Neil D. et al. (1999). Turboprop Engines. Van Sickles modern airmanship. McGrawHill Professional. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-07-0696334.

7 External links
Jet Turbine Planes by LtCol Silsbee USAAF, Popular Science, December 1945, rst article on turboprops printed
Wikibooks: Jet propulsion
Development of the Turboprop a 1950 Flight article on UK and US turboprop engines

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Turboprop Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboprop?oldid=673295063 Contributors: Robert Merkel, Europrobe, Stevertigo,

RTC, Ixfd64, Delirium, Rlandmann, Harry Wood, Julesd, GCarty, Pti, Robbot, Justanyone, Fuelbottle, Greyengine5, Wolfkeeper,
Wmahan, Piotrus, Trevor MacInnis, N328KF, Myfanwy, Discospinster, Qutezuce, Smyth, Tgies, Astrophysicist~enwiki, Mbini, Duk,
Hooperbloob, Andrewpmk, Mailer diablo, Irdepesca572, Unixxx, Meteoralv, Bluemoose, GraemeLeggett, Gerbrant, BD2412, Wiarthurhu,
Ian Dunster, FlaBot, Crazycomputers, Jester92, Chobot, YurikBot, Borgx, CLipka, Kvuo, Hellbus, RadioKirk, Programgeek, Cleared
as led, Gooberliberation, TDogg310, Blitterbug, Sandstein, Peyna, Chriswaterguy, Paul White, AGToth, Sardanaphalus, SmackBot,
Emoscopes, Marc Lacoste, Sadagar, Burbank~enwiki, Commander Keane bot, Polaron, Chris the speller, Moshe Constantine Hassan
Al-Silverburg, Vietlong, DHN-bot~enwiki, Terraguy, Rokadave, Mikepurves, Snowmanradio, Mugaliens, Pwjb, Matt Whyndham, The
PIPE, Sndr, Bidabadi~enwiki, Special-T, Dl2000, OnBeyondZebrax, Martin Kozk, Andkore, Richard Keatinge, Oden, Hometack, Srajan01, RottweilerCS, Billtubbs, Jqsjqs, Hcobb, Bethpage89, T J W, AntiVandalBot, Akradecki, Corella, Xnuiem, Ingolfson, Steelpillow,
Belg4mit, Connormah, Zwitterion117, BilCat, Rocinante9x, Greg Salter, Keallu, CommonsDelinker, Bobscola, Arrivisto, Tntdj, Plasticup, Bigdumbdinosaur, Amikake3, Philip Trueman, Shreditor, DesmondW, Zubairno1, Thunderbird2, Solicitr, Altadena1, AMCKen,
Jongleur100, Toymao, Dolphin51, TSRL, Muhends, ImageRemovalBot, ClueBot, Hustvedt, GreyTrafalgar, Uterus.o, HUB, Soccerrox18,
Nimbus227, Kollioman12321, SchreiberBike, C628, Ramisses, Whiterussian1974, Addbot, Rt44, Mdnavman, Lightbot, Pietrow, Ben
Ben, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Celebration1981, M0tty, Nakakapagpabagabag, SoftwareSimian, Louperibot, Smbotin, DigbyDalton, RedBot,
Sitkur1990, Lnemekhbayar, Rzuwig, Africaspotter, Jackehammond, TGCP, EmausBot, Tommy2010, Orange Suede Sofa, Delta Trine,
ClueBot NG, Mesoderm, O.Koslowski, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot, Redsh907, Modiman, BattyBot, John from Idegon, JYBot, Ruuud,
Power22 and Anonymous: 142

8.2

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