Air Transport

MTU has kicked off rig tests of an advanced high-pressure compressor that will form a key element of Pratt & Whitney's next-generation scaleable core studies aimed at future engines including the geared turbofan writes Guy Norris.

The eight-stage compressor "will feed into the scaleable concept", says P&W engineering senior vice-president Paul Adams. MTU says the unit's "extremely lightweight construction makes it the compressor of choice for conventional engines and engines with reduction gears.

"That compressor is sized to be flexible, and to cover the 10,000-30,000lb thrust [44.5-134kN] range," says Adams. "The next step is a long-term collaboration," he adds. MTU is already a strategic partner to P&W with the GTF demonstrator, for which it is again supplying the HPC as well as integrally bladed rotors.

MTU also worked with P&W and Pratt & Whitney Canada on the Advanced Technology Fan Integrator geared fan demonstrator as well as with P&W on the PW6000-based Joint Technology Demonstrator Programme.

The HPC rig test is due to run for three months before "we look at the data and make another entry", says Adams, who adds that the future collaboration "as much as anything depends on that second iteration".

Adams adds that the scaleable core concept work does not carry the PW9000 title used previously to denote future mid-thrust combat engine core studies.