Jet engine core

Extracted Attributes

• Core Temperatures

  Up to approximately 1,700 °C

• Primary Components

  High-pressure compressor, combustor, and high-pressure turbine

• Thermodynamic Cycle

  Brayton cycle

• Primary Applications

  Aviation propulsion (turbofans, turbojets) and AI data center power generation

• Cooling System (Boom Core)

  Operates without water cooling

• Key Manufacturing Techniques

  Digital design tools, digital manufacturing, and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs)

• Operational Speed Capability (Boom Core)

  Mach 1.7

Timeline

• GE Aerospace is awarded cost-share contracts valued at over $20 million under NASA's Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project to advance compact engine core development. (Source: GE Aerospace Landmark Technologies)

  2021-01-01

• NASA announces progress in the HyTEC project, preparing to begin designing a more sustainable, compact hybrid-electric jet engine core with industry partners. (Source: NASA HyTEC Project Announcement)

  2024-05-18

Turbofan

A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the additional fan stage. It consists of a gas turbine engine which adds kinetic energy to the air passing through it by burning fuel, and a ducted fan powered by energy from the gas turbine to force air rearwards. Whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the combustion chamber and turbines, in a turbofan some of the air entering the nacelle bypasses these components. A turbofan can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust. The ratio of the mass-flow of air bypassing the engine core to the mass-flow of air passing through the core is referred to as the bypass ratio. The engine produces thrust through a combination of these two portions working together. Engines that use more jet thrust relative to fan thrust are known as low-bypass turbofans; conversely those that have considerably more fan thrust than jet thrust are known as high-bypass. Most commercial aviation jet engines in use are of the high-bypass type, and most modern fighter engines are low-bypass. Afterburners are used on low-bypass turbofan engines with bypass and core mixing before the afterburner. Modern turbofans have either a large single-stage fan or a smaller fan with several stages. An early configuration combined a low-pressure turbine and fan in a single rear-mounted unit.

Web Search Results

• NASA, Industry to Start Designing More Sustainable Jet Engine Core - NASA

  As part of NASA’s goal to make the aviation industry more sustainable, the agency is developing a small core for a hybrid-electric turbofan jet engine that could reduce fuel burn by 10% compared to today’s engines. A jet engine’s core is where compressed air is combined with fuel and ignited to generate power. By making this core smaller, fuel efficiency can be improved and carbon emissions reduced. The goal of the project, named Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC), is to demonstrate this compact core and have the technology ready for adoption in engines powering next-generation aircraft in the 2030s. HyTEC is a key component of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership. To achieve its ambitious goal, HyTEC is structured in two phases: [...] “We’ve been laser-focused since day one. We began the project with certain technical goals and metrics for success and, so far, we haven’t had to change course from any of them,” Nerone said. To shrink the size of a core while maintaining the same level of thrust, heat and pressure must increase compared to standard jet engines used today. This means the engine core must be made of more durable materials that can withstand higher temperatures. In addition to conducting materials research, the project also explored advanced aerodynamics and other key technical elements. Cross section of a typical turbofan jet engine highlights parts of the core HyTEC will work to advance. These include the high-pressure compressor, combustor, high pressure turbine, and power extraction components. [...] The headshot image of John Gould John Gould Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate May 18, 2024 Article ## Contents The End of the Beginning What Comes Next This artist concept shows a NASA- and industry-developed small-core jet engine installed in GE Aerospace’s CFM RISE jet engine design. The more fuel-efficient small core powers a large open turbofan, which also helps increase efficiency. The effort is part of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership to help inform the next generation of ultra-efficient airliners. GE Aerospace NASA, alongside industry, will soon begin designing a new jet engine concept for the next generation of ultra-efficient airliners — officially graduating to the project’s next phase.

• Exploring the Key Components of Modern Jet Engines: Insights from Safe Fly Aviation | SAFE FLY AVIATION

  ## How Modern Jet Engines Work: The Basics Modern jet engines, such as those found in Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s, are complex machines consisting of anywhere from 25,000 to 45,000 individual parts. These engines operate on the principle of Newton's third law, generating thrust by expelling high-speed exhaust gases. The core process follows the Brayton cycle: Intake – Air enters the engine Compression – Air pressure increases Combustion – Fuel ignites with compressed air Exhaust – Hot gases exit, producing thrust Brayton cycle diagram showing four stages of jet engine operation with colour-coded airflow and temperature indicators The Brayton Cycle: Four stages of jet engine operation showing intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust phases [...] ## Supporting Components and Systems Beyond the core, modern jet engines include several critical supporting systems: #### Shafts and Bearings Connect the fan, compressor, and turbine; high-speed bearings reduce friction and enable rotation speeds up to 15,000 RPM. Modern engines use: High-temperature ceramic ball bearings Oil-cooled bearing chambers Multiple concentric shafts (dual-spool or triple-spool designs) #### Accessory Gearbox Powers essential systems including: Fuel pumps delivering precise fuel flow Electrical generators (up to 90kVA) Hydraulic pumps for aircraft systems Oil pumps for engine lubrication #### Control Systems [...] ### 1. Inlet and Fan: The Engine's Gateway The journey begins at the engine's inlet, which captures and directs incoming air into the engine. In modern turbofan engines, a large fan at the front draws in enormous volumes of air every second — the largest high-bypass designs move several thousand pounds of air per second through the fan alone. The fan blades, often made of lightweight composites or titanium alloys, accelerate a portion of the air around the engine core (bypass air) to generate the majority of thrust in efficient, quiet commercial engines. Close-up of modern turbofan engine fan section with titanium alloy blades, swept-back aerodynamic design, and nacelle intake lip Front view of a turbofan engine showing titanium fan blades and nacelle intake structure

• Landmark Technologies | GE Aerospace

  #### Compact engine core GE Aerospace is working with NASA to research advanced engine cores for single aisle aircraft. As part of NASA’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project, GE Aerospace was awarded in 2021 multiple cost-share contracts for engine core development valued at more than $20 million when including both NASA and GE investments. GE Aerospace will test and mature compact jet engine core designs, including compressor, combustor and high-pressure turbine technologies to improve thermal efficiency. Continued development of Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs), an advanced, heat-resistant material, is also a key part of the effort to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. Plans are to ground test a new compact engine core by the mid-2020s.

• Jet engine cores can reach temperatures around ...

  Jet engine cores can reach temperatures around 1,700°C — hotter than the metal blades themselves could survive.

• Jet engine | Design, Types, & Functionality

  ## General characteristics The prime mover of virtually all jet engines is a gas turbine. Variously called the core, gas producer, gasifier, or gas generator, the gas turbine converts the energy derived from the combustion of a liquid hydrocarbon fuel to mechanical energy in the form of a high-pressure, high-temperature airstream. This energy is then harnessed by what is termed the propulsor (e.g., airplane propeller and helicopter rotor) to generate a thrust with which to propel the aircraft. ## Principles of operation ## The prime mover Image 18: Typical operating conditions of a jet engine Typical operating conditions of a jet engineFigure 1: Cross section of a turbojet and graph of typical operating conditions for its working fluid.(more) [...] What are the main parts of a jet engine? A jet engine is an internal combustion engine that propels aircraft by emitting a high-speed jet of fluid, typically hot exhaust gases generated from burning fuel with air. The main components of a jet engine include: Inlet: Air enters the engine through the inlet. Compressor: The compressor increases the pressure of the incoming air. Axial-flow compressors are typically used in modern engines. Combustion Chamber: Here, fuel is injected and burned with the compressed air, producing high-temperature gas. Turbine: The hot, expanding gases pass through the turbine, which extracts energy to drive the compressor. Nozzle: Finally, the exhaust gases are ejected through the nozzle at high speed, generating thrust. [...] Image 3: Large jet engine with exposed metal components and fan blades, mounted on a stand outdoors.Image 4: Typical operating conditions of a jet engineImage 5: Diagram showing a turboshaft engine powering a helicopter rotor. The labeled components include compressor, combustion chamber, core turbine, power turbine, output shaft, gearbox, rotor head, and rotor blades.Image 6: Turboprop engine driving a single rotation propellerImage 7: Ultrahigh-bypass engineImage 8: High-bypass turbofanImage 9: Diagram of a low-bypass turbofan jet engine with afterburner, showing labeled parts including inlet, low-pressure fan, high-pressure compressor, combustion chamber, core and fan turbines, mixer, afterburner, variable exhaust nozzle, and jet flow direction.Image 10: RamjetImage 11: Turboramjet