FARNBOROUGH - The GE-P&W Engine Alliance has recently completed a highly successful development test on a nine-stage, 3D aero engine core, setting the stage for detailed design of the full engine next year.
The core engine test, conducted at GEs Evendale, Ohio, altitude facility from March through June, resulted in 227 test hours covering all areas of the flight envelope. The compressor met or exceeded all performance goals while validating several features. They include a swept first-stage, high pressure compressor (HPC) airfoil for increased flow and efficiency, and the elimination of the variable vane feature of the stage 4 compressor vane stage which can now be fixed. This will reduce overall engine complexity and improve cost of ownership.
"The test results not only met or exceeded expectations, but provided valuable data an entire year before we begin the detailed engine design in August 2001," said Lloyd Thompson, president of the GE-P&W Engine Alliance. "We are well on track to run our first complete GP7000 engine in late 2002 in support of aircraft activities at Airbus Industrie and The Boeing Company."
Plans call for engine certification at 75,000 pounds (333 kN) of thrust by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Joint Aviation Authorities of the European Economic Community in late 2003.
The GP7000 family includes the GP7267 and GP7275 models for the Airbus four-engine A3XX aircraft. They will both have a 110-inch-diameter fan with wide-chord, hollow titanium blades, a bypass ratio of 8 to 1, and an overall pressure ratio of 46 to 1. The GP7168, proposed for the Boeing Growth 747s, has a 101-inch-diameter fan, a bypass ratio of 7 to 1, and overall pressure ratio of 43 to 1.
The GP7000 engine models incorporate a common core consisting of a nine-stage, high pressure compressor, a scaled derivative of the GE90 and E3 HPCs, and a low pressure system derived from the PW4000 family. The engine incorporates a single annular combustor designed to limit emissions to 40 percent below the 1998 standards set by the IACO and a two-stage, high pressure turbine (HPT). The low pressure compressor (LPC) of the GP7267/GP7275 comprises four stages while the GP7168 LPC comprises three stages. The GP7267/GP7275 low pressure turbine (LPT) comprises five stages while the GP7168 LPT comprises four stages. All models incorporate the latest technology (to drive early reliability and cost of ownership) and lessons learned from successful engine applications from both parent companies.
Under the terms of the Alliance agreement, Pratt & Whitney is responsible for the design and fabrication of the fan, LPC, LPT, and gear train, and GE Aircraft Engines is responsible for the engine core (HPC, HPT, and combustor).