Pratt & Whitney (P&W) has rolled out an aftermarket upgrade option for its PW1100G geared turbofans it says will bring the durability of in-service powerplants to levels nearing that of the company’s newly certificated GTF Advantage update.
The new GTF “Hot Section Plus” update involves installing, during maintenance visits, 35 new parts in the hot sections of in-service PW1100Gs. Those components will give the engines “90-95% of the GTF Advantages’ durability benefits”, P&W says.
The update “brings the durability improvements of the GTF Advantage hot section to today’s GTF engines,” says P&W vice president of sales and marketing Nick Tomassetti. “Customers operating the current GTF engine model will have the opportunity to nearly double time-on-wing”.
P&W has for several years been responding to issues that have left GTFs significantly less durable than the engine maker promised. Most notable has been a recall of thousands of powerplants that contain potentially defective parts due to manufacturing errors involving the use of powdered metal.
Meanwhile, it has been working to improve the durability of new-build PW1100Gs. Toward that end, P&W developed its GTF Advantage, which in addition to being more durable has improved thrust. The US Federal Aviation Administration certificated the PW1100G GTF Advantage in February. P&W expects to begin delivering it to customers this year and for the powerplants to enter service in 2026.
P&W is also now bringing many of the GTF Advantage improvements to the Hot Section Plus update, which it plans to begin installing in existing engines next year.
“The enhancements include an advanced airfoil design with improved coatings,” P&W says. “The HPT and combustor also feature optimised cooling hole size, shape and location, with improved hole-drilling techniques to reduce oxidation.”
“We’re taking that hot section out of the Advantage and bringing it right back into the base engine, including the combustor and the panels,” P&W commercial president Rick Deurloo said in May.
The company says GTFs with the Hot Section Plus update “will be fully intermixable and interchangeable with” baseline GTFs and the new GTF Advantage.
