milestone!GE9X engine with more than 300 3D printed parts obtained FAA certification

On September 28, GE Aviation announced that the GE9X engine had been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is a key milestone for the GE9X engine to power the 777X series aircraft. GE9X is the power engine of the new twin-engine Boeing 777X, the world’s largest commercial aviation engine, which can provide approximately 100,000 pounds of thrust. As GE mentioned in the official GE9X promotional film, “strengthened by additive manufacturing”, additive manufacturing-3D printingTechnology plays an important role in the manufacture of this largest commercial engine. Obtaining FAA certification is not only a key milestone for GE9X engines to power the 777X series aircraft, but also another milestone in the development of additive manufacturing technology in the application of aircraft engine manufacturing.

GE9X promotional film. Source: GE

Additive manufacturing empowers next-generation engines

FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations) Part 33 certification involves 8 test engines. The success of this certification allows GE Aviation to enrich its commercial jet engine product portfolio, including GEnx and CFM LEAP engines for Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the newly certified GE9X.

According to GE, in order to obtain certification, the GE9X test engine completed nearly 5,000 hours and 8,000 engine cycles. The performance of the engine has been verified through extensive ground and flight tests. Compared with the GE90-115B, the specific fuel consumption (SFC) of the GE9X engine is reduced by 10%, which is 5% lower than that of other engines in the same product. Compared with other similar engines, the smoke emission of GE9X will be less.

GE9X engine. Source: GE

GE’s focus is still to cooperate with Boeing to complete the 777X flight test plan and put it into use. According to 3D Science Valley, GE has currently produced eight GE9X test engines and two test spare parts, which have been delivered to Boeing for use in four 777X test aircraft. GE has assembled several GE9X production engines, and GE Aviation is completing factory acceptance tests.

GE Aviation is currently conducting 3,000 additional ground tests on the GE9X engine to support extended operations (ETOPS) approval. The GE9X team is also conducting a maturity test to help GE engineers prepare to support the engine in use. GE has received more than 600 orders and intentions for GE9X engines.

Key manufacturing technology

Although GE9X has not been officially put into commercial use, it has received a lot of recognition. GE9X won the Guinness World Record for the world’s most powerful engine last year. It is the most fuel-efficient jet engine in GE’s aviation history. Its fuel consumption is 10% lower than competing products. It has the largest front fan and composite fan with a diameter of 134 inches. The casing and 16 pieces of fourth-generation carbon fiber composite material fan blades…In addition to these hard-core advantages, another key technology is additive manufacturing. GE Aviation included additive manufacturing in the “9 facts about GE9X engines.”

9 facts about the GE9X engine

1. The composite fan housing at 134 inches is the largest of any commercial aircraft engine.

2. GE9X has more than 300 additive manufacturing parts.In addition to the additive manufacturing parts in the GE9X engine, GE Aviation and its joint venture currently have four other FAA-certified3D printingParts: T25 sensor for GE90-94B, CFM LEAP fuel nozzle head, GEnx-2B electric door opening system (PDOS) bracket and GE Passport air oil separator.

3. Despite its large size, the GE9X is expected to be the quietest GE engine ever built in pounds per decibel of thrust.

4. The GE9X engine is equipped with fourth-generation composite fan blades. GE’s first composite fan blades were put into use on GE90-94B engines in 1995. GE and its joint venture CFM have accumulated more than 138 million flight hours using composite blades in the past 25 years.

5. The 16 composite fan blades in the GE9X engine are the lowest number GE produces for commercial jet engines. The GE90 engine has 22 fan blades, the GEnx has 18 fan blades, and the smaller CFM LEAP engine has 18 composite fan blades.

6. GE9X has set a world record, generating 134,300 pounds of thrust in the engineering test conducted at the GE Outdoor Test Factory on November 10, 2017. The GE90-115B set a thrust record of 127,900 pounds in 2002.

7. GE Aviation conducted 72 GE9X test flights on its Boeing 747 flight test bed, totaling more than 400 hours. The first test flight date is March 8, 2018.

8. There are five ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components in the GE9X engine, including the first-stage high-pressure turbine (HPT) shroud, the first and second-stage HPT nozzles, and the inner and outer linings of the combustion chamber. GE Aviation has more than 8 million hours of experience in running CMC parts in commercial engines. GE obtained the first patent on CMC material in 1986 and has continued to develop this material. GE has invested more than US$1.5 billion in this technology and established the first vertically integrated CMC supply chain in the United States.

9. The total pressure ratio of the GE9X engine is 60:1, which is the highest pressure ratio among all engines in use, which means that the engine can make the most effective use of intake air, thereby improving fuel efficiency.

304 additive manufacturing owned by GE9X-3D printingThe parts cover seven types.

The manufacturing and certification process of components on the GE9X engine suitable for additive manufacturing is complicated. However, GE is able to use the foundation of early success. These components have complex geometric shapes. Early success stories enable GE to realize a core of “copy” and inheritance of experience. GE9X fuel nozzle and LEAP engineFuel nozzleBasically the same, the fuel nozzle of LEAP Engine Pass is often considered to be the first one produced by GE Aviation through additive manufacturing.3D printingParts.

However, GE is3D printingBefore its first LEAP fuel nozzles, it was first more than 400 GE90 engines3D printingThe T25 sensor housing. When the first sensor appeared on the GE90-94B jet engine in 2015, it became the first additive-manufactured aircraft engine component certified by the FAA.

Based on these successful experiences, when the initial work of GE9X began around 2013, GE decided to continue3D printingThe fuel nozzle and sensor housing are not surprising. GE9XHeat exchangerAnd inducer is a different story. GE Aviation’s heat exchangers traditionally consist of dozens of thin metal tubes.For GE9X3D printingHeat exchangers have completely different shapes, including optimized channels and complex internal geometries, which can take full advantage of the design freedom that can be achieved with additive manufacturing.

The inducer is designed to improve the durability of the engine, combined with the design freedom brought by additive manufacturing, to meet the challenging technical requirements of customer needs.3D printingThe inducer represents GE’s continuous development in the field of aeroengines. The GE9X inducer is another example of design engineers combining multiple component features into one part through additive manufacturing.

The heat exchangers and deflectors demonstrated GE Aviation’s major manufacturing transformation efforts, and the GE9X used3D printingLow-pressure turbine bladesIt is a leap that GE has been preparing since 2013. These blades are manufactured by a former supplier acquired by GE in Italy, using Arcam powder bed electron beam melting additive manufacturing technology acquired by GE.

Digitization, new materials,3D printingThe innovation of aero engines is being promoted. GE has initiated the layout of the commanding heights of the next-generation aero engine technology, and has pushed the application of additive manufacturing technology to a new high as the GE9X engine has obtained FAA certification and is put into use.

(Editor in charge: admin)