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JET ENGINES
UNIVERSITY OF PUNE
A Seminar On
By
Guided by
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr. Aniket Harishchandra Gawali has successfully completed
the Seminar work entitled Thrust Vectoring In Jet Engines under my supervision,
in the partial fulfilment of Bachelor of Engineering Mechanical Engineering, by
Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Date:
Place: PUNE
Examiner
Acknowledgement
The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of any task would be
incomplete without the mention of the people whose ceaseless cooperation made it
possible, whose constant guidance and encouragement crown all effort with success.
Im grateful to my seminar guide Prof. J. S. Kulkarni for the guidance, inspiration, and
constructive suggestions that helped me in the completion of this task. I also thank my
friends, whose suggestions had given this report a beautiful touch.
Aniket Gawali
(Mechanical Engineering)
List of figures
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
1.1 What is thrust vectoring 5
1.2 Where it is used. 5
2. Thrust vectoring in jets
2.1 Why to use thrust vectoring.. 7
2.2 Challenges in providing thrust vectoring in jet engines.... 8
3. Mechanism of thrust vectoring
3.1 TVC mechanism with single nozzle...... 10
3.2 TVC mechanism with multiple nozzle.. 16
4. Application
4.1 F-35 lightning (5th generation fighter plane!).19
5. References ..22
1. Introduction
Thrust vectoring, also thrust vector control or TVC, is the ability of an aircraft, rocket,
or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s)
in order to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle.
1.2Where it is used?
Thrust vector control (TVC) is used when the propulsion system is creating thrust. At
other stages of flight, separate mechanisms are required for attitude and flight path
control.
Nominally, the line of action of the thrust vector of a rocket nozzle passes through the
vehicle's center of mass, generating zero net moment about the mass center. It is possible
to generate pitch and yaw moments by deflecting the main rocket thrust vector so that it
does not pass through the mass center. Because the line of action is generally oriented
nearly parallel to the roll axis, roll control usually requires the use of two or more
separately hinged nozzles or a separate system altogether, such as fins, or vanes in the
exhaust plume of the rocket engine, deflecting the main thrust.
Thrust vectoring for many liquid rockets is achieved by gimbaling the rocket engine.
This often involves moving the entire combustion chamber and outer engine bell as on
the Titan II's twin first-stage motors, or even the entire engine assembly including the
related fuel and oxidizer pumps. The Saturn V and the Space Shuttle used gimballed
engines.
Some smaller sized atmospheric tactical missiles, such as the AIM-9X Sidewinder,
eschew flight control surfaces and instead use mechanical vanes to deflect motor exhaust
to one side.
Thrust vectoring is a way to reduce a missile's minimum range, before which it cannot
reach a speed high enough for its small aerodynamic surfaces to produce effective
maneuver. For example, anti-tank missiles use thrust vectoring for this reason.
1.2.3 Aircraft
Most currently operational vectored thrust aircraft use turbofans with rotating nozzles
or vanes to deflect the exhaust stream. This method can successfully deflect thrust
through as much as 90 degrees, relative to the aircraft centerline. However, the engine
must be sized for vertical lift, rather than normal flight, which results in a weight penalty.
Afterburning is difficult to incorporate and is impractical for take-off and landing thrust
vectoring, because the very hot exhaust can damage runway surfaces. Without
afterburning it is hard to reach supersonic flight speeds.
With introduction of thrust-vectoring F-22 and Su-35, many claims have appeared, such
as that thrust vectoring aircraft are most maneuverable in the world and that addition of
thrust vectoring alone guarantees that fighter in question will be unrivalled in
maneuverability, excepting of course other thrust vectoring aircraft. These claims hold
that addition of thrust vectoring by itself is enough to turn otherwise-sluggish fighter
aircraft into supreme air-to-air machine. Things are more complex than that, however;
effectiveness of thrust vectoring depends on aircrafts aerodynamic configuration, speed
and altitude.
One of advantages of thrust vectoring is allowing aircraft to enter and recover from a
controlled flat spin, yawing aircraft without worrying about rudder, which loses
effectiveness at high angles of attack. But while thrust vectoring reduces drag during
level flight, thus increasing the range, close-coupled canards add drag and decrease lift
unless aircraft is turning, thus improving the range.
But to see what impact thrust vectoring has on combat performance, we have to take a
look at parameters I have defined above. Mass of aircraft determines inertia thus,
heavier the aircraft is, longer it takes to switch from one maneuver to another quickly.
This results in slower transients, making it harder for pilot to get inside opponents
Providing thrust vectoring in spacecraft and rockets is comparatively easy because they
fly where atmosphere is very light and have no resistance nor the effect of gravity in
open space. Hence even a small amount of thrust is sufficient to control the entire
spacecraft. But planes operate in comparatively dense atmosphere and under the
influence of gravity. Hence turning these giants in air requires lot of strength. Hence
thrust needs to be powerful enough.
This can be achieved but it will increase the size of the engine and making it heavier.
This is not acceptable. Hence to provide this system in compact space is difficult to
achieve.
Chemical propulsion systems can be provided with one of several types of thrust vector
control (TVC) mechanisms. Some of these apply either to solid, hybrid, or to liquid
propellant rocket propulsion systems, but most are specific to only one of these
propulsion categories. We will describe two types of thrust vector control concept:
Aerodynamic fins (fixed and movable) continue to be very effective for controlling
vehicle light within the earth's atmosphere, and almost all weather rockets, antiaircraft
missiles, and air-to-surface missiles use them. Even though aerodynamic control
surfaces provide some additional drag, their effectiveness in terms of vehicle weight,
turning moment, and actuating power consumption is difficult to surpass with any other
flight control method. Vehicle flight control can also be achieved by a separate attitude
control propulsion system Pitch moments are those that raise or lower the nose of a
vehicle; yaw moments turn the nose sideways; and roll moments are applied about the
main axis of the flying vehicle (Fig. 16-1). Usually, the thrust vector of the main rocket
nozzle is in the direction of the vehicle axis and goes through the vehicle's center of
gravity. Thus it is possible to obtain pitch and yaw control moments by the simple
deflection of the main rocket thrust vector; however, roll control usually requires the
use of two or more rotary vanes or two or more separately hinged propulsion system
nozzles. The side force and the pitch moment vary as the sine of the effective angle of
thrust vector deflection.
Many different mechanisms have been used successfully. They can be classified into
four categories:
1. Mechanical deflection of the nozzle or thrust chamber.
4. Separate thrust-producing devices that are not part of the main flow
category is described briefly below and in Table, where the four categories are separated
by horizontal lines. Figures illustrates several TVC mechanisms. All of the TVC
schemes shown here have been used in production vehicles.
Jet vanes L/S Proven technology; low Thrust loss of 0.5 to 3%;
actuation power; high erosion of jet vanes;
slew rate; roll limited duration; extends
control with single missile length
nozzle; +9
In the hinge or gimbal scheme (a hinge permits rotation about one axis only, whereas a
gimbal is essentially a universal joint), the whole engine is pivoted on
a bearing and thus the thrust vector is rotated. For small angles this scheme has
negligible losses in specific impulse and is used in many vehicles. It requires a flexible
set of propellant piping (bellows) to allow the propellant to flow from
the tanks of the vehicle to the movable engine.
Small auxiliary thrust chambers were used in the Thor and early version of Atlas
missiles. They provide roll control while the principal rocket engine operates. They are
fed from the same feed system as the main rocket engine. This scheme is still used on
some Russian booster rocket vehicles.
The injection of secondary fluid through the wall of the nozzle into the main gas stream
has the effect of forming oblique shocks in the nozzle diverging section, thus causing
an unsymmetrical distribution of the main gas flow, which produces a side force. The
secondary fluid can be stored liquid or gas from a separate hot gas generator (the gas
would then still be sufficiently cool to be piped), a direct bleed from the chamber, or the
injection of a catalysed monopropellant. When the deflections are small, this is a low-
loss scheme, but for large moments (large side forces) the amount of secondary fluid
becomes excessive. This scheme has found application in a few large solid propellant
rockets, such as Titan IIIC and one version of Minuteman.
The concept of TVC by secondary fluid injection into the exhaust stream dates back to
1949 and can be credited to A. E. Wetherbee, Jr. (U.S. Patent 2,943,821). Application
of liquid injection thrust vector control (LITVC) to production vehicles began in the
early 1960s. Both inert (water) and reactive fluids (such as hydrazine or nitrogen
tetroxide) have been used. Although side injection of reactive liquids is still used on
some of the older vehicles, it requires a pressurized propellant tank and a feed system.
A high-density injection liquid is preferred because its tank will be relatively small and
its pressurization will require less mass. Because other schemes have better
performance, liquid injection TVC will probably not be selected for new applications.
Hot gas injection (HGITVC) of solid rocket propellant or liquid propellant combustion
products is inherently attractive from a performance and packaging
viewpoint. In the past there has not been a production application of HGITVC because
of erosion of materials in hot gas valves. However, two factors now make hot-gas-side
injection feasible: first, hot gas valves can be made with the newer carbon-carbon
structural parts and modern insulators. Also, advances in metallurgy have made possible
the development of hot valves made of rhenium alloy, a high-temperature metal suitable
for hot gas valve applications. The second factor is the development of solid propellants
that are less aggressive (less AP, A1203, and/or fewer oxidizing gas ingredients) and
reduce the erosion in nozzles and valves; this helps the hot gas valves and insulated hot
gas plumbing to better survive for limited durations but often at the expense of
propulsion system performance. Experimental hot gas systems have had difficulties with
thermal distortions and in keeping key components cool enough to prevent failure.
With either liquid or solid propellants, the hot gas can be bled off the main combustion
chamber or generated in a separate gas generator. The hot gas valves can be used to
(1) control side injection of hot gas into a large nozzle, or
(2) control a pulsing flow through a series of small fixed nozzles similar to small
attitude control thrusters.
In liquid propellant engines it is feasible to tap or withdraw gas from the thrust
chamber at a location where there is an intentional fuel-rich mixture ratio; the gas
temperature would then be low enough (about 1100C or 2000F) so that uncooled
metal hardware can be used for HGITVC valves and piping.
Of all the mechanical deflection types, the movable nozzles are the most efficient. They
do not significantly reduce the thrust or the specific impulse and are weight-competitive
with the other mechanical types. The moulded, multilayer bearing pack acts as a seal, a
load transfer bearing, and a viscoelastic flexure. It uses the deformation of a stacked set
of doubly curved elastomeric (rubbery) layers between spherical metal sheets to carry
the loads and allow an angular deflection of the nozzle axis. The flexible seal nozzle has
been used in launch vehicles and large strategic missiles, where the environmental
temperature extremes are modest. At low temperature the elastomer becomes stiff and
the actuation torques increase substantially, requiring a much larger actuation system.
The jet tab TVC system has low torque, and is simple for flight vehicles with low-area-
ratio nozzles. Its thrust loss is high when tabs are rotated at full angle into the jet, but is
zero when the tabs are in their neutral position outside of the jet. On most flights the
time-averaged position of the tab is a very small angle and the average thrust loss is
small. Jet tabs can form a very compact mechanism and have been used successfully on
tactical missiles. An example is the jet tab assembly for the booster rocket motor of the
Tomahawk cruise missile Four tabs, independently actuated, are rotated in and out of
the motor's exhaust jet during the 15 sec duration of rocket operation. A tab that blocks
16% of the nozzle exit area is equivalent to a thrust vector angle deflection of 9 . The
maximum angle is 12 and the slew rate is fast (100/sec). The vanes are driven by four
linear small push-pull hydraulic actuators with two servo valves and an automatic
integral controller. The power is supplied by compressed nitrogen stored at 3000 psi.
An explosive valve releases the gas to pressurize an oil accumulator in a blowdown
mode. The vanes are made of tungsten to minimize the erosion from the solid particles
in the exhaust gas.
The concept of TVC by secondary fluid injection into the exhaust stream dates back to
1949 and can be credited to A. E. Wetherbee, Jr. (U.S. Patent 2,943,821). Application
of liquid injection thrust vector control (LITVC) to production vehicles began in the
early 1960s. Both inert (water) and reactive fluids (such as hydrazine or nitrogen
tetroxide) have been used. Although side injection of reactive liquids is still used on
some of the older vehicles, it requires a pressurized propellant tank and a feed system.
A high-density injection liquid is preferred because its tank will be relatively small and
its pressurization will require less mass. Because other schemes have better
performance, liquid injection TVC will probably not be selected for new applications.
Hot gas injection (HGITVC) of solid rocket propellant or liquid propellant combustion
products is inherently attractive from a performance and packaging
viewpoint. In the past there has not been a production application of HGITVC because
of erosion of materials in hot gas valves. However, two factors now make hot-gas-side
injection feasible: first, hot gas valves can be made with the newer carbon-carbon
structural parts and modern insulators. Also, advances in metallurgy have made possible
the development of hot valves made of rhenium alloy, a high-temperature metal suitable
for hot gas valve applications. The second factor is the development of solid propellants
that are less aggressive (less AP, A1203, and/or fewer oxidizing gas ingredients) and
reduce the erosion in nozzles and valves; this helps the hot gas valves and insulated hot
gas plumbing to better survive for limited durations but often at the expense of
propulsion system performance. Experimental hot gas systems have had difficulties with
thermal distortions and in keeping key components cool enough to prevent failure.
With either liquid or solid propellants, the hot gas can be bled off the main combustion
chamber or generated in a separate gas generator. The hot gas valves can be used to
(1) control side injection of hot gas into a large nozzle, or
(2) control a pulsing flow through a series of small fixed nozzles similar to small
attitude control thrusters.
In liquid propellant engines it is feasible to tap or withdraw gas from the thrust
chamber at a location where there is an intentional fuel-rich mixture ratio; the gas
temperature would then be low enough (about 1100C or 2000F) so that uncooled
metal hardware can be used for HGITVC valves and piping.
All the various concepts shown in Table above can provide pitch and yaw moments to
a vehicle. Roll control can be obtained only if there are at least two separate vectorable
nozzles, four fixed pulsing or throttled flow nozzles, or two jet vanes submerged in the
exhaust gas from a single nozzle. Several concepts have been developed and flown that
use two or more rocket engines or a single engine or motor with two or more actuated
nozzles. Two fully gimballed thrust chambers or motor nozzles can provide roll control
with very slight differential angular deflections. For pitch and yaw control, the
deflection would be larger, be of the same angle and direction for both nozzles, and the
deflection magnitude would be the same for both nozzles. This can also be achieved
with four hinged or gimbaled nozzles. Figure shows the rocket motor of an early version
of the Minuteman missile booster (first stage) with four movable nozzles.
The differential throttling concept shown in Fig. has no gimbal and does not use any of
the methods used with single nozzles. It has four fixed thrust chambers and their axes
are almost parallel to and set off from the vehicle's centerline. Two of the four thrust
chambers are selectively throttled (typically the thrust is reduced by only 2 to 15 %).
Figure 3 Simplified view of first stage Minuteman missile motor with four movable nozzle
The four nozzles may be supplied from the same feed system or they may belong to four
separate but identical rocket engines. This differential throttling system is used on the
Aerospike rocket engine described in Chapters 3 and 8 and on a Russian launch vehicle.
4. Application:
The STOVL F-35B is outfitted with the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, designed by Lockheed
Martin and developed by Rolls-Royce. The Lift System is composed of a lift fan, drive
shaft, two roll posts and a "Three Bearing Swivel Module" (3BSM). The 3BSM is
a thrust vectoring nozzle which allows the main engine exhaust to be deflected
downward at the tail of the aircraft. The lift fan is near the front of the aircraft and
provides a counterbalancing thrust using two counter-rotating blisks. It is powered by
the engine's low-pressure (LP) turbine via a drive shaft and gearbox. Roll control during
slow flight is achieved by diverting unheated engine bypass air through wing-mounted
thrust nozzles called Roll Posts.
The three-bearing swivel module (3BSM) is a thrust vectoring nozzle at the tail of the
aircraft which allows the main turbofan cruise engine exhaust to pass either straight
through with reheat capability for forward propulsion in conventional flight, or to be
deflected downward to provide aft vertical lift.[12]
In "lift" mode for assisted vertical maneuvers, 29,000 hp is diverted forward through a
driveshaft from the engine's low-pressure (LP) turbine via a clutch and bevel-gearbox to
a vertically mounted, contra-rotating lift fan located forward of the main engine. The
fan efflux (low-velocity unheated air) discharges through a thrust vectoring nozzle on
the underside of the aircraft, thus balancing the aft lift generated by the 3BSM. For
lateral stability and roll control, bypass air from the engine goes out through a roll-post
nozzle in each wing. For pitch control, the areas of exhaust nozzle and LiftFan inlet are
varied conversely to change the balance between them while maintaining their sum, and
with constant turbine speed. Yaw control is achieved by yawing the 3BSM. Forward,
and even backward, motion is controlled by tilting the 3BSM and LiftFan outlet.
While developing the LiftSystem many engineering difficulties had to be overcome, and
new technologies exploited.
The LiftFan utilises hollow-bladed titanium blisks (a bladed disk or "blisk" achieved by
super-plastic forming of the blades and linear friction welding to the blisk hub).Organic
matrix composites are used for the interstage vanes. The LiftFan must safely function at
flight speeds up to 250 knots (130 m/s) This condition appears as a crosswind to the
horizontal intake and occurs when the aircraft transitions between forward flight and
hover.
The clutch mechanism uses dry plate carboncarbon technology originally derived from
aircraft brakes. Friction is only used to engage the lift fan at low engine speeds. A
mechanical lock-up is engaged before increasing to full power.
5. References
Technical papers:
Websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust_vectoring
https://www.youtube.com
http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/31925/how-does-the-f-35s-roll-
posts-work-and-how-does-its-engine-turn-down-90-degree
http://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/how-things-work-thrust-vectoring-
45338677/
http://www.engineering108.com/Data/Engineering/aeronautical_engineering/R
ocket_Propulsion_Elements/26429_16_engineering108.com.pdf