Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Specific Thrust
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Specific Thrust is a term used in Gas Turbine Engineering to show the relative bulk of a jet engine (e.g. turbojet, turbofan, etc) and is defined as the ratio: net thrust/total intake airflow.
A modern civil turbofan has a low specific thrust (~30lbf/lb/s) to keep the jet noise at an acceptable level. Consequently the engine is relatively large in diameter, for the net thrust it produces. Consequently such aircraft engines are normally located externally, in a separate nacelle or pod, attached to the wing, or the rear fuselage. A low specific thrust helps to improve specific fuel consumption (SFC).
On the other hand, a modern military turbofan has a fairly high specific thrust (45-110 lbf/lb/s), which keeps the cross-sectional area of the engine low, so that (normally) the engine can be easily accommodated within the fuselage, thus minimizing aircraft drag. A high specific thrust implies a high jet noise level, which is not an important consideration for most military applications.
Specific thrust has significant bearing on thrust lapse rate: the low jet velocity associated with a low specific thrust engine implies that there are large reductions in net thrust with increasing flight velocity, which can only be partially offset by throttle changes at rated conditions (e.g. Maximum Recommended Climb Rating).
Dry specific thrust has impact upon the performance of afterburning turbofans.
A low(dry) specific thrust engine has a low tailpipe temperature, which means that the temperature rise across the afterburner can be high, giving a good thrust boost in afterburning. Nevertheless, the afterburning specific thrust is still relatively low. The total fuel flow (main combustor plus afterburner) is fixed by the temperature rise from air intake to nozzle and, for a given airflow, changes little with dry specific thrust. Consequently, the low afterburning thrust implies a high afterburning SFC. However, the dry SFC is low.
The situation is completely reversed for a high (dry) specific thrust.
Consequently engine designers must select a level of dry specific thrust that is suitable for the engine application. A compromise may be required.