You're right boneh3ad. But since the topic was about aerofoils and infinite wings, I took the comparison to be limited to straight wings. I suppose an infinite swept wing is no less likely than an infinite straight one but that would be a whole new topic.
Indeed the boundary layer and its turbulent flow increase as laminar flow breaks down, particularly after the point of peak thickness. The extent of this breakdown is affected by surface friction, aerofoil shape, velocity and Reynolds Number. Spanwise flow, such as exists with finite wings (and...
Perhaps it's just me, Nidum. I need to have another really good think about it. As I often find in science and engineering, the maths (in this case the thermodynamics) is not intuitive and a diagram of actual forces exposes the gaping holes in established explanations.
Russ - Thanks again. By 'loss', I was thinking anyway of the negative thrust contribution at the nozzle location, rather than the overall pressure effect.
RonL - Thanks for the contact. I'll follow him up next week when I have more time. It seems that the jet engine is poorly understood outside...
Thanks Russ, this may well be the best explanation, that the afterburner simply reduces nozzle losses. It's not very rewarding and makes the turbojet look rather inefficient. I would like to find an aero-engine designer to confirm it.
Nidum - Thanks, that's a lovely animation, but please try to understand the question.
CWatter - Likewise, an interesting book (similar to others I've read), but again failing to address the question (at least in your identified paragraph). Briefly it raised hope by admitting that an increase in...
Nidum - Do you know how the cone's thrust contribution varies with afterburning?
Jack - Yes, of course I see the need for rotating blades, but only the combustion chamber receives the benefit.
Yes, indeed, we have a runner and a starting block. The afterburner runner is easy, but what component...
Jack - Nice repeat of previous information, although the example of the ramjet gives relief that I'm not barking up the wrong tree - as with a rocket you can see where the jet thrust is acting. All we have at the end of a jet engine is the cone and since the first German designs, that seems to...
But what reaction surface? Tangential and forward-facing areas can only cause drag. The cone is possibly too far upstream and the rear turbine stages would slow if back pressure increased. Certainly the divergent part of a con-di nozzle acts as a rocket nozzle, but this does not feature on...
RonL - thanks, I have this book but have not found the answer in it. Perhaps I need to study it again, although I'm fairly pessimistic.
SteamKing - I'm sorry for being frustrated, but if you see how unsuccessful the chap who started this post was. Many years ago I did an HND and then a degree...
Thanks SteamKing but again you (and your links) have missed the point. I fear I will suffer the same frustrations as the chap who started this post.
Newton's 3rd law is simple to understand when applied to a released party balloon, or stepping off a skateboard, but where does the thrust of an...
How depressing (but not surprising) that after all these posts only one person managed to understand the question, let alone answer it! Perhaps the jet engine is an engineering enigma? This illustrates what is fundamentally wrong with education. The only thing a modern engineer can do is to...