Aerospace Propulsion Syllabus  
Course Objectives, Policies, and Grading
12.31.21
Course Calendar — Weekly Schedule
1.  Outline of the syllabus and course overview. Types of airbreathing engines. Total enthalpy and stagnation temperature. Ramjet Cycle analysis.
2.  Thrust of airbreathing engines. Specific impulse of airbreathing engines. Overall efficiency of airbreathing engines. Why the Ramjet is inefficient at low Mach number.
3.  Compressor work done and efficiency. Turbine work done and efficiency. Turbojet cycle analysis. Thrust of airbreathing engines including external drag.
4.  Turbojet efficiency. Theoretical analysis of airbreathing engines efficiency. Why the turbojet has a low efficiency.
5.  Discussion of proposed fixes to turbojet to increase its efficiency. Turbofan cycle analysis. Thrust and efficiency of turbofan engines.
6.  Subsonic vs supersonic airbreathing engine inlets. Types of supersonic airbreathing engine inlets: external, mixed, and internal compression. How to minimize losses in multi-shock inlets: Oswatitsch condition. Optimal number of shocks in supersonic inlets.
7.  Design of two-shock mixed compression scramjet inlet. Design of Prandtl-Meyer inlet.
8.  Off-design supersonic diffuser — overspeeding and loitering. Mass spill due to normal shock outside of diffuser. Inlet unstart and inlet restart.
9.  Nozzle design for optimal thrust. Real vs ideal nozzle. Nozzle efficiency.
10.  Effect of back pressure on supersonic nozzle flow. Overexpanded supersonic nozzle flow.
11.  Examples of overexpanded nozzle flows. Examples of underexpanded nozzle flows.
12.  Airbreathing engine combustors overview. Details of the combustion process reactions. Stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. Example of combustion of hydrocarbon fuel in a combustion chamber using the heats of formation.
13.  Constant area combustors: change in stagnation temperature and critical properties. Example of subsonic flow with heat addition in a constant-area duct. Constant-area combustors working relations: effect of heat addition on velocity, pressure, temperature, Mach number, and stagnation pressure. Optimal combustor design for lowest stagnation pressure loss.
14.  Constant pressure combustors. Area change of constant pressure combustors. Choking in constant pressure combustors.
15.  Overview of rocket propulsion. Derivation of the rocket thrust equation. Supersonic vs subsonic rocket nozzles.
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