A gas turbine is an internal combustion engine that converts natural gas or other liquid fuels to mechanical energy, to drive generators or to provide the flow energy in water desalination or in petrochemical plants. Jet engines are gas turbines optimized to produce thrust from the exhaust gases. The design of jet engines involves all of the fields of mechanical engineering, but thermodynamics, heat transfer and vibrations are in particular of importance to the engine design. In this paper we present the work of a group of senior mechanical engineering students as part of their MEEN 404 experiment design course project. Students were asked to slightly modify an off-the-shelf simplified jet engine CAD model for 3D printability, build and test the 3D printed functional model in different compressor and turbine configurations. For that, students had to go through the entire design process, from functions through requirements, through alternative designs to be able to integrate the newly modified parts into their testbed. They had to equip the system with all necessary sensors and instrumentation to control and monitor the engine while conducting many tests to study the cost, efficiency, and performance over a range of parameter values and environmental conditions such as the number of blades, blade angle of attack, and outlet nozzle size. This project was a good tool to promote student’s engagement and development, advance their critical thinking and improve their problem solving and leadership skills. Also, the 3D model of the jet engine will serve as a testbed for further capstone design work in later years. Finally, the project was of a great help to students in understanding many mechanical engineering topics covered in other classes, such as heat transfer, fluid flow, vibrations, and materials.
Yasser Al-Hamidi is currently working as a Laboratory Manager in the Mechanical Engineering Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar. He is specialized in instrumentation, controls and automation. He worked as a Lab Engineer in the College of Engineering, University of Sharjah before joining TAMUQ. His other experiences include Laboratory Supervisor/Network Administrator at Ajman University of Science and Technology (Al Ain Campus), Maintenance Engineer at AGRINCO, Electrical Engineer at Ministry of Culture (National Theater Project, Damascus). Yasser's professional interests include precision mechatronics, real-time control systems design, networked control systems.
Shameel Abdulla is currently working as a Technical Laboratory Coordinator in the Mechanical Engineering Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar. He joined the MEEN program in December 2012. He is responsible for coordinating experiments in the Controls and Measurements labs. Shameel’s professional interests include Product Design, Control System Design, and Mechatronics.
Dr. Ibrahim Hassan has over twenty years of research experience in the field of Energy and Thermal Fluid Sciences. His research interests include Heat Transfer, Multiphase Flow, Flow Assurance, and Turbomachinery.
Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.