The General Electric CF34 is a civilian high-bypass turbofan developed by GE Aviation from its TF34 military engine. The CF34 is used on a number of business and regional jets , including the Bombardier CRJ series, the Embraer E-Jets , and Comac ARJ21 . In 2012, there were 5,600 engines in service.
97-519: The original engine contained a single stage fan driven by a 4-stage low pressure (LP) turbine, supercharging a 14-stage high pressure (HP) compressor driven by a 2-stage HP turbine, with an annular combustor. Later higher thrust versions of the CF34 feature an advanced technology core, with only 10 HP compressor stages. Latest variants, the -10A and -10E , were derived from the CFM56 engine family, and have
194-440: A dozen Formula One races in 1971. Pratt & Whitney now markets its Ecopower pressure-washing service, which uses a high-pressure water spray run through several nozzles to clean grime and contaminants from jet engine parts, most notably turbine blades, to prevent overheating, improve engine operating efficiency and reduce fuel burn. The system collects the runoff from the washing process for appropriate disposal. The washing
291-590: A few fan blades need to be repaired or replaced, such as following bird strikes . The fan diameter varies with the different models of the CFM56, and that change has a direct impact on the engine performance. For example, the low-pressure shaft rotates at the same speed for both the CFM56-2 and the CFM56-3 models; the fan diameter is smaller on the -3, which lowers the tip speed of the fan blades. The lower speed allows
388-458: A large range of products, including turbofan, turboprop and turboshaft engines targeted for the regional, business, utility and military aircraft and helicopter markets. The company also designs and manufactures engines for auxiliary power units and industrial applications. Its headquarters are located in Longueuil , Quebec (just outside Montreal ). Speaking to Reuters June 16, 2013, ahead of
485-407: A radically different HP spool, containing a 9-stage compressor driven by a single stage turbine. The LP spool has 3 core booster stages behind the fan. Static thrust is 82 kilonewtons (18,500 lbf) for the -10E variant. On wing times can reach 14,000 hours, an overhaul costs over $ 1.5 million and a set of LLPs $ 2.1 million for a 25,000 cycle life. In 1995, GE invested $ 200 million to develop
582-401: A three-stage booster on the low-pressure shaft, with four stages in the -5B and -5C variants. The booster is also commonly called the "low-pressure compressor" (LPC) as it is part of the low-pressure spool and continues the air compression done by the inner part of the fan before it reaches the high-pressure compressor. The original CFM56-2 variant featured 44 tip-shrouded fan blades, although
679-515: A thrust range of 18,500 to 34,000 lbf (82 to 150 kN ). CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly known as Snecma) of France, and GE Aerospace (GE) of the United States. GE produces the high-pressure compressor , combustor , and high-pressure turbine , Safran manufactures the fan, gearbox , exhaust and the low-pressure turbine, and some components are made by Avio of Italy and Honeywell from
776-547: A transmission bearing failed four laps from the finish. STP entered four Lotus 56s in the 1968 Indianapolis 500 . One car crashed during qualifying. Two of the remaining cars qualified fastest and second fastest, but all three retired from the race. Turbine cars were deemed illegal before the following year's race, so Lotus chief Colin Chapman developed the car for use in Formula One and an updated 56B competed in half
873-627: Is a business unit of aerospace conglomerate RTX Corporation , making it a sister company to Collins Aerospace and Raytheon . It is also involved in two major joint ventures, the Engine Alliance with GE which manufactures engines for the Airbus A380, and International Aero Engines company with Rolls-Royce , MTU Aero Engines , and the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation which manufactures engines for
970-561: Is a joint venture that develops, builds and services the V2500 aero engine family, which powers the Airbus A320 family and McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft. The four founding engine manufacturers that make up IAE each contribute an individual module to the V2500 engine. Pratt & Whitney produces the combustor and high-pressure turbine, Rolls-Royce the high-pressure compressor, JAEC
1067-411: Is a new engine design based on and designed to replace the CFM56 series, with 16% efficiency savings by using more composite materials and achieving higher bypass ratios of over 10:1. LEAP entered service in 2016. As of June 2016, the CFM56 is the most-used high-bypass turbofan . It has achieved more than 800 million engine flight hours, and at a rate of one million flight hours every eight days it
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#17327722888711164-410: Is expected to have achieved one billion flight hours by 2020. It has more than 550 operators and more than 2,400 CFM56-powered jet aircraft are in the air at any given moment. It is known for its dependability : its average time on wing is 30,000 hours before a first shop visit , with the current fleet record at 50,000 hours. As of July 2016, 30,000 engines have been built: 9,860 CFM56-5 engines for
1261-427: Is powered by its own turbine section (the high-pressure and low-pressure turbines, respectively). The fan and the booster (low-pressure compressor) evolved over the different iterations of the engine, as did the compressor, combustor and turbine sections. Most variants of the CFM56 feature a single-annular combustor . An annular combustor is a continuous ring where fuel is injected into the airflow and ignited, raising
1358-474: Is the world's second largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020 . In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation . In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries around the world. In April 1925, Frederick Rentschler , an Ohio native and former executive at Wright Aeronautical ,
1455-477: The Airbus A300 . Pratt & Whitney was considering upgrading their JT8D to compete in the same class as the CFM56 as a sole venture, while Rolls-Royce dealt with financial issues that precluded them from starting new projects; this situation caused GE to gain the title of best partner for the program. A major reason for GE's interest in the collaboration, rather than building a 10-ton engine on their own,
1552-914: The Airbus A320ceo and A340 -200/300 and more than 17,300 CFM56-3/-7B engines for the Boeing 737 Classic and 737NG . In July 2016, CFM had 3,000 engines in backlog. Lufthansa , launch customer for the CFM56-5C-powered A340, have an engine with more than 100,000 flight hours, having entered commercial service on 16 November 1993, overhauled four times since. In 2016 CFM delivered 1,665 CFM56 and booked 876 orders, it plans to produce CFM56 spare parts until 2045. By October 2017, CFM had delivered more than 31,000 engines and 24,000 were in service with 560 operators, it attained 500 million flight cycles and 900 million flight hours, including over 170 million cycles and 300 million hours since 1998 for
1649-604: The CFM56 engine thus giving customers an alternative in new CFM56 engine materials. In addition to engine parts, GMS provides customers with fleet management and customized maintenance service programs. United Airlines was the GMS launch customer. GMS received its first part certification in July 2007, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Parts Manufacturing Approval (PMA) certification for
1746-1248: The F119 for the F-22 Raptor , the F100 family that powers the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon , the F117 for the C-17 Globemaster III , the J52 for the EA-6B Prowler , the TF33 powering E-3 AWACS , E-8 Joint STARS , B-52 , and KC-135 aircraft, and the TF30 for the F-111 and F-14A . In addition, Pratt & Whitney offers a global network of maintenance, repair, and overhaul facilities and military aviation service centers focused on maintaining engine readiness for their customers. Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC), originally Canadian Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company, and later United Aircraft of Canada, provides
1843-627: The KC-135 , the E-6 Mercury and some E-3 Sentry aircraft. The CFM56-2 comprises a single-stage fan with 44 blades, with a three-stage LP compressor driven by a four-stage LP turbine, and a nine-stage HP compressor driven by a single-stage HP turbine. The combustor is annular. The first derivative of the CFM56 series, the CFM56-3 was designed for Boeing 737 Classic series (737-300/-400/-500), with static thrust ratings from 18,500 to 23,500 lbf (82.3 to 105 kN). A "cropped fan" derivative of
1940-638: The McDonnell Douglas YC-15 , an entrant in the Air Force's Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition. Soon after, the second CFM56 was mounted on a Sud Aviation Caravelle at the Snecma flight test center in France. This engine had a slightly different configuration with a long bypass duct and mixed exhaust flow, rather than a short bypass duct with unmixed exhaust flow. It was
2037-589: The Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan engine since its inception in 2016 has been the central issue. In July 2023, Pratt & Whitney issued a product recall that would affect hundreds of jet engines. The recall was issued due to a concern of metal parts being contaminated that could lead to cracking over time. In August 2023, airlines in the US, Europe and Asia announced that they would be temporarily reducing some flights so they could inspect aircraft affected by
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#17327722888712134-699: The RD-180 booster engine, offered by RD Amross , a partnership between Pratt & Whitney and NPO Energomash of Russia, for the Atlas III and V programs. The West Palm Beach site consisted of an engineering division and manufacturing division which designed and manufactured the high-pressure turbopumps (fuel and LOX) for the Space Shuttle's Main Engines (SSME) which were manufactured by the former Rocketdyne Corporation. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR)
2231-555: The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 , the launch engine for the aircraft. The first GP7200-powered Airbus A380 entered service with Emirates on August 1, 2008, on a non-stop flight from Dubai to New York City. Between 1967 and 1971, Pratt & Whitney turbine engines were used in American Championship Car Racing and Formula One . The STP-Paxton Turbocar dominated the 1967 Indianapolis 500 until
2328-800: The United States Navy selected the CFM56-2 to power their variant of the Boeing ;707, the E-6 Mercury , in 1982. In 1984 the Royal Saudi Air Force selected the CFM56-2 to power their E-3 Sentry aircraft (also related to the 707 airframe ). The CFM56-2-powered E-3 also became the standard configuration for aircraft purchased by the British and French. By the end of the 1970s, airlines were considering upgrading their aging Douglas DC-8 aircraft as an alternative to buying new quieter and more efficient aircraft. Following
2425-648: The Z-10 . This violated U.S. export laws and resulted in a multimillion-dollar fine. Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion consisted of liquid space propulsion at the Liquid Space Propulsion Division (West Palm Beach, Florida) and solid rocket propulsion at the Chemical Systems Division (San Jose, California), as well as refurbishment and integration of the non-motor elements of the Space Shuttle's solid rocket boosters at
2522-503: The naming rights for the home stadium for the University of Connecticut Huskies football team , Rentschler Field , which is located adjacent to Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford, Connecticut , campus, on Pratt's company-owned former airfield of the same name . In 2015, the stadium was renamed to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in time for the 2015–2016 University of Connecticut football season. Pratt & Whitney
2619-403: The "Tech56" development and demonstration program to create an engine for the new single-aisle aircraft that were expected to be built by Airbus and Boeing. The program focused on developing a large number of new technologies for the theoretical future engine, not necessarily creating an all-new design. When it became clear that Boeing and Airbus were not going to build all-new aircraft to replace
2716-722: The -2, the -3 engine has a smaller fan diameter at 60 in (1.5 m) but retains the original basic engine layout. The new fan was primarily derived from GE's CF6-80 turbofan rather than the CFM56-2, and the booster was redesigned to match the new fan. Pratt %26 Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines ) and military aviation . Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut . The company
2813-712: The -8C derivative for the CRJ700 . GE had proposed updating the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress with CF34-10 engines, but the Rolls-Royce F130 was selected in September 2021 instead. Related development Comparable engines Related lists CFM56 The CFM International CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108 ) series is a Franco-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International (CFMI), with
2910-406: The 10-ton engine, the CFM56. The venture was officially founded in 1974. The "CF" in the engine name stands for GE's designation for commercial turbofan engines, while the "M56" is the name of Snecma's original engine proposal. The two primary roles for CFMI were to manage the program between GE and Snecma, and to market, sell and service the engine at a single point of contact for the customer. CFMI
3007-459: The 1971 Paris Air Show a decision was made. The two companies saw mutual benefit in the collaboration and met several more times, fleshing out the basics of the joint project. At the time, Pratt & Whitney dominated the commercial market. GE needed an engine in this market class, and Snecma had previous experience of working with them, collaborating on the production of the CF6-50 turbofan for
General Electric CF34 - Misplaced Pages Continue
3104-471: The 425-horsepower (317 kW) R-1340 Wasp , was completed on Christmas Eve 1925. On its third test run it easily passed the U.S. Navy qualification test in March 1926; by October 1926, the U.S. Navy had ordered 200. The Wasp exhibited performance and reliability that revolutionized American aviation. The R-1340 powered the aircraft of Wiley Post , Amelia Earhart , and many other record flights. The R-1340
3201-650: The 737 and A320, CFMI decided to apply some of those Tech56 technologies to the CFM56 in the form of the "Tech Insertion" program which focused on three areas: fuel efficiency , maintenance costs and emissions. Launched in 2004, the package included redesigned high-pressure compressor blades, an improved combustor, and improved high- and low-pressure turbine components which resulted in better fuel efficiency and lower nitrogen oxides (NO x ) emissions. The new components also reduced engine wear, lowering maintenance costs by about 5%. The engines entered service in 2007, and all new CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines are being built with
3298-725: The 737) led to strong sales. In 1987, the IAE V2500 engine for the A320, which had beaten the CFM56 in early sales of the A320, ran into technical trouble, leading many customers to switch to the CFM56. However, the CFM56 was not without its own issues; several fan blade failure incidents were experienced during early service, including one failure that was a cause of the Kegworth air disaster , and some CFM56 variants experienced problems when flying through rain or hail. Both of these issues were resolved with engine modifications. Research into
3395-754: The Airbus A320 and the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft. Pratt & Whitney's large commercial engines power more than 25 percent of the world's passenger aircraft fleet and serve more than 800 customers in 160 countries. With more than 16,000 large commercial engines installed today, Pratt & Whitney provides power to hundreds of airlines and operators, from narrow-bodied airplanes to wide-bodied jumbo jetliners. In June 2007, Pratt & Whitney's fleet of large commercial engines surpassed 1 billion flight hours of service. Pratt & Whitney's Global Material Solutions (GMS) makes parts for
3492-530: The B737NG's -7B and over 100 million cycles and 180 million hours for the A320ceo's -5B since 1996. By June 2018, 32,645 were delivered. Strong demand will extend production to 2020, up from 2019. Exhaust gas temperature margin erodes with usage. One or two performance restoration shop visits, costing $ 0.3-$ 0.6m for a -5 series, can be performed before taking the engine off wing, which can restore 60% to 80% of
3589-412: The CFM56 a firm footing in both the military and commercial market. In the early 1980s Boeing selected the CFM56-3 to exclusively power the Boeing 737-300 variant. The 737 wings were closer to the ground than previous applications for the CFM56, necessitating several modifications to the engine. The fan diameter was reduced, which reduced the bypass ratio, and the engine accessory gearbox was moved from
3686-414: The CFM56 began before CFMI was formally created. While work proceeded smoothly, the international arrangement led to unique working conditions. For example, both companies had assembly lines, some engines were assembled and tested in the U.S. and others in France. Engines assembled in France were subject to the initially strict export agreement, which meant that GE's core was built in the U.S., then shipped to
3783-426: The CFM56 might be a solution to upcoming noise regulations. After announcing that a 707 would be configured with the CFM56 engine for flight tests in 1977, Boeing officially offered the 707-320 with the CFM56 engine as an option in 1978. The new variant was listed as the 707-700. Due to limited interest from the airlines in a re-engined 707, Boeing ended the 707-700 program in 1980 without selling any aircraft. Despite
3880-504: The F101 core technology. GE applied for the export license in 1972 as their primary contribution to the 10-ton engine project. The United States Department of State 's Office of Munitions Control recommended the rejection of the application on national security grounds; specifically because the core technology was an aspect of a strategic national defense system (B-1 bomber), it was built with Department of Defense funding, and that exporting
3977-574: The French KC-135 order in 1978, the April 1979 decision by United Airlines to upgrade 30 of their DC-8-61 aircraft with the CFM56-2 was important for securing the development of the CFM56; GE and Snecma were two weeks away from freezing development had that order not materialized. This decision marked the first commercial purchase (rather than government/military) of the engine, and Delta Air Lines and Flying Tiger Line soon followed suit, giving
General Electric CF34 - Misplaced Pages Continue
4074-1006: The GMS high-pressure turbine (HPT) shroud for the CFM56-3 engine. In March 2008, the FAA certified the GMS fan and booster with a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) with FAA Chapter 5 life limits equal to the original type certificate holder. The STC was the first FAA certification ever granted for alternative life-limited engine parts. In May 2008, Global Material Solutions received FAA STCs for its remaining life limited parts for CFM56-3 engines. Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners (GSP) offers overhaul, maintenance and repair services for Pratt & Whitney, International Aero Engines, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, and CFMI engines. In addition to engine overhaul and repair services, GSP provides services including line maintenance, engine monitoring and diagnostics, environmentally friendly on-wing water washes, leased engines, custom engine service programs and new and repaired parts. Pratt & Whitney maintains one of
4171-775: The Paris Airshow 2013, Pratt & Whitney President David Hess said he was confident that Canada would decide to stick with the F-35 program despite its recent discussions about having a new competition. If the orders did shift to another company, Pratt & Whitney could decide to move some of the industrial base work it is currently doing in Canada, Hess said. "We might reallocate the work elsewhere", he said, adding that reduced order volumes would likely trigger changes in Canada. The division admitted in July 2012 to providing engines and engine software for China's first attack helicopter,
4268-516: The Snecma plant in France where it was placed in a locked room into which even the President of Snecma was not allowed. The Snecma components (the fore and aft sections of the engine) were brought into the room, GE employees mounted them to the core, and then the assembled engine was taken out to be finished. The first completed CFM56 engine first ran at GE plant in Evendale on 20 June 1974 with
4365-517: The Tech Insertion components. CFMI also offers the components as an upgrade kit for existing engines. In 2009, CFMI announced the latest upgrade to the CFM56 engine, the "CFM56-7B Evolution" or CFM56-7BE. This upgrade, announced with improvements to Boeing's 737 Next Generation, further enhances the high- and low-pressure turbines with better aerodynamics, as well as improving engine cooling, and aims to reduce overall part count. CFMI expected
4462-527: The US. Both companies have their own final assembly line, GE in Evendale, Ohio , and Safran in Villaroche , France. The engine initially had extremely slow sales but has gone on to become the most used turbofan aircraft engine in the world. The CFM56 first ran in 1974. By April 1979, the joint venture had not received a single order in five years and was two weeks away from being dissolved. The program
4559-703: The USBI Co. Division (NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida). Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion provided advanced technology solutions to commercial, government and military customers for more than four decades. Products included the RL10 , the upper stage rocket engine used on the Boeing Delta and Lockheed Martin Atlas rockets, high-pressure turbopumps for the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) and
4656-613: The beginning of the end of American aerospace leadership. There was also speculation that the rejection may have been, in part, retaliation for French involvement in convincing the Swiss not to purchase American-made LTV A-7 Corsair II aircraft that had been competing against a French design, the Dassault Milan . In the end, the Swiss did not purchase either aircraft, opting for the Northrop F-5 E Tiger II instead. Despite
4753-433: The board of Niles Bement Pond that their Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool (P&WMT) subsidiary of Hartford, Connecticut , should provide the funding and location to build a new aircraft engine being developed by Rentschler, George J. Mead , and colleagues, all formerly of Wright Aeronautical . Conceived and designed by Mead, the new engine would be a large, air-cooled , radial design. Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool
4850-484: The bottom of the engine (the 6 o'clock position) to the 9 o'clock position, giving the engine nacelle its distinctive flat-bottomed shape. The overall thrust was also reduced, from 24,000 to 20,000 lbf (107 to 89 kN), mostly due to the reduction in bypass ratio. Since the small initial launch order for twenty 737-300s split between two airlines, over 5,000 Boeing 737 aircraft had been delivered with CFM56 turbofans by April 2010. In 1998, CFMI launched
4947-470: The bypass air flow. The blocked bypass air is forced through the cascades, reducing the thrust of the engine and slowing the aircraft down. The CFM56 also supports pivoting-door type thrust reversers. This type is used on the CFM56-5 engines that power many Airbus aircraft such as the Airbus A320. They work by actuating a door that pivots down into the bypass duct, both blocking the bypass air and deflecting
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#17327722888715044-765: The changes to result in a 4% reduction in maintenance costs and a 1% improvement in fuel consumption (2% improvement including the airframe changes for the new 737); flight and ground tests completed in May 2010 revealed that the fuel burn improvement was better than expected at 1.6%. Following 450 hours of testing, the CFM56-7BE engine was certified by FAA and EASA on 30 July 2010 and delivered from mid-2011. The CFM56-5B/3 PIP (Performance Improvement Package) engine includes these new technologies and hardware changes to lower fuel burn and lower maintenance cost. Airbus A320s were to use this engine version starting in late 2011. The LEAP
5141-584: The combustor is used on CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B variants with the suffix "/2" on their nameplates. GE started developing and testing a new type of combustor called the Twin Annular Premixing Swirler combustor, or "TAPS", during the Tech ;56 program. This design is similar to the double-annular combustor in that it has two combustion zones; this combustor "swirls" the flow, creating an ideal fuel–air mixture. This difference allows
5238-409: The combustor to generate much less NO x than other combustors. Tests on a CFM56-7B engine demonstrated an improvement of 46% over single-annular combustors and 22% over double-annular combustors. The analytical tools developed for TAPS have also been used to improve other combustors, notably the single-annular combustors in some CFM56-5B and -7B engines. The high-pressure compressor (HPC), that
5335-407: The core of the engine and is exhausted out of the fan case) with several variants having bypass ratios ranging from 5:1 to 6:1, generating 18,500 to 34,000 lbf (80 kN to 150 kN) of thrust. The variants share a common design, and differ only in details. The CFM56 is a two-shaft (or two-spool) engine, meaning that there are two rotating shafts, one high-pressure and one low-pressure. Each
5432-516: The development money provided by the government for the F101 engine core. Documents declassified in 2007 revealed that a key aspect of the CFM56 export agreement was that the French government agreed not to seek tariffs against American aircraft being imported into Europe. With the export issue settled, GE and Snecma finalized the agreement that formed CFM International (CFMI), a 50–50 joint company that would be responsible for producing and marketing
5529-453: The development of a 10-ton engine – either to build a "limited" technology 10-ton engine with Snecma, or a similar engine with "advanced" technology on their own. Concerned that the company would be left with only the "limited" engine in its portfolio if it did not win the Air Force contract (for which it was competing with Pratt & Whitney and a General Motors division with its "advanced" engine), GE decided to apply for an export license for
5626-454: The development of the CFM56 to proceed. Contemporary reports state that the agreement was based on assurances that the core of the engine, the part that GE was developing from the military F101, would be built in the U.S. and then transported to France in order to protect the sensitive technologies. The joint venture also agreed to pay the U.S. an $ 80 million royalty fee (calculated at $ 20,000 per engine predicted to be built) as repayment for
5723-470: The effectiveness of chevrons on reducing jet noise. After examining configurations in the wind tunnel , CFMI chose to flight-test chevrons built into the core exhaust nozzle. The chevrons reduced jet noise by 1.3 perceived loudness decibels during takeoff conditions, and are now offered as an option with the CFM56 for the Airbus A321 . The CFM56 features a single-stage fan, and most variants have
5820-529: The export license being rejected, both the French and GE continued to push the Nixon Administration for permission to export the F101 technology. Efforts continued throughout the months following the rejection, culminating in the engine becoming an agenda topic during the 1973 meeting of Presidents Nixon and Pompidou in Reykjavík . Discussions at this meeting resulted in an agreement that allowed
5917-588: The fan and low-pressure compressor and MTU the low-pressure turbine. Engine Alliance, a 50/50 joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, was formed in August 1996 to develop, manufacture, and support a family of modern technology engines for new high-capacity, long-range aircraft . The main application is the GP7200 , which has been designed for use on the Airbus A380 . It competes with
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#17327722888716014-536: The fan blades to operate more efficiently (5.5% more in this case), which increases the overall fuel efficiency of the engine (improving specific fuel consumption nearly 3%). The CFM56 is designed to support several thrust reverser systems which help slow and stop the aircraft after landing. The variants built for the Boeing 737, the CFM56-3 and the CFM56-7, use a cascade type of thrust reverser. This type of thrust reverse consists of sleeves that slide back to expose mesh-like cascades and blocker doors that block
6111-434: The first to include a "Thrust Management System". After testing the engine for several years, both in the air and on the ground, CFMI searched for customers outside of a possible AMST contract. The main targets were re-engine contracts for the Douglas DC-8 and the Boeing 707 airliners, including the related military tanker, the KC-135 Stratotanker . There was little initial interest in the engine, but Boeing realized that
6208-420: The flow outward, creating the reverse thrust. All variants of the CFM56 feature a single-stage high-pressure turbine (HPT). In some variants, the HPT blades are "grown" from a single crystal superalloy, giving them high strength and creep resistance. The low-pressure turbine (LPT) features four stages in most variants of the engine, but the CFM56-5C has a five-stage LPT. This change was implemented to drive
6305-444: The full authority digital engine controller ( FADEC ). In 1989, CFMI began work on a new, double-annular combustor. Instead of having just one combustion zone, the double-annular combustor has a second combustion zone that is used at high thrust levels. This design lowers the emissions of both nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The first CFM56 engine with the double-annular combustor entered service in 1995, and
6402-432: The head of the F135 engine program, reportedly left the company after expenses incurred to transport South Korean officials to the company's West Palm Beach, Florida facility in 2012 were deemed unethical. In 2020, United Technologies merged with Raytheon Company to form Raytheon Technologies , with Pratt & Whitney becoming one of the new corporation's four main subsidiaries. In November 2022, Pratt & Whitney
6499-438: The lack of sales, having the commercial 707 available with the CFM56 helped the engine's competitiveness for the KC-135 re-engine contract. Winning the contract to re-engine the KC-135 tanker fleet for the USAF would be a huge boon to the CFM56 project (with more than 600 aircraft available to re-engine), and CFMI aggressively pursued that goal as soon as the Request For Proposals (RFP) was announced in 1977. Like other aspects of
6596-431: The larger fan on this variant. Improvements to the turbine section were examined during the Tech56 program, and one development was an aerodynamically optimized low-pressure turbine blade design, which would have used 20% fewer blades for the whole low-pressure turbine, saving weight. Some of those Tech56 improvements made their way into the Tech Insertion package, where the turbine section was updated. The turbine section
6693-433: The largest service center networks in the world, with more than 40 engine overhaul and maintenance centers located around the globe. The Global Service Partners includes Japan Turbine Technologies (JTT). JTT started in 2000 as a joint venture between Pratt and Japan Airlines , with Japan Airlines owning 33.4 percent of the venture, and Pratt & Whitney owning the rest. In July 2011 Pratt bought out Japan Airlines' share in
6790-422: The main fueling system running on aviation fuel. As design evolved HPC design improved through better airfoil design. As part of the Tech-56 improvement program CFMI has tested the new CFM-56 model with six-stage high-pressure compressor stages (discs that make up the compressor system) that was designed to deliver same pressure ratios (pressure gain 30) similar to the old nine-stages compressor design. The new one
6887-595: The next generation of commercial jet engines, high-bypass ratio turbofans in the "10-ton" (20,000 lbf; 89 kN) thrust class, began in the late 1960s. Snecma (now Safran), who had mostly built military engines previously, was the first company to seek entrance into the market by searching for a partner with commercial experience to design and build an engine in this class. They considered Pratt & Whitney , Rolls-Royce , and GE Aviation as potential partners, and after two company executives, Gerhard Neumann from GE and René Ravaud from Snecma, introduced themselves at
6984-455: The number of fan blades was reduced in later variants as wide-chord blade technology developed, down to 22 blades in the CFM56-7 variant. The CFM56 fan features dovetailed fan blades which allows them to be replaced without removing the entire engine, and GE/Snecma claim that the CFM56 was the first engine to have that capability. This attachment method is useful for circumstances where only
7081-514: The original margin. Once restored, the life limited parts must be replaced after: 20,000 cycles for the hot section ($ 0.5m), 25,000 for the axial compressor , and 30,000 for the fan and booster ($ 0.5m-$ 0.7m) for a recent CFM56. The whole engine parts cost more than $ 3m, $ 3.5 to $ 4m with the shop work-hours, around $ 150 per cycle. By June 2019, the CFM56 fleet had surpassed one billion engine flight hours (nearly 115,000 years), having carried more than 35 billion people, over eight million times around
7178-462: The post-war aviation industry, both military and civil (commercial, private) , as one with some of the greatest growth and development potential available anywhere for the next few decades. It lent Rentschler US$ 250,000, the use of the Pratt & Whitney name, and space in their building. This was the beginning of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company . Pratt & Whitney Aircraft's first engine,
7275-440: The pressure and temperature of the flow. This contrasts with a can combustor , where each combustion chamber is separate, and a cannular combustor which is a hybrid of the two. Fuel injection is regulated by a hydromechanical unit (HMU) built by Honeywell . It regulates the amount of fuel delivered to the engine by means of an electrohydraulic servo valve that, in turn, drives a fuel metering valve, that provides information to
7372-405: The program, international politics played their part in this contract. In efforts to boost the CFM56's chances versus its competitors, the Pratt & Whitney TF33 and an updated Pratt & Whitney JT8D , the French government announced in 1978 that they would upgrade their 11 KC-135s with the CFM56, providing one of the first orders for the engine. The USAF announced the CFM56 as the winner of
7469-835: The re-engine contract in January 1980. Officials indicated that they were excited at the prospect of replacing the Pratt & Whitney J57 engines currently flying on the KC-135A aircraft, calling them "...the noisiest, dirtiest, [and] most fuel inefficient powerplant still flying" at the time. The re-engined aircraft was designated the KC-135R. The CFM56 brought many benefits to the KC-135, decreasing takeoff distance by as much as 3,500 ft (1,100 m), decreasing overall fuel usage by 25%, greatly reducing noise (24 dB lower) and lowering total life cycle cost. With those benefits in mind,
7566-603: The recall. As of September 2023 , it was estimated that around 3,000 engines might have been manufactured with flawed components. Pratt & Whitney is headquartered in East Hartford, Connecticut , and also has plants in Londonderry, New Hampshire ; Springdale, Arkansas ; Columbus, Georgia ; Middletown, Connecticut ; Middletown, Pennsylvania ; Dallas, Texas ; Palm Beach County, Florida ; North Berwick, Maine ; Aguadilla, Puerto Rico ; Asheville, North Carolina and Bridgeport, West Virginia . Pratt & Whitney holds
7663-512: The second running in October 1974. The second engine was then shipped to France and first ran there on 13 December 1974. These first engines were considered "production hardware" as opposed to test examples and were designated as the CFM56-2, the first variant of the CFM56. The engine flew for the first time in February 1977 when it replaced one of the four Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines on
7760-512: The technology to France would limit the number of American workers on the project. The official decision was made in a National Security Decision Memorandum signed by the National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger on 19 September 1972. While national security concerns were cited as the grounds for rejection, politics played an important role as well. The project, and the export issue associated with it,
7857-583: The two companies gave GE responsibility for the high-pressure compressor (HPC), the combustor , and the high-pressure turbine (HPT); Snecma was responsible for the fan, the low-pressure compressor (LPC), and the low-pressure turbine (LPT). Snecma was also responsible for the initial airframe integration engineering, mostly involving the nacelle design, and was initially responsible for the gearbox , but shifted that work to GE when it became apparent that it would be more efficient for GE to assemble that component along with their other parts. Development work on
7954-596: The venture. The facility is located in the town of Taiei near the city of Narita in the Chiba Prefecture and it primarily repairs V2500 , JT8D engine parts. Pratt & Whitney's Military Engines power 27 air forces around the globe, with nearly 11,000 military engines in service with 23 customers in 22 nations. Pratt & Whitney military engines include the F135 for the F-35 Lightning II ,
8051-400: The world. The CFM56 production will wind down as the final 737NG engine was delivered in 2019 and the last A320ceo engine will be delivered in May 2020. Production will continue at low levels for military 737s and spare engines and will conclude around 2024. Unit cost: US$ 10 million (list price) The CFM56 is a high-bypass turbofan engine (most of the air accelerated by the fan bypasses
8148-459: Was at the center of the original export controversy, features nine stages in all variants of the CFM56. The compressor stages have been developed from GE 's "GE core " (namely a single-turbine, nine-compressor stage design) which was designed in a compact core rotor. The small span of the compressor radius meant that the entire engine could be lighter and smaller, as the accessory units in the system ( bearings , oiling systems ) could be merged to
8245-465: Was awarded a contract for nearly $ 4.4 billion by the US DoD to build 100 jet engines for the U.S. military's Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps branches. As of May 2023, Pratt & Whitney was "struggling to support its fleet of passenger jets with enough spare parts and engines" which had consequences for airlines worldwide who had to ground their Airbus A320 Neo and Airbus A220 . The durability of
8342-560: Was basically "a bigger Wasp". In 1929, Rentschler ended his association with Pratt & Whitney Machine Tool and merged Pratt & Whitney Aircraft with Boeing and other companies to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). His agreement allowed him to carry the Pratt & Whitney name with him to his new corporation. Only five years later, in 1934, the federal government of U.S. banned common ownership of airplane manufacturers and airlines. Pratt & Whitney
8439-509: Was considered so important that French President Georges Pompidou appealed directly to U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1971 to approve the deal, and Henry Kissinger brought the issue up with President Pompidou in a 1972 meeting. GE reportedly argued at the highest levels that having half of the market was better than having none of it, which they believed would happen if Snecma pursued the engine on their own without GE's contribution. Nixon administration officials feared that this project could be
8536-461: Was determined to start an aviation-related business of his own. His social network included Edward Deeds , another prominent Ohioan of the early aviation industry, and Frederick's brother Gordon Rentschler , both of whom were on the board of Niles Bement Pond, then one of the largest machine tool corporations in the world. Frederick Rentschler approached these men as he sought capital and assets for his new venture. Deeds and G. Rentschler persuaded
8633-570: Was followed by another very successful engine, the R-985 Wasp Junior . Eventually a whole Wasp series was developed. Both engines are still in use in agricultural aircraft around the world and produce more power than their original design criteria. George Mead soon led the next step in the field of large, state-of-the-art, air-cooled, radial aircraft engines (which the Wasp dominated) when Pratt & Whitney released its R-1690 Hornet . It
8730-1313: Was formed in 2005 when Pratt & Whitney Space Propulsion and Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power were merged following the latter's acquisition from Boeing . P&W Rocketdyne engines powered the Space Shuttle , and the company also supplies booster engines for Delta II rockets and boosters and upper stage engines for Atlas III and V and Delta IV rockets. In 2013, PWR was sold to GenCorp , which merged it with Aerojet to become Aerojet Rocketdyne . Pratt & Whitney Power Systems (PWPS) designs, builds, furnishes and supports aero-derivative gas turbine and geothermal power systems for customers worldwide. These industrial gas turbines power everything from small businesses to small cities. PWPS’ industrial turbines not only generate electrical power, but provide variable speed mechanical drive for marine propulsion, gas compression, and liquid pumping. PWPS has over 2,000 industrial gas turbines installed in more than 40 countries worldwide. PWPS also provides parts and repairs for heavy-duty frame gas turbines as an OEM alternative. In May 2013, United Technologies Corporation (UTC) sold its Pratt & Whitney Power Systems unit to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). International Aero Engines
8827-594: Was going through a period of self-revision at the time to prepare itself for the post-World War I era, discontinuing old product lines and incubating new ones. World War I had been profitable to P&WMT, but the peace brought a predictable glut to the machine tool market, as contracts with governments were canceled and the market in used, recently built tools competed against new ones. P&WMT's future growth would depend on innovation. Having idle factory space and capital available at this historical moment, to be invested wherever good return seemed available, P&WMT saw
8924-566: Was made responsible for the day-to-day decision making for the project, while major decisions (developing a new variant, for example) required the go-ahead from GE and Snecma management. The CFMI board of directors is currently split evenly between Snecma and GE (five members each). There are two vice presidents, one from each company, who support the President of CFMI. The president tends to be drawn from Snecma and sits at CFMI's headquarters near GE in Cincinnati, Ohio. The work split between
9021-539: Was merged with UATC's other manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River as United Aircraft Corporation , with Rentschler as president. In 1975, United Aircraft Corporation became United Technologies . In October 2014, Pratt & Whitney was awarded a $ 592 million contract with Department of Defense (DoD) to supply 36 F135 engines for the F-35 fighter. In January 2017, ten employees, including
9118-554: Was not fully replacing the old one, but it offered an upgrade in HPC, thanks to improved blade dynamics, as a part of their "Tech Insertion" management plan from 2007. CFMI tested both a mixed and unmixed exhaust design at the beginning of development; most variants of the engine have an unmixed exhaust nozzle. Only the high-power CFM56-5C, designed for the Airbus A340, has a mixed-flow exhaust nozzle. GE and Snecma also tested
9215-525: Was saved when Delta Air Lines , United Airlines , and Flying Tigers chose the CFM56 to re-engine their Douglas DC-8 aircraft as part of the Super 70 program. The first engines entered service in 1982. The CFM56 was later selected to re-engine the Boeing 737 . Boeing initially expected this re-engine program (later named the Boeing 737 Classic ) to sell only modestly, but in fact the CFM56's lower noise and lower fuel consumption (compared to older engines for
9312-608: Was that the Snecma project was the only source of development funds for an engine in this class at this particular time. GE was initially considering only contributing technology from its CF6 engine rather than its much more advanced F101 engine, developed for the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber. The company was faced with a dilemma when the United States Air Force (USAF) announced its Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) project in 1972 which included funding for
9409-466: Was updated again in the "Evolution" upgrade. The high-pressure turbine stages in the CFM56 are internally cooled by air from the high-pressure compressor. The air passes through internal channels in each blade and ejects at the leading and trailing edges. The CFM56-2 series is the original variant of the CFM56. It is most widely used in military applications where it is known as the F108; specifically in
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