Course detail
Aircraft Propulsion
FSI-OLE Acad. year: 2025/2026 Winter semester
The Aircraft Engines course provides a comprehensive overview of the principles of operation and construction of aircraft engines to the extent necessary for specialists in the construction and operation of aircraft. As part of the course, students will gain deeper knowledge about the work of piston, turbine, thrust aircraft engines. Their construction, arrangement and auxiliary systems necessary to ensure their operation are analyzed in detail, the emphasis is placed on aspects of reliability and efficiency in construction solutions. In addition to conventional propulsion systems, sustainability topics in the field of aircraft propulsion are also discussed in the course. Students are introduced to the developed technologies as well as the physical limitations of various types of propulsion systems using electricity or hydrogen as an energy source and possible areas for reducing the environmental burden of current propulsion technologies to ensure their sustainability. The course also includes a more detailed analysis of environmental and certification requirements for aircraft engines. Within the course, space is also devoted to the issue of maintenance and economy of modern power units.
Language of instruction
Czech
Number of ECTS credits
5
Supervisor
Department
Entry knowledge
Basic definitions, laws and equations of physics, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. Ideal and real gas, force, energy, work, heat, enthalpy, entropy, gas state equation, changes of gas states, continuity and Bernoulli's equations, basics of heat transfer.
Rules for evaluation and completion of the course
Attendance at seminars and completing all tasks is necessary for the course-unit credit award.
accreditation. Write and oral examination consists of three parts: 1. Simple computational problem 2. Piston engine theoretical question 3. Jet engine theoretical question. All three parts have the same weight in the resulting evaluation.
Attendance at seminars is compulsory. In the case of a justified absence, students are required to work out an alternative individual assignment. Continuous checking is done at seminars.
Aims
The objective of the subject Aircraft engines is to acquaint students with the current state and development trends in the field of aircraft propulsion units and to provide knowledge necessary for choosing the optimal engine for a given type of aircraft, its construction, economic and ecological operation and maintenance. Environmental aspects associated with the aircraft propulsion system are also emphasized in the course, which develops students' green skills. The student will learn to assess aircraft engines from the point of view of their operational and environmental characteristics and choose the optimal solution for the given purpose, not only from a technical point of view, but will be able to make a comprehensive assessment with consideration of the economics and environmental impacts of aircraft engine operation.
Study aids
Materials provided by the subject guarantor
The study programmes with the given course
Programme N-LKT-P: Aerospace Technology , Master's
specialization STL: Aircraft Design, compulsory
Programme N-LKT-P: Aerospace Technology , Master's
specialization TLT: Airtransport and Airport Technology, compulsory
Type of course unit
Lecture
26 hours, optionally
Syllabus
1. Categorization of aircraft propulsion units, physical principles of work, efficiency.
2. Piston engines – thermodynamic cycles of petrol and diesel engines. Aviation fuels and their properties.
3. Arrangement of main parts of aircraft piston engines
4. Auxiliary devices and piston engine systems – fuel, oil, cooling, starting.
5. Power and altitude characteristics of the propeller drive, increasing power by turbocharging, maintenance and care of the engine
6. Vane motors, principle of operation, thermodynamic cycle, input system
7. Vane compressors, distribution, centrifugal compressors, principle of operation and calculation.
8. Axial compressors, working characteristics of compressors, instability of compressor work and its suppression.
9. Combustion chambers of vane engines – principle of operation and construction. Turbine section – high-pressure and low-pressure turbines, technology for increasing the efficiency of turbine engines.
10. Propelling nozzles, fixed and adjustable, afterburning, Systems necessary for the work of the gas turbine engine: fuel system, oil system, starting system.
11. Properties and development trends of turbine engines, operating characteristics for single-stream, two-stream, turboprop and special turbine engines
12. Environmental requirements for aircraft engines, electric propulsion units concepts with accumulators and fuel cell.
13. Energy requirements of aircraft propulsion and their provision with sustainable energy sources, use of hydrogen for propulsion. An overview of bladeless propulsion units and their characteristics.
Exercise
13 hours, compulsory
Syllabus
1. The main quantities of a piston engine.
2. The main quantities of a piston engine.
3. Kinematics of the crank mechanism.
4. Kinematics of the crank mechanism.
5. Liquid cooling of the piston engine.
6. Parameters of the centrifugal compressor.
7. Parameters of the centrifugal compressor.
8. Forces loading the centrifugal compressor impeller.
9. Forces loading the centrifugal compressor impeller.
10. Turbine blade force stress.
11. Calculation of the thermodynamic circulation of a jet engine.
12. Analysis of the efficiency of aircraft propulsion
13. Calculation of the carbon footprint of a CS – 25 category transport aircraft.