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Technology update
Geared-fan technology for regional and business jets
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Pratt & Whitney announced at the Farnborough Air Show that it was launching an advanced-technology demonstration program to bring a geared-turbofan engine to the regional and business jet market that will offer better performance and economics while setting new noise and emissions standards. The Advanced Technology Fan Integrator (ATFI) combines the work and expertise of the company's Canadian-based unit with that of its U.S.-based business. The company plans to run a 12,000-lb thrust ATFI demonstrator in the first quarter of 2001, with the first flight on a test-bed aircraft expected later in the year. Upon completion of the demonstration program, the company plans to produce a new family of geared turbofans in the 10,000-19,000 lb thrust range, which could be available within 36 months of program launch.
The geared-turbofan concept employs a reduction gearbox between the engine's turbine and fan to reduce the speed at which the fan turns while allowing the turbine to rotate at higher, more efficient speeds. This concept could result in an engine with fewer turbine and compressor stages, which means fewer parts.
Pratt & Whitney has been working on key fan-drive-gear-system technologies since the late 1980s and has spent several hundred million dollars to develop systems that are efficient, rugged, and reliable. Its full-size 32,000-shp gear systems have undergone more than 1000 h of durability testing. These systems have also exhibited 99% efficiency through bearing, gear, and lubrication system design innovations. In addition, the company has shown that its gearboxes can run for as much as 30,000 h between overhauls. Much of this work has been done with partner companies Fiat and MTU.
Frank Bokulich
Interesting? Circle 50
Not interesting? Circle 51
Aerospace Engineering September 2000
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