Course detail
Aircraft Propulsion
FSI-OLE-A Acad. year: 2025/2026 Winter semester
The Aircraft Engines course provides a comprehensive overview of the principles of operations, work cycles, and the design of aviation propulsion units. In the course the students will get a knowledge about the work of piston, turbine and ramjet aircraft engines. Construction layout and auxiliary systems are discussed in detail to ensure their operation. Students are acquainted with the technological and physical constraints of various types of propulsion units and the current technologies used in their construction. Part of the course is also a more detailed analysis of environmental and certification requirements for aircraft engines and directions for their future development. The course also focuses on the maintenance of modern propulsion units.
Language of instruction
English
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 course is to inform students of current state and development of aircraft propulsion and to provide them with the knowledge necessary for selecting the proper engine, its economical/ecological operation and maintenance.
The course of Aircraft Propulsion gives basic knowledge of principles, design, materials, operating characteristics and maintenance of modern aircraft engines. Students will be able to assess engines according their function, and economical operation.
The study programmes with the given course
Programme N-AST-A: Aerospace Technology, Master's, compulsory
Type of course unit
Lecture
26 hours, optionally
Syllabus
1.Classification and basic parameters of aircraft engines. Principles of piston engines
2.Working cycles of piston engines. Performance, combustion, unstable combustion
3.Basic parts and structural arrangement
4.Piston engine accessories and systems
5.Power increasing, engine characteristics, maintenance
6.Gas turbine engines, principles of operation. Air intake system
7.Classification of compressors. Centrifugal flow compressors
8.Axial flow compressors, characteristics and unstable run
9.Combustion chambers. Gas turbine – principles of operation
10.Gas turbines. Exhaust systems
11.Jet engines, turbofan engines, special jet engines
12.Turbopropeller and tuboshaft engines
13.Principles of ram-jet engines, pulse-jet engines and rocket engines
Exercise
13 hours, compulsory
Syllabus
1.Basic parameters of piston engine.
2.Basic parameters of piston engine.
3.Kinematics of crank mechanism.
4.Kinematics of crank mechanism.
5.Liquid cooling system.
6.Parameters of centrifugal flow compressor.
7.Parameters of centrifugal flow compressor.
8.Loads on centrifugal compressor impeller.
9.Loads on centrifugal compressor impeller.
10.Loading of turbine blade.
11.Loading of turbine blade.
12.Jet engine cycle.
13.Jet engine cycle.