Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan (GTF) demonstrator engine has now completed its phase two ground tests and has been cleared for flight testing on P&W’s 747SP flying test-bed, the American engine maker said at the show yesterday.
The second testing phase, which began in April at P&W’s advanced test facility in West Palm Beach, focused on engine performance and ground acoustics with the Geared Turbofan engine’s flight-capable nacelle system. The engine completed 120 hours of testing and has logged a total 250 hours since ground testing began in November 2007.
Bob Saia, P&W’s VP, next generation product family said: “This demonstrator engine has confirmed the laboratory results of our fan drive gear system, demonstrating excellent efficiency and operational characteristics with double-digit reductions in fuel burn, engine noise, environmental emissions and operating costs.”
This latest test programme measured the ground-level noise characteristics of the engine, which is expected to be 50% quieter than today’s engines and 20 dB quieter than the ICAO stage 4 noise regulations. Using an array of 32 microphones around the engine test stand - and 16 sound pressure transducers inside the engine - to get accurate data for noise modelling, initial data showed that the GTF is right on target.
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Source: Flight Daily News
