CFM International managers are feeling bullish after validation results on the company¹s TECH56 programme, designed to develop and validate advanced technologies for the CFM56 engine, exceeded expectations.
Now in its third year, the programme has entered an important phase - the execution and validation of major component testing.
Things are going so well that during the second half of this year CFMI will initiate a high-pressure and a low-pressure test of the same rig - a feat never before attempted.
Margin
Best results have come from tests of the swept fan and the stall margin of the high-pressure compressor. Bill Clapper, vice- president of CFMI at General Electric Aircraft Engines, describes the results as "excellent".
Clapper says that in about a year, he expects the company to be ready to make a decision about applications for the TECH56 technologies.
Additional dual spool rig tests are scheduled for later this year, including a counter-rotating turbine design. Full annular rig testing of the advanced twin annular, pre-swirl (TAPS) combustor is also imminent. The TAPS combustor will maintain Nox emissions reductions CFM achieved with its double annular combustor while also reducing carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions.
Source: Flight Daily News
