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[March 2009]
GE Aviation to Apply Ceramic Matrix Composites to Heart of Future Engines
It is no simple feat introducing durable, lightweight composite components into the hot section of a flying jet engine, but GE Aviation (Evendale, OH, USA) is achieving this elusive, technical milestone.
The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team's F136 development engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) contains third-stage, low-pressure turbine vanes made by GE from ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). This could lead to the first commercial use of CMCs in a jet engine's hot section (combustor and turbine areas) when a F136-powered JSF begins flight testing in 2010.
CMC development is a key initiative at GE Aviation and an enabling technology in several of GE's private and government-funded engine demonstrator programmes now underway. Also, CMC components are a key feature of GE's eCore programme, the cornerstone for the company's next generation of jet engines for narrow-body, regional and business jets.
CMCs are made of silicon carbide ceramic fibres and ceramic resin, manufactured through a highly sophisticated process and further enhanced with proprietary coatings.
They are highly desirable for jet engine components for two main reasons. Firstly, they are lightweight – one-third the density of metal – providing weight reduction and thus better fuel efficiency. Secondly, they are durable and more heat resistant than metals, requiring less cooling air and thereby improving overall engine efficiency. Simply put, removing cooling air allows a jet engine to run at higher thrust and/or more efficiently.
GE Aviation and GE's Corporate Research Center have pursued CMC technology for more than 15 years. Several years ago, GE Aviation ran a government demonstrator engine with a combustor liner and low-pressure turbine blades. GE Aviation produces CMC at its facility in Newark, DE, USA.
"Developing new jet engine materials takes many years of investment and commitment," said Robert Schafrik, GE Aviation's general manager of materials and process engineering. "But the benefits can provide a considerable competitive advantage. CMCs are a new frontier that will raise the bar in jet engine performance."
ENDS