Robert J. Bruckner

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Conceptual Design of a Supersonic

Business Jet Propulsion System

NASA/TM—2002-211797

August 2002

AIAA–2002–3919
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Robert J. Bruckner

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Conceptual Design of a Supersonic

Business Jet Propulsion System

NASA/TM—2002-211797

August 2002

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Glenn Research Center

Prepared for the

38th Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit

cosponsored by the AIAA, ASME, SAE, and ASEE

Indianapolis, Indiana, July 7–10, 2002

AIAA–2002–3919
Available from

NASA Center for Aerospace Information

7121 Standard Drive

Hanover, MD 21076

National Technical Information Service

5285 Port Royal Road

Springfield, VA 22100

Available electronically at http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov
NASA/TM2002-211797 1 

Conceptual Design of a Supersonic Business Jet Propulsion System 

Robert J. Bruckner 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Glenn Research Center 

Cleveland, Ohio 44135 

Abstract 

NASA’s Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology Program 

(UEETP) is developing a suite of technology to 

enhance the performance of future aircraft propulsion 

systems. Areas of focus for this suite of technology 

include: Highly Loaded Turbomachinery, Emissions 

Reduction, Materials and Structures, Controls, and 

Propulsion-Airframe Integration. The two major 

goals of the UEETP are emissions reduction of both 

landing and take-off nitrogen oxides (LTO-NOX) and 

mission carbon dioxide (CO2) through fuel burn 

reductions. The specific goals include a 70% 

reduction in the current LTO-NOX rule and an 8% 

reduction in mission CO2 emissions. In order to gain 

insight into the potential applications and benefits of 

these technologies on future aircraft, a set of 

representative flight vehicles was selected for 

systems level conceptual studies. The Supersonic 

Business Jet (SBJ) is one of these vehicles. The 

particular SBJ considered in this study has a capacity 

of 6 passengers, cruise Mach Number of 2.0, and a 

range of 4,000 nautical miles. Without the current 

existence of an SBJ the study of this vehicle requires 

a two-phased approach. Initially, a hypothetical 

baseline SBJ is designed which utilizes only current 

state of the art technology. Finally, an advanced SBJ 

propulsion system is designed and optimized which 

incorporates the advanced technologies under 

development within the UEETP. System benefits are 

then evaluated and compared to the program and 

design requirements. Although the program goals are 

only concerned with LTO-NOX and CO2 emissions it 

is acknowledged that additional concerns for an SBJ 

include take-off noise, overland supersonic flight, 

and cruise NOX emissions at high altitudes. 

Propulsion system trade-offs in the conceptual design 

phase acknowledge these issues as well as the 

program goals. With the inclusion of UEETP 

technologies a propulsion system is designed which 

performs at 81% below the LTO-NOX rule, and 

reduces fuel burn by 23% compared to the current 

technology. 

Nomenclature 

BPR Bypass Ratio 

F figure of merit 

Fn Engine thrust 

Fn lapse Engine thrust at TOC/Engine thrust at SLS 

FPR Fan Pressure Ratio 

HPC High Pressure Compressor 

LTO Landing and Take-Off 

NOx Nitrogen oxides 

P3 compressor discharge pressure 

SBJ Supersonic Business Jet 

SLS Sea Level Static 

T3 compressor discharge temperature 

T4 combustor discharge temperature 

TOC Top Of Climb 

TTR Throttle Ratio 

UEETP Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology Program 

Wc Corrected weight flow 

Wc lapse Wc at TOC/Wc at SLS 

α1−5 coefficients of the figure of merit surfaces 

Φ independent variable fan pressure ratio

τ independent variable throttle ratio 

Introduction 

NASA’s Ultra Efficient Engine Technology Program 

(UEETP) is developing a suite of technology to 

enhance the performance of future aircraft propulsion 

systems. Areas of focus for this suite of technology 

include: Highly Loaded Turbomachinery, Emissions 

Reduction, Materials and Structures, Controls, and 

Propulsion-Airframe Integration. The two major 

goals of the UEETP is emissions reduction of both 

landing and take-off nitrogen oxides (LTO-NOX) and 

mission carbon dioxide (CO2) through fuel burn 

reductions. The specific goals include a 70% 

reduction in the current LTO-NOX rule and an 8% 

reduction in mission CO2 emissions. 

The commercial jet aircraft fleet is quite uniform in 

its appearance and function and has been this way for 
NASA/TM2002-211797 2 

several decades. The common features include a 

cylindrical fuselage mounted on top of a slender, 

swept wing with under-hung engines at the leading 

edge flying at high subsonic speeds. However, the 

SBJ vehicle chosen for this study follows the more 

current trend of smaller jet aircraft. In addition to its 

smaller size, the SBJ also incorporates the desire for 

speed beyond the high subsonic Mach Numbers of 

the modern commercial fleet. 

The high end of commercial travel is eroding from 

the large commercial carriers [1] and being deposited 

into the business jet market, which has seen dramatic 

growth in recent years. As such, the acquisition cost 

of today’s high-end business jets is no longer that 

much different from the projected cost of a SBJ. This 

commercial argument for the analysis of the SBJ 

seems powerful enough to include this aircraft in the 

program. However, this does not consider other 

potential applications of a small supersonic aircraft 

such as military use and the delivery of time-critical 

payloads. The selection of a small yet fast aircraft to 

represent the supersonic technologies of UEETP is 

based upon the historical success of first developing 

aircraft speed followed by the ensuing growth in size. 

Without the existence of a current SBJ in today’s 

aircraft market, this study required a two-phased 

approach. The initial phase required the design of a 

current technology SBJ engine and vehicle that is 

representative of what might be possible given the 

current state-of-the-art. The second phase of the 

study included the addition of the UEETP 

technologies to the baseline mixed-flow turbofan 

engine and a parametric study that examined the 

effects of throttle ratio and fan pressure ratio on the 

final vehicle design. A final engine design was then 

selected from this parametric study. Preliminary 

component designs were carried out on the final 

engine to add confidence to the conceptual design 

philosophy and weight estimates. An economic 

analysis was also conducted on the final engine. 

SBJ Design Requirements 

The mission requirements of the SBJ are rather 

standard for a civilian aircraft with the exception of 

the supersonic cruise Mach number. The SBJ, which 

is considered in this study, has a capacity for 6 

passengers, range of 4,000 nautical miles, and cruise 

Mach number of 2.0. A complete listing of the 

mission requirements is presented in Table 1. The 

SBJ conceptual design is also constrained emissions, 

noise and affordability. The first of these, emissions, 

include the LTO-NOX and mission CO2 goals of the 

UEETP as well as the mission NOX due to the higher 

cruising altitude of the SBJ. The noise constraint is 

primarily a take-off issue and is evaluated by using 

exhaust jet velocity as a surrogate for jet noise and 

applying appropriate acoustic attenuation methods. 

This constraint also manifests itself in the overland 

supercruise scenario. In order to make the SBJ more 

economically viable, overland supersonic flight is 

desirable. Although the UEETP does not address 

sonic boom issues, the assumption for this study is 

that in the timeframe required to bring the UEETP 

engine technologies to maturity, complementary 

airframe programs will develop technologies, which 

will make overland supersonic flight possible. The 

constraint of affordability in the conceptual design 

phase is only evaluated on the final, selected engine. 

Current Technology Engine Design 

The only propulsion system type, which is considered 

in both the baseline design as well as the advanced 

technology design, is the low bypass ratio mixedflow turbofan engine. 

A summary of the main engine cycle parameters that 

were used in the current technology design is 

contained in Table 2. Figure 1 shows a cross section 

of the baseline engine. This engine is not meant to 

represent any particular engine available today. 

Rather, it is representative of the type of engine that 

could be built for the SBJ with the current state of the 

art. 

UEETP Technology Suite 

The technology developed by the UEETP falls into 

the following categories: Highly Loaded 

Turbomachinery, Emissions Reduction, Materials 

and Structures, Controls, and Propulsion-Airframe 

Integration. The specific technologies, which are 

applied to the SBJ, are detailed in Table 3. Some of 

the key engine cycle parameters were chosen as 

follows. The overall pressure ratio was selected such 

that the maximum compressor discharge pressure, P3, 

was achieved at the top of climb point, Mach Number 

2.0 and 50,000 feet altitude. The bypass ratio was 

selected to yield an extraction ratio, the ratio of 

bypass to core stagnation pressure, of 1.05 at the 

cycle design point. Fan pressure ratio and throttle 

ratio, the ratio of maximum temperature at top of 

climb to the maximum temperature at sea level static, 

were varied in the parametric study of the design 

space. All of the engine cycles in the parametric 

study used a velocity coefficient of 0.975, a 
NASA/TM2002-211797 3 

mixer-ejector nozzle to suppress take-off noise, 75 

horsepower take-off from the high pressure spool, 0.5 

pounds per second of customer bleed at the 

compressor discharge, 4.65% non-chargeable cooling 

flow for the high pressure turbine, 0.96% chargeable 

cooling flow to the high pressure turbine, and no 

cooling to the low pressure turbine. 

Advanced Technology Design Space Study 

A preliminary design space was investigated which 

ranged from 2.4 to 3.6 in fan pressure ratio and from 

1.104 to 1.149 in throttle ratio. Five engines, 

designated e1 through e5, were included in the cycle, 

aeromechanical, mission, and aircraft sizing analysis. 

Mission block fuel, aircraft take-off gross weight, 

LTO- NOX, mission NOX, and ideal mixed jet 

velocity were used as figures of merit to evaluate the 

design space of this parametric study. Contour 

surfaces were modeled which examined the first 

order effects of both fan pressure ratio and throttle 

ratio, second order effects of fan pressure ratio, and 

the interaction of both parameters. As such the 

mathematical form of the figure of merit surfaces is 

detailed below. 

F(τ,φ) = α1 + α2 τ + α3 φ + α4 φ2

 + α5 τ φ

Here F(τ,φ) represents one of the figures of merit, 

mission block fuel, take-off gross weight, LTO-NOX, 

mission NOX, or unsuppressed sea level static, SLS, 

jet velocity. The coefficients, α1−5, are calculated 

deterministically from the results of the five e-series 

engines. 

The initial design space contours indicated that the 

optimum engine selection would lie near the point of 

3.0 fan pressure ratio and maximum achievable 

throttle ratio. However this point is difficult to 

determine precisely since at high throttle ratio the 

maximum T4 may not be achieved in the engine 

cycle. In order to design the most compact and 

efficient engine possible given the UEET suite of 

technologies it is desirable to reach the maximum T4. 

Therefore, the strategy used to determine the 

optimum engine design included designing a new 

series of 12 engines in the range of 2.8 to 3.2 fan 

pressure ratio and 1.108 to maximum achievable 

throttle ratio. These engines were designated f1 

through f12. Contour plots of the five figures of 

merit are shown in figures 2–6. The contours in these 

figures are calculated based on the initial set of five 

engines, e1 through e5. The second series of engines, 

f1 through f12, are shown on the figures to illustrate 

the region of focus. 

Figures 2 and 3 contain the contours of mission fuel 

weight and take-off gross weight. The trends in both 

figures indicate that for the minimum fuel burn and 

system weight it is desired to move the design toward 

higher throttle ratio and medium fan pressure ratio. 

This trend provides for the minimum fuel burn that in 

turn maximizes the CO2 reduction. It also minimizes 

the overall weight, which has historically been a very 

accurate predictor of cost. 

Figure 4 contains the contour of mission NOX

emissions. Here the trend for minimizing mission 

NOX is to move toward higher fan pressure ratios at 

low throttle ratios, but is somewhat independent of 

fan pressure ratio at higher throttle ratio. Therefore, 

this figure of merit also indicates a desire to move 

toward both higher throttle ratio and fan pressure 

ratio. 

Figure 5 contains the LTO-NOX trends. Here the 

desire to minimize LTO-NOX emissions would 

indicate a trend toward higher throttle ratios and 

lower fan pressure ratios. However, not highlighted 

on this figure is the fact that the entire design space 

investigated by this parametric study satisfies the 

UEETP goal of a 70% LTO-NOX reduction from the 

current rule. Similar to the mission NOX figure of 

merit, the trend for minimizing LTO-NOX is to move 

toward as high of a throttle ratio as is possible while 

still achieving the maximum T4 allowed under the 

UEETP technologies. 

Finally, in figure 6 the ideal, unsuppressed jet 

velocity is shown as a surrogate for take-off noise. 

The trend that lower jet velocities yield quieter 

aircraft indicates that the SBJ engine should be 

designed at lower fan pressure ratios. However, all 

the engines shown in the design space would require 

some means of noise suppression based on the 

projected noise rule for this type of aircraft. The jet 

velocity also appears to be rather insensitive to the 

throttle ratio. 

The selection of engine f6 was made as the best 

choice in balancing all of the desired figures of merit 

for this conceptual design. All of the figures of merit 

showed a trend toward higher throttle ratio with the 

exception of SLS jet velocity. The jet velocity trend 

showed very little sensitivity to throttle ratio and was 

primarily driven by fan pressure ratio. Engines f1, 

f5, and f12 were not selected because these engines 

did not reach the maximum allowable temperatures at 

top of climb, TOC, which is an indication that they 

were throttled back too much at the design point. 

The block fuel, take-off gross weight, and the jet 

velocity determined the fan pressure ratio selection of 
NASA/TM2002-211797 4 

3.0. While the f6 and f10 engines showed 

comparable fuel and gross weight, the decision for 

the selection of the lower fan pressure ratio was 

driven by the reduced SLS jet velocity. A summary 

of the f6 engine characteristic as well as a conceptual 

flowpath design is contained in Table 4 and Figure 7 

respectively. 

Upon selection of the optimum SBJ engine from the 

design space of the f series engines a preliminary 

component design exercise was perform which 

substantiated many of the assumptions of the 

flowpath design and weight estimations of the 

conceptual phase. An economic analysis was 

performed which indicated that the Supersonic 

Business Jet, which incorporates the UEETP 

technologies, would reduce the cost of the aircraft by 

nearly 14%. 

Summary 

A propulsion system has been designed for a 

supersonic business jet, which incorporates the 

advanced technologies of NASA’s Ultra Efficient 

Engine Technology Program. A parametric study 

was performed over a range of fan pressure ratio and 

throttle ratio to determine the optimum engine 

configuration for these conditions. Based on the 

UEETP goals of reduced CO2 and LTO-NOx

emissions as well as ancillary considerations of 

minimum take-off gross weight, mission NOx

emissions, and projected take-off noise, the final 

engine was designed to have a fan pressure ratio of 

3.0 and throttle ratio of 1.143. The resultant system 

satisfied all program goals by reducing fuel burn by 

over 23% compared to the current technology system 

and produced LTO-NOx at 81% below the current 

rule. 

References 

1

Aboulafia, Richard, “The Business Case for Higher 

Speed,” Aerospace America, AIAA, July, 2001.
NASA/TM2002-211797 5 

SBJ design requirements and 

constraints 

Mission

Payload 6 passengers 

Range 4000 nautical miles 

Cruise Speed 2.0 Mach Number 

Cruise Altitude (50,000 – 60,000) feet 

 

Emissions

LTO-NOx –70% compared to current rule 

Mission CO2

–8% compared to current 

technology 

Cruise NOx minimize high altitude impact 

 

Noise

Takeoff Suppressed to current rules 

Cruise Overland supersonic flight 

 

Economics

Affordability 

Evaluated for baseline and 

final design 

Table 1. SBJ design requirements and 

constraints 

SBJ Baseline Propulsion System 

FPR, Φ 2.80 

HPC PR 9.60 

BPR Des 1.21 

T4 Max (deg. R) 3385 

T4 Des (deg. R) 3160 

SLS Jet Velocity (fps) 1808 

 

TTR, τ 1.071 

Wc lapse 0.825 

Fn lapse 0.30 

 

Fn SLS (lbf) 22112 

SFC SLS [(lbm/hr)/lbf] 0.594 

Fn TOC (lbf) 6385 

SFC TOC [(lbm/hr)/lbf] 1.170 

 

TOGW (lbm) 119294 

Block Fuel (lbm) 52488 

LTO NOx (g NOx/kN) 60.96 

Mission NOx (lbm) 1427 

Table 2. Current Technology Engine 

Design Cycle Parameters 

F igure 1. SBJ Baseline Propulsion System
NASA/TM2002-211797 6 

Technology Name Maximum Technology Impact 

 

Emission Reduction for Regional 

Engines 

–70% Emission Index; Reduce combustor liner 

cooling to 10% 

 

High-Loaded Multistage Compressor Increase fan/HPC loading by 50%; Increase 

fan/HPC polytropic efficiency by 1% 

 

High-Loaded HP/LP Turbine Systems Increase HPT/LPT loading by 25%; increase 

LPT adiabatic efficiency by 1% 

 

2700 °F CMC Components Increase allowable turbine vane temperature to 

2700 °F 

 

Turbomachinery Disk Alloy Increase allowable T3 temperature to 1350 °F 

 

Low Conductivity Ceramic TBC for 

Turbine Airfoils 

Increase allowable turbine blade temperature to 

2250 °F 

 

Lightweight Nozzle Materials Reduce mixer-ejector weight (if used) by 10% 

 

Active Shape Control Technologies for 

Variable Radius Inlet Lip 

Remove inlet blow-in door weight 

 

High Reynolds No. Design Tools for 

Advanced Configurations 

Reduce total A/C drag by 1% 

 

Combustor Controls Reduce T4 margin requirement (improved pattern 

factor) by 60 °F 

 

Adaptive Engine Controls Reduce engine SFC by 0.5% 

Table 3. Technology Suite of the UEETP 
NASA/TM2002-211797 7 
NASA/TM2002-211797 8 
NASA/TM2002-211797 9 

SBJ Baseline Propulsion System 

 

FPR, Φ 3.00 

HPC PR 11.20 

BPR Des 1.88 

T4 Max (deg. R) 3600 

T4 Des (deg. R) 3150 

SLS Jet Velocity (fps) 1833 

 

TTR, τ 1.143 

Wc lapse 0.825 

Fn lapse 0.33 

 

Fn SLS (lbf) 22398 

SFC SLS [(lbm/hr)/lbf] 0.547 

Fn TOC (lbf) 7442 

SFC TOC [(lbm/hr)/lbf] 1.102 

 

TOGW (lbm) 93368 

Block Fuel (lbm) 40166 

LTO NOx (g NOx/kN) 22.33 

Mission NOx (lbm) 897 

Table 4. Current Technology Engine 

Design Cycle Parameters 

Comparison of the Baseline and UEETP

Propulsion System 

Baseline UEETP 

 

 

FPR, Φ 2.80 3.00 

HPC PR 9.60 11.20 

BPR Des 1.21 1.88 

T4 Max (deg. R) 3385 3600 

T4 Des (deg. R) 3160 3150 

SLS Jet Velocity (fps) 1808 1833 

 

TTR, τ 1.071 1.143 

Wc lapse 0.825 0.825 

Fn lapse 0.30 0.33 

 

Fn SLS (lbf) 22112 22398 

SFC SLS [(lbm/hr)/lbf] 0.594 0.547 

Fn TOC (lbf) 6385 7442 

SFC TOC [(lbm/hr)/lbf] 1.170 1.102 

 

TOGW (lbm) 119294 93368 

Block Fuel (lbm) 52488 40166 

LTO NOx (g NOx/kN) 60.96 22.33 

Mission NOx (lbm) 1427 897 

 

% Below NOx Rule 39.7 81.0 

% Fuel Burn Reduction 

(from baseline) 

- 23.48 

Cost ($M) 87.90 75.70 

Cost Reduction (%) 13.88 

LTO-NOx rule (g NOx/KN) 117.31 

LTO-NOx reduction from 

baseline system (%) 

 

63.37 

Table 5. Comparison of the Baseline and 

UEETP SBJ Propulsion System.
NASA/TM2002-211797 10 

F igure 7. SBJ UEETP Propulsion System
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16

Conceptual Design of a Supersonic Business Jet Propulsion System

Robert J. Bruckner

Jet propulsion; Aircraft engine; Gas turbine engines; Supersonics; Supersonic aircraft

Unclassified -Unlimited

Subject Category: 07 Distribution: Nonstandard

Prepared for the 38th Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit cosponsored by the AIAA, ASME, SAE, and ASEE,

Indianapolis, Indiana, July 7–10, 2002. Responsible person, Robert J. Bruckner, organization code 2400, 216–433–6499.

NASA’s Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology Program (UEETP) is developing a suite of technology to enhance the performance of future aircraft

propulsion systems. Areas of focus for this suite of technology include: Highly Loaded Turbomachinery, Emissions Reduction, Materials and Structures,

Controls, and Propulsion-Airframe Integration. The two major goals of the UEETP are emissions reduction of both landing and take-off nitrogen oxides

(LTO-NOX) and mission carbon dioxide (CO2) through fuel burn reductions. The specific goals include a 70 percent reduction in the current LTO-NOX

rule and an 8 percent reduction in mission CO2 emissions. In order to gain insight into the potential applications and benefits of these technologies on

future aircraft, a set of representative flight vehicles was selected for systems level conceptual studies. The Supersonic Business Jet (SBJ) is one of these

vehicles. The particular SBJ considered in this study has a capacity of 6 passengers, cruise Mach Number of 2.0, and a range of 4,000 nautical miles.

Without the current existence of an SBJ the study of this vehicle requires a two-phased approach. Initially, a hypothetical baseline SBJ is designed which

utilizes only current state of the art technology. Finally, an advanced SBJ propulsion system is designed and optimized which incorporates the advanced

technologies under development within the UEETP. System benefits are then evaluated and compared to the program and design requirements. Although

the program goals are only concerned with LTO-NOX and CO2 emissions, it is acknowledged that additional concerns for an SBJ include take-off noise,

overland supersonic flight, and cruise NOX emissions at high altitudes. Propulsion system trade-offs in the conceptual design phase acknowledge these

issues as well as the program goals. With the inclusion of UEETP technologies a propulsion system is designed which performs at 81% below the LTONOX rule, and reduces fuel burn by 23 percent compared to the current technology.