GE Aviation completes T901 turboshaft testing for U.S. Army's Improved Turbine Engine Program
October 10 2017 - 12:38PM
Business Wire
GE Aviation successfully completed testing a T901-GE-900
turboshaft engine prototype in support of the United States Army's
Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP). The company-funded test
engine exceeded ITEP performance requirements, proving that the GE
T901 engine is ready for the ITEP Engineering and Manufacturing
Development (EMD) phase. The T901 engine tests were conducted over
the span of six months and verified growth margin to meet future
ITEP power requirements.
Following the completion of the T901 prototype test, GE
continued the company-funded portion of its development program by
running compressor, combustor and turbine component tests at its
facilities in Lynn, Mass., and Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, GE is
utilizing the advanced turbine testing capability at the University
of Notre Dame's Turbomachinery Laboratory (NDTL) in South Bend,
Ind., where GE committed $13.5 million to fund advanced research
and testing in 2014.
Since 2010, GE invested more than $9 billion in maturing
commercial technologies applicable to the T901. During that same
timeframe, GE spent more than $300 million to develop and test
T901-specific technologies ahead of an upcoming preliminary design
review (PDR) scheduled with the United States Army Contracting
Command (ACC), based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. These
company-funded investments demonstrate GE's commitment to Better
Buying Power 3.0's Industry Productivity and Innovation
recommendations resulting in technology maturation benefits to the
U.S. Department of Defense.
In 2016, the Army awarded GE Aviation a $102-million, 24-month
contract culminating in the T901 PDR, after which the Army plans to
select a single supplier to complete the Engineering and
Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of ITEP. Since the start of
the ITEP PDR contract, GE assembled a top technical team of more
than 100 experienced engineers from commercial and other programs
to focus on the T901 PDR efforts.
Ron Hutter, executive director of the T901 program, said: "To
validate our analytical models ahead of the ITEP PDR with the Army,
it was critical to demonstrate that a T901 prototype engine
outfitted with the latest and greatest commercial and military
technologies will meet ITEP performance requirements-there is no
substitute for testing. We're thrilled with the overwhelmingly
successful results, confirming that these requirements can be
achieved while maintaining the single spool architecture of the
T700 that enables full modularity and higher reliability. Beyond
the advanced design and hardware, the T901 features the latest
diagnostic and prognostic tools with a modular architecture that
provides the Army with the flexibility to improve readiness at the
lowest life cycle costs. The T700's modular engine architecture
proved in austere operating conditions to be highly maintainable in
a fix-forward, expeditionary environment while minimizing the
logistics footprint and overall sustainment costs."
To read the T901 white paper, click here.
The T901 incorporates extensive use of advanced manufacturing
and high-temperature material technologies initially developed and
matured for GE's commercial jet engines, such as ceramic matrix
composites (CMCs) and additive manufactured components pioneered on
the best-selling LEAP and GE9X engines. These innovations-which
dramatically reduce fuel consumption and lower aircraft operating
weight-will have millions of hours of operating experience by the
time the T901 enters production, enabling the engine to meet or
exceed the Army's aggressive performance targets with field-proven,
low-cost technologies.
The T901 will utilize a significant number of additive parts,
leveraging investments in new production plants, equipment and
designs utilized for GE's commercially-funded programs such as the
Advanced Turboprop (ATP) for the Cessna Denali. Additive
manufacturing allows GE to build complex parts with advanced, 3D
shapes at lower weight and with better performance and durability.
For example, the T901 includes an additive part that reduces an
assembly of more than 50 subcomponents into one part. To learn how
GE utilizes additive manufacturing to build parts, watch this
YouTube video by clicking here.
"With traditional machining and fabrication methods, individual
parts are machined into finished parts from castings or forgings
and built into assemblies using welding/brazing or bolted joints,"
said Hutter. "On the T901, additive manufacturing reduces weight by
minimizing attaching features in assemblies. Additive also allows
for more advanced aerodynamic shapes, leading to better engine
performance, reliability and durability for the Army."
GE also leads the jet propulsion industry in CMC technologies.
The T901 will incorporate CMC components to improve performance and
reduce weight. More durable and capable of withstanding higher
temperatures than metal alloys, CMCs allow less cooling air to be
used to cool parts in the engine's hot section, thus improving
engine efficiency. The millions of hours of CMC parts experience
from LEAP commercial engines will be leveraged to incorporate
similar components into the T901.
GE's T901 turboshaft design, manufacturing, assembly and test
were supported by the following locations: Alabama - GE
Huntsville; Connecticut - GE Unison; Delaware - GE Newark; Florida
- GE Unison; Illinois - Woodward; Kentucky - GE Madisonville;
Michigan - GE Muskegon; New Hampshire - GE Hookset; North Carolina
- GE Asheville; Ohio - GE Additive, GE QTC, GE Unison, GE Evendale;
Vermont - GE Rutland
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a
world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components,
integrated digital, avionics, electrical power and mechanical
systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation
aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these
offerings. For more information, visit us
at www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation at
http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube
at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171010006436/en/
GE AviationMatt
BenvieMobile: +1.513.432.6834matthew.benvie@ge.comorRick
KennedyMobile: +1.513.607.0609Rick.l.kennedy@ge.com
General Electric (NYSE:GE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
General Electric (NYSE:GE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024