Turbofan Engines

1. During the period 1936–1946, Power Jet and Metropolitan pioneered several kinds
of ducted fan jet engines, but they attracted no attention, as was the case with
Whittle’s patent for the jet engine. With its Conway engine, Rolls-Royce was the
first company to introduce the “bypass” principle in the 1950s. It featured a large
fan located in the front of the engine, which resembled a propeller but had many
long blades set closely together. Bypass jet engines are frequently denoted as turbofan
engines. Turbofan engines had three benefits, namely, a greater thrust, an
improved fuel economy, and a quieter operation. The noise level was not a serious
problem in those days, but now noise level is a strict condition for engine certification.
The Conway powered the four-engine Vickers VC-10 jetliner as well as some
Boeing 707s and DC-8s.
2. A smaller bypass engine, the Rolls-Royce Spey, was built under license in the
United States, which powered the attack plane A-7, flown by both the U.S. Navy
and Air Force. One Spey engine powers the Italian/Brazilian AMX airplane, while
four Spey engines power the BAE Systems Nimrod aircraft.
3. Both General Electric and Pratt & Whitney built their own turbofan engines after
1965. The first aircraft to use turbofan engines in the United States was the
Lockheed C-5A “Galaxy,” using the GE TF-39 turbofan engines with a bypass ratio
(BPR) of 8. Later on, all the U.S. Air Force cargo planes, including the C-17, as well
as all the large airliners, including the Boeing 747, used turbofan engines.
4. With the emergence of wide-body airliners in the late 1960s, Rolls-Royce launched
the three-spool turbofan engine RB211. This engine has three turbines, two compressors,
and a fan. After some difficulties, this engine has now established itself
at the heart of Rolls-Royce's world-class family of engines. One of the earliest
aircraft powered by RB211 was the Lockheed L-1011 Tri-Star. Later on, this engine
powered numerous aircraft, including Boeings 747, 757, and 767 and the Tupolev
Tu 204-120.
5. In the 1960s, Pratt & Whitney built its high-BPR turbofan engine JT9D, which also
powered the wide-body Boeing 747 (Figure 1.28). In the 1970s, Pratt & Whitney
built its popular engine JT8D-200, which was the quieter, cleaner, and more efficient
engine. In the 1990s, Pratt & Whitney built its PW4000 series that powered
the Boeing 777.
26 Aircraft Propulsion and Gas Turbine Engines
6. The General Electric CF6 family of high-BPR turbofan engines have enjoyed
great popularity since the early 1970s. They have powered numerous civil and
military aircraft including Airbuses A300-600/600R, A310-22, A330, the Douglas
DC-10, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 Stretch, Boeings 747-200/300/400, and
767-200ER. By the late 1990s, more than 5500 CF6 engines were in service.
7. In 1974, collaboration between General Electric and SNECMA, the leading French
aircraft engine manufacturer, resulted in establishing the CFM International,
which received the first order for the CFM56-2 turbofan engine in 1979. CFM56-2
was chosen to re-engine the DC-8 Series Super 70s and its military version, designated
F108, to re-engine the tanker aircraft KC-135. Since then, the General Electric
and SNECMA CFM56 engines have powered the Boeing 737-300/400/500 series,
Airbus Industries A318, A319, A320, and A321, and the long-range four-engine
Airbus 380. The CFM56-7 powerplant was launched in 1993 to power the Boeing
737-600/700/800/900 series. In the second half of the 1990s, more than 3500 CFM
engines were delivered worldwide.
8. In the 1980s, a unique five-nation consortium led to the establishment of the
IAE International Aero Engines AG (the British Rolls-Royce, German MTU,
Italian Fiat, American Pratt & Whitney, and the Japanese Aero Engine
Corporation JAEC), which produced the turbofan engine V2500. Now the IAE is
only a four-nation consortium without the Italian Fiat company. More than 2920
engines were delivered up to April 2006. V2500 powered numerous aircraft
including the Boeing MD-90, the Airbus corporate jetliner, and Airbus A321,
A320, A319.
9. Another alliance between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney was achieved
in the 1990s to build the GP7000 series, which powered the superjumbo
Airbus A380.
JT9D-20 turbofan engine
FIGURE 1.28
Pratt & Whitney JT9D.
History and Classifications of Aeroengines 27
10. Rolls-Royce continued building high-technological aeroengines with its new family
of Trent 500, 700, 800, 900, and 1000. These engines power a big family of Boeing
and Airbus airplanes. The Trent 1000 powers the Dreamliner Boeing 787 aircraft.
11. GE90 is one of the largest turbofan engines with a BPR of nearly 9.
12. AlliedSignal Garrett is another aeroengine manufacturer in the United States.
It built the famous engine TFE731 that powered the Lockheed Jetstar II, the
Dassault Falcon 10, and the Hawker Siddeley125-700, as well as building the
three-spool F109 (TFE76) engine.
13. The first turbofan engine built by former Soviet Union was the D-20P, which had
advanced thrust, efficiency, and reliability performance. It is a two-spool engine
and has been installed in the Tu-124 short-haul airplane for passenger transportation
since October 1962. The two-spool D-30 series entered service in September
1967 and powered the Tu-134 aircraft. The D-30KP turbofan engine has a takeoff
thrust of 12,000 kgf. It powers IL-76T, IL-76TD, and IL-76MD versions of the popular
long-haul IL-76 airplane for transportation of large-size equipment and cargo.
It started commercial running for cargo transportation in July 1974.
14. Several three-spool engines manufactured by the famous Ukrainian company
Motor Sich JSC are now in use. Examples are the D-18T Series 1 and Series 3,
powering
the AN-124 Ruslan and AN-225 Mriya transports. The same manufacturer
and another Ukrainian manufacturer, also produce several three-spool turbofans
including the D-436, which powers the short- and medium-haul airliners,
FIGURE 1.29
Rolls-Royce turbofan engine Trent 1000.
28 Aircraft Propulsion and Gas Turbine Engines
Tu-334-100 and Tu-334-120, while the turbofan engines D-36 series 1, 1E, 2A and
3A are installed to AN-72 and AN-74 aircrafts installed in AN-72 and AN-74 passenger
aircraft. The same two manufacturers produce the low-BPR turbofan engine
AI-25 TD, which powers the MIG UTS twin-engine trainer airplane.