I feel a bit stupid for asking this, but I simply cannot wrap my head around how a jet engine directs its thrust backwards.
A piston engine opens and closes valves, such that air is alternately sucked in and compressed to create force. That makes sense and I understand how it works.
But with a jet engine there are no valves opening and closing, so why doesn’t the air that is sucked in just get pushed right back out from the thrust generated? How can an engine simultaneously suck in air from the front and force it out the back?
It makes no sense to me :-/
In: Engineering
The direction of rotation and the angle of the blades keeps the air moving in one direction. Also, the air intake is massive compared to the exhaust. This is necessary because you have to take in a huge volume of air to compress it, mix it with fuel, and shoot it out the exhaust.
This all depends on the engine being able to suck in air. If it’s not sucking in enough air, the flow can in fact reverse. This is called compressor surge (or stall). This can happen in planes when the airflow is disrupted by the plane, say, trying to fly at too steep of an angle of attack.
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