GE to test open-rotor fan engine

Paris Air Show >> June 2009
Engines

GE Aviation and NASA are to ground test five sets of new subscale blades for open-rotor engines at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The tests will focus on acoustics and efficiency of a two-stage counter-rotating fan. The two partners have high expectations that new analysis tools will add to their understanding of the fan’s aerodynamics.

Testing will start this summer and last until early 2010. With 12 blades on the front row and 10 blades on the second row, the one-fifth scale system will be tested in two wind tunnels. The low-speed wind tunnel will simulate flight at low altitude and will help acoustic evaluation. The high-speed wind tunnel will rather simulate high-altitude cruise conditions. Blade efficiency and performance will be tested there.

Before running the five sets of new composite-material blades, GE will test GE36-based blades. The GE36 open rotor engine was designed and flight-tested in the 1980s. It demonstrated 30-percent better fuel burn–compared to a ducted turbofan–thanks to a far higher bypass ratio. However, plummeting oil prices thwarted its commercial launch.

Running such “old” blades will provide GE with baseline data for flight-test correlation. Knowing how GE36 blades behaved on the ground and in flight, engineers will be able to predict how the new blades behave in flight. In Cleveland, NASA has refurbished the test rig that was used in the 1980s.

GE and the fundamental aeronautics program of NASA’s aeronautics research mission directorate are jointly funding the tests. Snecma will be involved in the blades’ design.    

Back

GE moves decisively into business aviation Monday 01. of March 2010 GE Aviation’s engine business has historically focused on military and airline applications, according to Shawn O’Day, manager of business... [more]
SIA Engineering Invests in PW1000G Geared Turbofan Monday 01. of March 2010 SIA Engineering (SIAEC) has signed an agreement to participate in Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1000G engine risk-revenue sharing program (RRSP)... [more]
UConn Named P&W Engineering Center of Excellence Wednesday 24. of February 2010 Pratt & Whitney has established a Center of Excellence at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Engineering for research in the... [more]
Low Engine Use May Yield High Repair Costs Wednesday 24. of February 2010 Duncan Aviation advises that all operators of Honeywell engines that do not run them frequently and want to keep them off the Damaged Engine... [more]
Rolls-Royce BR725 Obtains FAA Approval Monday 01. of February 2010 In late December, the FAA granted type approval for Rolls-Royce’s BR725 turbofan, which powers the Gulfstream G650. The certification covers a... [more]