Course detail

Aircraft Propulsion

FSI-OLEAcad. year: 2025/2026

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

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Ing. Miroslav Šplíchal, Ph.D.

Department

Institute of Aerospace Engineering (LÚ)

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

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Cumpsty N.: Jet propulsion,Cambridge University Press,1997
Kocáb J.-Adamec J.: Letadlové motory,KANT s.r.o.,Praha 2000 (CS)
PALMER, Walter J. Will Sustainability Fly?: Aviation Fuel Options in a Low-Carbon World. Farnham: Taylor and Francis, 2015. ISBN 140943091X. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315547169. (EN)
Sforza, P. M.:Theory of aerospace propulsion / Second edition. xx, 827 stran, ISBN 978-0-12-809326-9 (EN)

Recommended reading

CUMPSTY, Nicholas. Jet propulsion: A simple guide tio the aerodynamic and thermodynamic design and performance of jet engines. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, 276 s. ISBN 0-521-59674-2
Ott, A.: Pohon letadel, , 0
WARD, Thomas A. Aerospace propulsion systems. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons, c2010, xxvi, 527 s. ISBN 978-0-470-82497-9.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme N-LKT-P Master's

    specialization STL , 1 year of study, winter semester, compulsory
    specialization TLT , 1 year of study, winter semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Miroslav Šplíchal, Ph.D.

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 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Miroslav Šplíchal, Ph.D.

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.