Posted on 01/07/2018 5:10:20 PM PST by Vince Ferrer
GE has successfully tested its Advanced Turboprop (ATP) engine, which contains several titanium 3D printed parts. Additive manufacturing has enabled GE to combine 855 separate parts of the engine into just 12.
Over the last two years, around 400 designers, engineers, and materials experts at GE have contributed to the creation of the Advanced Turboprop engine, one-third of which is made from titanium 3D printed parts. It’s a momentous achievement for GE, and last Friday the engine passed its first firing test.
“This is a pivotal moment,” commented Paul Corkery, general manager of the Advanced Turboprop program at GE. “We now have a working engine.”
GE’s new civilian turboprop engine, made for use in commercial aircraft, has been built with “dozens” of new technologies, including additive manufacturing. A non-printed engine of this sort would normally contain 855 separate components, but by using 3D printing, GE was able to reduce that number to just 12.
There are massive advantages to this reduction in total components. More than 100 pounds in weight has been taken off the engine, whose fuel burn has been improved by as much as 20 percent, giving it 10 percent more power while also simplifying maintenance.
But if the 3D printing innovation alone makes the ATP sound impressive, there’s much more going on inside the engine to wow aviation enthusiasts. Some parts in the engine’s compressor, for example, were originally developed for supersonic engines. These variable vanes will allow the ATP to fly efficiently even in thin air at high altitudes.
Another impressive feature of the 3D printed engine is its digital control system, which will allow pilots to fly ATP-equipped aircraft like a jet, using a single lever instead of three. The new Cessna Denali from Textron will be the first plane to use the engine.
Last Friday’s critical testing of the 3D printed engine took place in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Over the fall period, workers at the GE Aviation factory in Prague assembled the ATP engine in a room next to one of the building’s test cells, which is equipped with a number of cameras for spotting fuel leaks and which is protected by thick steel-and-concrete doors. By December, the engine was ready to be transported via a cart into the test cell.
Setting up the engine for testing involved connecting the ATP to a boxy water brake, which simulates the torque cause by the propeller, and connecting the engine to tubes that supply air, fuel and oil, and removing exhaust. Hundreds of wires, tubes, and cables were then used to connect the engine to special sensors which collect information about factors like vibrations, torque, and thrust.
One floor above the test cell is a control room where GE staff could safely observe the testing. This area is also where data from the sensors is gathered for analysis, with a number of precious servers used to hold this information, as well as all the information gathered over the engine’s development period, from Prague and elsewhere. At the Technical University of Munich, for example, GE engineers recently put a compressor with variable vanes through its paces.
Excitingly, the successful testing of the 3D printed ATP is just the beginning for GE. “We are moving from design and development to the next phase of the program, ending with certification,” Corkery said. GE hopes to have the engine certified for passenger flight over the next two years.
The next step, however, involves opening five more test cells, allowing GE to build nine more test ATP engines for battery testing. GE hopes the engines will then be certified for flight after being put through altitude, performance, and high-vibration testing, as well as testing on the wing of a flying “test bed.”
GE, with some justification, is presenting no false modesty about its new 3D printed ATP engine: “This engine is a game changer,” Corkery said.
Sad the GE felt compelled to test this engine in the Czech Republic.
I suspect it is because of insane regulatory hurdles in the United States.
I hope President Trump’s reforms rectify the matter.
I used to see a Titanium factory in California, i wonder if its still there
“around 400 designers, engineers, and materials experts at GE have contributed to the creation of the Advanced Turboprop engine, one-third of which is made from titanium 3D printed parts. It’s a momentous achievement for GE, and last Friday the engine passed its first firing test.”
I wonder if China has stolen the plans yet.
GE bought an engine manufacturer there, they are doing most of there turboprops there now.
better than china
Political power grows out of the nozzle of a 3-D Printer.
I am impressed.
http://cessna.txtav.com/en/turboprop/denali
To go in the Cessna Denali still in development.
So cool! Or is that hot? LOL
Thanks for the post. Excellent.
Plans? I am sure there is a lot trial and error, a lot of art, only obtained by making and fixing a lot of mistakes.
Down to 12 parts? That is truly amazing. As the technology advances....one part.
This is where 3D printing excels. Complex things like engines currently are made from hundreds of parts because they have to be broken up into shapes that can be made on current CNC machines, then assembled into a larger working assembly. A 3D printer is not limited to simple shapes, and so shapes can be combined easily into more complex assemblies while they are being printed. It is this advantage that can reduce the manufacturing time for complex machines, and bring their cost down.
Outstanding question!
When I saw this post I quickly opened and read it to see if this was at the Evendale or Lynn plants. A Czech plant????? I worked in the Flight Propulsion Division in Evendale for a couple of years. Now I wonder if the plants are still there. Oh wellllllll.
GE was run “into the ground” during Immelt’s last 2-3 years. Just one quick glance at a 2-year GE stock chart pretty much shows the “fall from grace” of one of America’s oldest and most prestigious companies. They’ve finally shed themselves of that guy and the old Board last October, and the new CEO and Board of Directors are now tasked with putting GE back together again...no easy task, especially for a huge conglomerate the size of GE. I suspect they’ll focus on their 4 most profitable business segments: power, aviation, healthcare and renewable energy. They’ll probably sell-off and/or reduce, everything else that’s causing them to bleed out. This good news is for the aviation segment....and pretty interesting technology that they’ll probably carry over to other segments.
As post further down, GE bought Walther about 10 years ago. Walther was a Czech company with all their manufacturing in country.
Walther has a turbo-prop engine, similar to the Canadian PT-6. It was easier for GE to buy this company than build a clean-sheet, competing engine for this segment of the market.
Allen, I also worked for GE in Evendale. I worked in the Stealth group in the basement of building 100. Also worked in some of the closed areas in 200. I was there from August 1987 to May 1993. Still have some friends there. I lived in Fairfield at the time, near Jungle Jims.
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I worked there in the late 60s. They were using a GE-635 for design and production of the military and civilian engines. While it wasn’t a super computer it was damn near close. It was built in their computer facility in Phoenix.
Word came down to use the 635 in a commercial application besides the engine work. So a very large scale payroll application was designed, coded and implemented at Evendale and Lynn. It was so successful they wanted another commercial application. I told management to transfer me to Phoenix and they said sorry. We parted ways. Lived in Sharonville, Mt. Healthy and then Fairfield. How about that.
I am al for the benefits that some 3d printer designs can offer.
But the downside may be getting replacement parts for this that are very pricey. 855 parts to 12. What are you gonna be charged for new parts on the 12 part engine?
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