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50 years of Engine Improvements

Baldev K Mehta
Technical Fellow at Boeing Company
baldev.k.mehta@boeing.com
425-237-4798
Pacific North West AIAA Symposium
November 2009, Seattle
50 years of Engine Improvements

800% Higher Thrust


• 13,500 lbs (Model 707/JT3C-6 in 1958)
• 120,000 lbs (Model 777/GE90-115B in 2004)
• 1 engine does what 8 engines used to do 50 years ago

Lower Fuel Burn


• TSFC about 0.8 in 1958
• TSFC about 0.5 in 2006
• Modern engines roughly twice as efficient as 50 years ago

Lower Emissions
• Modern combustors do not emit smoke
• Modern engines permit quiet airport operations

Thrust/Engine Weight modest increase

Performance Retention /Maintainability


50 years of Engine Improvements
747-100/ PWA’s JT9D engines and 777-Trent 800 engine #2
50 years of Engine Improvements
747-100/ PWA’s JT9D engines and 777-GE90 engine #2
50 years of Engine Improvements
747-100/ PWA’s JT9D engines and 777-GE90-115B engine #2
50 years of Engine Improvements
140,000

120,000
Sea Level Static Take Off Thrust

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year of Introduction
50 years of Engine Improvements
50 years of Engine Improvements
8

7
Takeoff Thrust/Weight

2
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year of Introduction
50 years of Engine Improvements
50 years of Engine Improvements
50 years of Engine Improvements

• How have these improvements been achieved

• Engine Overall Efficiency

Thrust Specific Fuel Consumption (TSFC)-pounds of fuel


per pound of thrust- ability to convert heat energy of fuel into kinetic
energy of gases

Propulsive Efficiency- ability to convert kinetic energy of gases


to propellant force on the aircraft
50 years of Engine Improvements

• TSFC improvements
• Higher thermal Efficiency requires high pressures and high turbine
inlet temperatures to develop increase power per pound of airflow
• Variable geometry stators
High overall pressure ratio results in high rotor speeds and creates
high variations in operating lines between design point and off
design conditions
• Internal turbine blade cooling/ceramic blade coating
HPC air is injected inside the turbine blades to cool turbine blade
surfaces and to remain within temperature limits of turbine/disk
material. Complex multiple pass cooling system have reduced the
amount of cooling flow and improved performance. New improved
ceramic coatings on blades
• Improved performance fan blades
Fan efficiency was improved by: removing inlet guide vanes,
reduction in number of fan blades, using non-shrouded wider
chord/swept fan blades
50 years of Engine Improvements
50 years of Engine Improvements

• Tighter running tip clearances


Achieved by using abradable rub strips, spraying cold air on the
outside of hot cases thus shrinking off cases, reducing losses and
improving fuel efficiency
Ceramic abradable outer air seals in HPT reduce operating
clearances and improve efficiency
• Improved Design Techniques-3 D airfoil
3-d Airfoils introduced in compressors and turbines-airfoils designed
with thicker leading and trailing edges to provide uniform
aerodynamic flow (no separation) throughout blade area
Radial gradient vanes designed to improve turbine aerodynamic
efficiency by substantially reducing end wall losses
50 years of Engine Improvements

• Propulsive Efficiency
• Propulsive efficiency is the ratio of available useful power (net thrust
x free-stream velocity) to the kinetic energy imparted to the engine
mass airflow
• Eff =Fn x Vo/M(Vj-V)/2= 2/1+Vj/Vo= 2/2+(Fn/W)g/Vo
M= engine weight airflow, Vj= exhaust jet velocity,
Vo=free-stream velocity, Specific thrust= Fn/W
• Propulsive Eff. Increases
decrease in specific thrust (Fn/W)
decrease in amount of energy wasted in the jet velocity dissipation
As the speed of aircraft increases
50 years of Engine Improvements
50 years of Engine Improvements

• High Bypass Ratio Engines


• In turbojet engines, all the air that enters the inlet, passes through
the engine and exits with high temperature and high jet velocity
• In high bypass ratio engines, a portion of air goes through the core
and exits with high temperature and high jet velocity but a large
amount of air (10 times the amount going through core) bypasses
the engine core and is imparted a relatively low velocity and low
temperature.
• The ratio of bypassed airflow to the engine core flow is called
Bypass Ratio (BPR).
• BPR increases, the specific thrust (Fn/W) decreases and TSFC
improves.
• As BPR increases, mean jet velocity is lowered and propulsive
efficiency improves and jet noise is reduced
50 years of Engine Improvements

• The high pressure compressors, combustion chambers and turbines


in high BPR engines can be smaller, lighter, shorter for a given level
of thrust as they are required to handle only a portion of total airflow.
• High BPR engines require a larger diameter fan, a larger fan case,
and a larger diameter nacelle and these result in increased weight
and increased nacelle drag and hence the need for composite
materials.
50 years of Engine Improvements
Multi-Variant Engine Installation Optimization

Optimization Requires Consideration of All Factors, a Multi-


Disciplined Effort, a "Working Together Approach"

1% Airplane Cruise Drag ≈


• 1% TSFC
TSFC, • 3500 lbs EOEW
Noise Drag, Loads, Structural Difficulty, • 5,000 lbs Fuel @ 8000 n.mi.
Thrust Capability, Weight
• 1.3% Takeoff Thrust Reduction

Optimum Airplane Efficiency Achieved By


Bypass Ratio - BPR Optimizing Installed Drag, Weight, TSFC, Noise

Overall Efficiency Considering TSFC,


Mach = Cruise

Good Optimum
Drag, Weight, Noise

Installed Engine, Nacelle,


Strut, EBU TSFC, Drag &
Uninstalled Weight
TSFC

5.0 Bypass Ratio - BPR 20.0


50 years of Engine Improvements
50 years of Engine Improvements

• Engine Weight Improvements


Lighter weight materials-steel/titanium/Composite
Reduced number of fan blades, reduced number of turbine
blades/stators
Model 707/PWA’s JT3C-6-steel fan blades
Model 777/hollow titanium fan blades (Trent 800), composite fan
blades(GE90)
Kevlar in fan case (belt wrapped Al structure) is 700 lbs lighter in
PW4084(777 engine) relative to a steel case
GEnx engine (787)- composites for fan blades, engine’s one piece
forward fan case, engine’s variable bleed ducts at exit of booster
stage
• Engine Nacelle Weight Improvements
Inlet, Fan Cowl, Fan Thrust reverser is made of composite materials
50 years of Engine Improvements
Fan blade comparison
50 years of Engine Improvements
GE90/777-200ER, GE90-115B/777-300ER, GEnx/787
50 years of Engine Improvements

• Engine Performance Retention /Maintainability Features


• Full Authority Digital Electronic Control
Improves fuel efficiency, provides precise thrust management,
provides redline (rotor speeds) protection, prevents inadvertent over
boosting of engine with resulting engine deterioration
• Improved Structural Integrity
Increased engine case stiffness and additional bearings added to
reduce case bending and to improve performance retention.
Load sharing cowling designed to increase overall stiffness and
reduce performance loss due to case bending
50 years of Engine Improvements

• Turbine Blade/Disc Manufacturing Technology improvements


Turbine blades glow red hot and are designed to be strong enough
for centrifugal loads and air loads. Turbine blades must be resistant
to fatigue and thermal shock as well as to corrosion and oxidation.
Over time turbine blades slowly grow-It is called creep.
Manufactured blades show a myriad of crystals and are oriented in
all directions
Turbine blade service has been improved by :
Directionally solidified blades ( aligning the crystals to form columns
along blade length), Single crystal blading and blade coatings for
improved oxidation/corrosion protection
50 years of Engine Improvements

Blade creep
50 years of Engine Improvements

• Emissions Improvement
• Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) production increase exponentially as gas
temperature increases
• 787/Trent 1000 engine –Tiled combustor improves fuel burn and
reduces oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) by 30 %
• 787/GEnx engine-Twin Annular Premixing Swirler (TAPS) in
combustor will lower combustor temperatures to reduce NOx
emissions ( 30% improvement relative to 747 engine)
• TAPS-fed by two annular fuel/air swirlers- a central swirler for idle
and taxi and a main (outside) swirler for take-off, climb and cruise.
50 years of Engine Improvements

• 777/PWA’s PW4084 Engine


• Thrust 84,600, 7% improved TSFC
relative to 767/PW4060
• 112 inch fan diameter, 22 fan blades-
wide-chord, shroud less
• BPR 6.8, OPR 37:1
• Fan, 6 stage LPC, 11 Stage HPC,
Burner, 2 stage HPT, 7 Stage LPT
50 years of Engine Improvements

• 777/GE90 Engine
• Thrust 84,700, 9% TSFC improvement
relative to 767/GE CF6-80C2
• 123 inch fan diameter, composite
wide chord blades with titanium
leading edge, Blade- 43 in span, 24 in
chord and weighs 32 lbs
• BPR 6.8, OPR 37:1
• Fan, 3 stage LPC, 10 Stage HPC,
Burner, 2 stage HPT, 6 Stage LPT
50 years of Engine Improvements

• 777/Trent 800 Engine


• Thrust 90,00, 7.5% improved TSFC
relative to 767/RB211
• 110 inch fan diameter, new swept
wide-chord hollow titanium fan blades
• BPR 6.5, OPR 40:1
• Fan, 8 stage IPC, 6 Stage HPC,
Annular 24 Burners, 1 stage HPT, I
stage IPT, 5 Stage LPT
50 years of Engine Improvements

• 787 Engines (GEnx and Trent 1000 Engine)


• Efficiency improved 6-7% relative to 777 engine
15 % relative to 747 engine
• High BPR greater than 9:1
• Non-engine bleed system- engine bleed will not be used for cabin
conditioning
• Non engine bleed starting system- Engine will be started electrically
with APU/Engine starter generator
• Air cycle machines for cabin conditioning will be powered electrically
by APU/Engine generators
50 years of Engine Improvements

• 787-8/GEnx Engine
• Thrust 53,000 to 75,000 lbs,
• Efficiency improved 6.9% relative to 777 engine (Av Week 4/17)
• 111.1 inch fan diameter, 18 composite fan blades-wide chord, new
swept, one piece composite forward fan case
• BPR 9.2, OPR 41.4
• Fan, 4 stage LPC, 10 Stage HPC, Burner, 2 stage HPT, 7 Stage
LPT
50 years of Engine Improvements

• 787-8/Trent 1000 Engine


• Thrust 50,600 to 70,000,
• Efficiency improved 6-7% relative
to 777 engine
• 112 inch fan diameter, 22 fan
blades, wide-chord, new swept
blades
• BPR 9.6, OPR 40.3:1
• Fan, 8 stage IPC, 6 Stage HPC,
Burner, 1 stage HPT, 1Stage IPT.
6 stage LPT
50 years of Engine Improvements

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