Airbus Will test Open Fan Engine Concept
Commercial airlines are always looking for more fuel-efficient aircraft. That’s in part due to self-imposed sustainability goals or mandatory government regulations. But it’s also an obvious ways to cut fuel costs and increase profits.
CFM International is developing an open-fan turbine engine concept that aims to do just that. The open-fan concept could reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent with traditional Jet-A fuel.
The company has now partnered with Airbus to use its A380 passenger jet to test the technology. The project was unveiled Tuesday by Airbus and CFM International at Farnborough Air Show.
The joint demonstration program will use shared flight test assets, Airbus said in it statement. Provisionally the plan is for CFM to perform engine ground tests, along with flight test validation at GE Aviation’s Flight Test Operations center in Victorville, California, USA.
Then, a second phase of flight tests will be performed from the Airbus flight test facility in Toulouse, France, in the second half of the decade. For these tests, the open fan engine will be mounted under the wing of a specially configured and instrumented A380 testbed aircraft.
The joint Airbus and CFM objectives for the open fan joint demonstration on the A380 are extensive. These tests will evaluate open fan propulsive efficiency and performance on an aircraft, acceleration and maturity of technologies through ground testing, assessment of aircraft/engine integration and aerodynamics, and last but not least, internal and external noise levels.
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I had the same concern that Carl P did, that the parts could fly off of the fan and hit the fuselage. Also it seems that the shroud will provide protection, if something works true why towards the fan from the side or at an angle. I don’t know much about this. I’m just thinking out loud.
The concept is not new. About 10 or 20 years ago, an MD-80 was fitted with one. Nothing came of it.
The purpose of ducting a fan is sort of like that of a winglet, except it wraps all the way around.
My first thought was didn’t we have this technology tested on an MD80 in the late 1980’s?
Seems odd but who knows, maybe this works well. I thought part of the reason for the engine shroud was to keep any parts that fly off from hitting the aircraft and with this is one of those blades (Right term?) comes off, well, look out, if it hits the plane. But I am sure they have been thinking about that. Good post!