Summer/Autumn 2007 The next generation MTU Aero Engines Holding AG Dachauer Straße 665 ■ Technology + Science ■ Customers + Partners ■ Products + Services 80995 Munich • Germany Tel. +49 89 1489-0 Fax +49 89 1489-5500 www.mtu.de Delicate coatings for High-tech envelope for The eye in the sky powerful protection the engine Cover Story Contents The next generation 4 - 7 Editorial Technology + Science Delicate coatings for powerful protection 8 - 9 Dear Readers: The repair mavens 10 - 13 Climate protection is grabbing headlines engine is the optimum propulsion system for globally. In aviation, too, protecting the en- the successor generation of today’s Airbus vironment is an issue, and we’re making a A320 and Boeing 737 families. We’ll have the MTU Global strong contribution in the matter. However, new engines up and running in time for the demands to quit leisure flights and for people flight testing of the new aircraft. They should A thousand tons for a good fit 14 - 15 The next generation to spend their vacations at home will not get best be implemented under the banner of MTU, jointly with its strategic partner Pratt & Whitney, is us anywhere. today’s IAE. That consortium has done a very working on future engine technologies. Its engine compo- good job fielding the V2500 and is practically nents may be the answer to the needs of single-aisle aircraft Identified to be one of the major climate predestined to make the successor a world- in the pipeline. Customers + Partners harming culprits has been carbon dioxide wide winner as well. Page 4 (CO ), a greenhouse gas. It occurs in many High-tech envelope for the engine 16 - 19 2 areas and in aircraft is produced during the This much is clear: The next generation of Delicate coatings for Flying high under the Silver Fern 20 - 23 combustion of fuel in the engine. Even if, aircraft can achieve the necessary efficiency powerful protection viewed soberly, air traffic adds no more than improvements only if it is powered by opti- An MTU team of experts has a few percentage points to global CO2 emis- mum engines. That’s not what we are saying developed a new coating sions, we still should leave nothing undone but the aircraft manufacturers themselves. system. The coating has Products + Services to make our products “cleaner”. After all, we The engine makes or breaks the aircraft, and enormous strength and will want the aircraft to remain what it is, a major we’ll do as best as we can. Service to customers 24 - 25 long endure the impact of means of global transportation at everyone’s solids carried in the air. The eye in the sky 26 - 27 disposal. Page 8 MTU has for decades been optimizing air- craft engines. One of our current key pro- Reports jects is the geared turbofan. We’re develop- ing and building, together with our strategic Mini-engines power mega-model 28 - 29 High-tech envelope partner Pratt & Whitney, a demonstrator en- Udo Stark for the engine Airborne paintings 30 - 31 gine. Based on the PW6000, it will make its Chief Executive Officer Engine fairings are sophis- first run in the latter half of the year, with ticated systems. They will flight testing to begin next year. MTU’s con- have to meet stringent tribution is its high-speed low-pressure tur- requirements imposed by Anecdotes bine and, moreover, its tried and tested engine makers and air- PW6000 high-pressure compressor, both of Desert graveyard 32 - 35 framers alike. which are key components of the concept. Page 16 The new geared turbofan promises to reduce News 36 - 39 fuel consumption by up to 15 percent and be Masthead 39 substantially quieter than conventional engines. Also, it will be less expensive to maintain. In our estimation, this type of The eye in the sky MTU Maintenance Hannover’s engine trend monitoring system continu- ously watches engine con- ditions. Early fault diagnosis thus prevents costly conse- quential damage. Page 26 2 REPORT REPORT 3 Cover Story The next generation By Silke Dierkes MTU is gearing up for the future. In current research projects it is collaborating with its strategic partner Pratt & Whitney on the next generation of engines. The new engine incorporates advanced short- and medium-haul technologies to sustain envisioned successors to the popular Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft families. There is a frenzy of activity in the sky, and manufacturing and maintenance costs and innovative components. The engine will have signs of it ever relenting are few. Ever more alleviate their noise and contaminant emis- enormous significance also for the next gen- people are crowding into airliners. Experts sions. eration of Airbus and Boeing short- and assume that air passenger counts will have medium-haul transports. The successors to doubled by 2020. These are rosy prospects The Advisory Council for Aeronautics the best-selling A320 and B737 are expected for the aviation industry. But to keep so Research in Europe (ACARE) is pushing for to hit the marketplace by about 2015 and the much growth from harming the environment 80 percent less oxides of nitrogen emissions, requirements for their engines will unar- and escalating fuel prices from cutting into 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions, guably be tough. ticket sales, airframers and engine builders and 50 percent less fuel consumption. are challenged to embrace new ideas. These Engines will play a key role in these lofty MTU and its partner Pratt & Whitney are are to cut their airliners’ fuel consumption, goals that call for novel technologies and accordingly maturing concepts to provide thrust for tomorrow’s needs. In their quest, development engineers are betting on the geared turbofan, which is an entirely novel commercial engine construction. A reduc- tion gear is used to uncouple the turbine from the fan, the pair conventionally being interconnected by a common shaft. Discon- nected, the large fan can be allowed to run slower and the turbine faster than in conven- tional engines. In this fashion, the two sys- tems operate to best effect. That improves the engine’s efficiency and reduces its noise. The partnership’s joint geared turbofan dem- onstrator bases on the PW6000, the engine powering the small Airbus A318. MTU takes to the venture its high-speed low-pressure turbine, an optimized version of the Clean technology demonstrator. “Since the speeds are higher than with con- ventional low-pressure turbines, it must sat- isfy exacting demands,” explains Dr. Christian Winkler, who heads new business develop- ment, commercial engines at MTU. To meet these demands, the engineers have altered structural mechanics and developed new Innovative inner workings: the new geared turbofan materials. “That accentuates our expertise in demonstrator of MTU and Pratt & Whitney. high-speed low-pressure turbines, which are 4 REPORT REPORT 5 Cover Story Light-weight and efficient: the high-pressure com- pressor features blisk construction and a novel inter- Inspecting the compressor before its first test run at MTU. locking rotor disk arrangement. key to the efficient operation of a geared tur- tive traditional expertise: “The new high-pres- The eight-stage, highly efficient compressor weight. The latest sibling of the MTU com- Binder, senior vice president commercial still unclear, considering that as an alterna- bofan,” he adds. The first run is slated for sure compressor is part of the fourth engine has an extremely high, 17:1 compression pressor family might prove a capable center- programs at MTU. They might prove a solid tive to an entirely new technology like the end-2007. After further ground tests, the generation and a consistent upgrade of its ratio. Its blisk construction and positively piece for the next engine generation. It is a basis for a successor to the V2500. Through geared turbofan, IAE might elect to come out geared turbofan is expected to fly in 2008. predecessors.” coupled rotor disks make it extremely light- versatile candidate that apart from its use in the International Aero Engines (IAE) consor- with an optimized conventional engine in the The flight tests will involve a retrofitted A340 the geared turbofan might find applications tium, MTU has a stake in the popular engine form of an advanced turbofan. Concludes and a B747. The tests aim to demonstrate MTU upgraded its compressor test stand for the particular test requirements. also in conventional turbofans. Already, it for A320 family aircraft. Which way to go is Binder: “MTU is ideally positioned for either the production maturity of the concept and has successfully completed its first trials: technology. When sometime in the next cou- convince aircraft manufacturers and airlines this spring, the compressor went to a test The next generation in the making: the new high- ple of years the decision is made to launch of the desirability of the innovative engine. cell at MTU’s Munich facility, where it was pressure compressor blisk under manufacture. one or the other of the next-generation sin- Sharp increases in fuel prices may prove tested in terms of efficiency, robustness and gle-aisle engines, it will find us ready for it.” another argument in favor of the new fuel- structural mechanics. MTU is responsible for The single-aisles, or narrowbodies, like the thrifty technology. the entire testing of the component and has A320 or B737 families have everything going its test cell specifically upgraded for it. for them. Their market share is prognosticat- MTU and Pratt & Whitney are moreover devel- Higher input powers make the test cell espe- ed at over 40 percent. Small wonder the oping a new commercial high-pressure com- cially capable. More test lanes and higher engine manufacturers want a part of the pressor.