AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL

Advanced Jets
Its What You Need to Know: on the Inlet Section of a Gas Turbine Engine
Name : ______________________________________________.

Revision E
May. 2015
a.n.c

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 - duct walls come in towards each other.
2. Divergent Duct - duct walls separate out.
D. Diffuser: is a duct that, by its shape, increases the pressure and reduces the velocity of fluid flowing through
it.

E.

Nozzle: is a duct that, by its shape, increases the velocity & decreases the pressure of fluid (air or water)
flowing through it.

II. Inlet Section

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.
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
on turbo jet engines and small turbo-fan engines.
E. The Fan case is found on large Turbo fan engines.
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.
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 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 ducts 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) drop in the inlet is caused by friction of the air along both
sides of the duct and by bends in the duct. 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.

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Inlet Duct / Inlet Case Functions (continued)

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.
We also dont 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 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 airs 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 most forward engine bearing(s).

Note : Air going into a gas turbine engines compressor must ALWAYS be below the speed of sound
regardless of the aircrafts speed (subsonic traveling Boeing 747 or supersonic traveling Concorde ).
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.

&P

B. For Supersonic Traveling Aircraft a Convergent then Divergent Duct is used.

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

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Inlet duct shape for a supersonic traveling aircraft (convergent then divergent)

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Notebook page #:______

Name :________________________________________________.

Date :___________

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).
VIII.

The Inlet Case

A. Not found on all gas turbine engines ( like 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 aircrafts 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?
B. Contain and support the most forward engine bearings
C. Contain the inlet guide vanes.

Inlet Case

Inlet Guide Vanes

IX.

The Inlet Guide Vanes

A. Are part of the inlet case

B. Support the most forward engine bearing.
C. Inlet guide vanes ( IGVs ) main function is to direct air into the
compressor at the proper angle, that is, in the direction that the
compressor is rotating.
D. The inlet guide vanes also support the most forward engine bearing on some turbo-jet and small
Turbo-fan engines
E. Some inlet guide vanes are hollow for
1. The routing of Oil lines to the engines most forward bearing, and for
2. Circulation of hot compressor bleed air to prevent ice from forming on the blades.
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.
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Inlet guide vanes 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 IGVs), the forward engine bearing is supported by
internal struts located in a structural intermediate case that is immediately after the fan case.
F.

VI.

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 engines 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 are they are very
aerodynamically efficient inlets.
The bell mouths 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 effective block the air from coming in from the sides of the engine.
They are most often and always used on engines being run in ground test stands.
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