Trent 900 | |
---|---|
Type | Turbofan |
National origin | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | Rolls-Royce Holdings |
First run | 18 March 2003 [1] |
Major applications | Airbus A380 |
Developed from | Trent 800 |
Developed into | Trent 1000 |
The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc to power the Airbus A380, competing with the Engine Alliance GP7000. Initially proposed for the Boeing 747-500/600X in July 1996, this first application was later abandoned but it was offered for the A3XX, launched as the A380 in December 2000. It first ran on 18 March 2003, made its maiden flight on 17 May 2004 on an A340 testbed, and was certified by the EASA on 29 October 2004. Producing up to 374 kN (84,000 lbf), the Trent 900 has the three shaft architecture of the Rolls-Royce Trent family with a 2.95 m (116 in) fan. It has a 8.5–8.7:1 bypass ratio and a 37–39:1 overall pressure ratio.
In July 1996, Rolls-Royce offered the Trent 900 for the proposed Boeing 747-500/600X, targeting a 2000 service entry and competing with the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance. With a scaled-down Trent 800 core and a similar 2.8 m (110 in) fan, increasing bypass ratio from 6.5 to 8.5, the 345–365 kN (78,000–82,000 lbf) engine could also power the Airbus A3XX. [2] The $450 million development aimed for a December 1999 certification but the 747X was later abandoned, leaving the A3XX, its Airbus competitor, as a possible application from 2003. [3]
By July 2000, the Trent 900 was the first engine to be ordered for the A3XX, by then with a swept fan. [4] By September, its design was not frozen and the fan diameter could increase by up to 13 cm (5 in) for a 68,000 to 80,000 lbf (300 to 360 kN) thrust. [5] The A3XX was launched as the A380 on 19 December 2000. [6] It was then selected by Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic over the competing GP7200. [7] The Trent 900 ran for the first time on 18 March 2003, achieving its certification thrust of 81,000 lbf (360 kN) on 2 April and attaining 88,000 lbf (390 kN) a week later, with growth room to 94,000 lbf (420 kN). Its 300 cm (118 in) fan comes from the Trent 8104 demonstrator, and a contra-rotating HP spool is used for the first time, for up to 2% better efficiency. [1]
The Trent 900 made its maiden flight on 17 May 2004 on Airbus's A340-300 testbed, replacing the port inner CFM56 engine. [8] Its final certification was granted by the EASA on 29 October 2004, [9] and the FAA on 4 December 2006. After a twelve-month suspension caused by delays to the A380, Rolls-Royce announced in October 2007 that production of the Trent 900 had been restarted. [10] On 27 September 2007, British Airways announced the selection of the Trent 900 to power 12 A380 aircraft, [11] helping to take the engine's share of the A380 engine market to 52% at the end of February 2009.
The Trent 900 is an axial flow, high bypass turbofan with the three coaxial shafts of the Rolls-Royce Trent family. The 2.95 m (116 in) fan with swept blades is driven by a 5-stage LP turbine, the 8-stage IP compressor and the 6-stage HP compressor are both powered by a single stage turbine, with the HP spool rotating in the opposite direction of the others. It has a single annular combustor and is controlled by an EEC. It is certified for thrusts between 334.29 and 374.09 kN (75,152 to 84,098 lbf). [9]
Its swept-back fan is inherited from the Trent 8104 demonstrator and a contra-rotating HP spool is used for the first time. [1] It features a scaled-down Trent 800 core. [2] It can be transported on a Boeing 747 freighter whole, the only A380 engine capable of being transported this way. [12] The swept-back fan is 15% lighter than previous wide-chord blades.[ citation needed ]
Rolls-Royce has seven risk and revenue sharing partners on the Trent 900: Industria de Turbo Propulsores (low-pressure turbine), Hamilton Sundstrand (electronic engine controls), Avio S.p.A. (gearbox module), Marubeni Corporation (engine components), Volvo Aero (intermediate compressor case), Goodrich Corporation (fan casings and sensors) and Honeywell (pneumatic systems). In addition, Samsung Techwin, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) are programme associates.[ citation needed ]
Variant | Take-off | Maximum Continuous |
---|---|---|
Trent 970-84 | 334.29 (75,152) | 319.60 (71,850) |
Trent 972-84 | 341.41 (76,752) | |
Trent 970B-84 | 348.31 (78,304) | |
Trent 972B-84 | 356.81 (80,213) | |
Trent 977-84 | 359.33 (80,781) | |
Trent 977B-84 | 372.92 (83,835) | |
Trent 980-84 | 374.09 (84,098) | |
Trent 972E-84 | 341.41 (76,752) |
The Trent 900 family of engines had their first set of upgrades marketed as the Trent 900EP; these were available for delivery from 2012. This package delivered a 1% saving on fuel burn compared to non EP engines. Rolls-Royce told Aviation Week and Space Technology that the upgrades were intended in most cases for both new engines and as retrofits. [13] This upgrade is based on advancements made during the development of the Trent XWB for the Airbus A350 XWB and matches improvements made for the Trent 700 called the Trent 700EP. [14] Block 1 includes elliptical leading edges in the compressor, smaller low-pressure turbine tip clearances, and new coating for the high-pressure compressor drum, as well as an upgrade to the engine control (FADEC) software.
The EP2 package entered testing in May 2013 and was scheduled to be available for delivery in mid 2014. This package aims to provide a further 0.8% reduction in fuel burn on top of the improvements offered by the EP package. [15] Changes include better sealing of the low-pressure turbine, improvements to fan blade tip clearances, and other changes derived from the engines developed for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. [13] EP2 passed a type certificate test by European Aviation Safety Agency on 27 November 2013 [16] and an update type certificate was issued on 11 December 2013. [9]
Another modernization was introduced in 2016 with the EP3 package. [17]
Qantas Flight 32 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from London to Sydney via Singapore. On 4 November 2010, the aircraft operating the route, an Airbus A380, suffered an uncontained failure in one of its four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. The failure occurred over the Riau Islands, Indonesia, four minutes after takeoff from Singapore Changi Airport. After holding for almost two hours to assess the situation, the aircraft made a successful emergency landing at Changi. No injuries occurred to the passengers, crew, or people on the ground, despite debris from the aircraft falling onto houses in Batam. [18]
On inspection, a turbine disc in the aircraft's number-two engine (on the port side nearer the fuselage) was found to have disintegrated, causing extensive damage to the nacelle, wing, fuel system, landing gear, flight controls, and engine controls, and a fire in a fuel tank that self-extinguished. The subsequent investigation concluded that the failure had been caused by the breaking of a stub oil pipe, which had been manufactured improperly. [19]
The failure was the first of its kind for the A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft. At the time of the accident, 39 A380s were operating with five airlines: Qantas, Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines. The accident led to the temporary grounding of the rest of the six-plane Qantas A380 fleet. [20] It also led to groundings, inspections, and engine replacements on some other Rolls-Royce-powered A380s in service with Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, but not in the A380 fleets of Air France or Emirates, which were powered by Engine Alliance engines.
In 2000 Qantas were quoted a price of US$12.85 million per Trent 900. [21] In 2015 Emirates Airlines signed a contract for 200 Trent 900s including long-term service support at a cost of US$9.2 billion or US$46 million per engine. [22] In 2016 ANA bought engines for three new Airbus A380 aircraft for $300m: $25m per Trent 900. [23] A new set of LLPs is worth $7 million and an overhaul costs slightly more. [24]
Trent 900s are on display at LeBourget Air Museum (Paris, France), Seville University (Seville, Spain), and the Málaga Aeronautical Museum (Málaga, Spain).
Data from EASA [9]
Related development
Comparable engines
Related lists
A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the additional fan stage. It consists of a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanical energy from combustion, and a ducted fan that uses the mechanical energy from the gas turbine to force air rearwards. Thus, whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the combustion chamber and turbines, in a turbofan some of that air bypasses these components. A turbofan thus can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust.
The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from 61,900 to 97,000 lbf . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first ran in August 1990. Its first variant is the Trent 700 introduced on the Airbus A330 in March 1995, then the Trent 800 for the Boeing 777 (1996), the Trent 500 for the A340 (2002), the Trent 900 for the A380 (2007), the Trent 1000 for the Boeing 787 (2011), the Trent XWB for the A350 (2015), and the Trent 7000 for the A330neo (2018). It has also marine and industrial variants like the RR MT30.
The Pratt & Whitney PW6000 is a high-bypass turbofan jet engine designed for the Airbus A318 with a design thrust range of 18,000–24,000 lbf (80–107 kN).
The IAE V2500 is a two-shaft high-bypass turbofan engine built by International Aero Engines (IAE) which powers the Airbus A320 family, the McDonnell Douglas MD-90, and the Embraer C-390 Millennium.
The Engine Alliance GP7000 is a turbofan jet engine manufactured by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. It is one of the powerplant options available for the Airbus A380, along with the Rolls-Royce Trent 900.
The Rolls-Royce BR700 is a family of turbofan engines for regional jets and corporate jets. It is manufactured in Dahlewitz, Germany, by Rolls-Royce Deutschland: this was initially a joint venture of BMW and Rolls-Royce plc established in 1990 to develop this engine. The BR710 first ran in 1995. The United States military designation for the BR725 variant is F130.
The Rolls-Royce RB.183 Tay is a medium-bypass turbofan engine, developed from the RB.183 Mk 555 Spey core and using a fan scaled directly from the Rolls-Royce RB.211-535E4 to produce versions with a bypass ratio of 3.1:1 or greater. The IP compressor and LP turbine were designed using technology from the RB.211 programme. The engine was first run in August 1984. The Tay 650 had a new HP turbine which incorporated new technology which had been proven with the RB.211-535E4. This engine also had a new combustor for improved durability. The Tay family is used on a number of airliners and larger business jets, including the Gulfstream IV family, Fokker 70 and Fokker 100, with a later version being used to re-engine Boeing 727-100s.
The General Electric GEnx is an advanced dual rotor, axial flow, high-bypass turbofan jet engine in production by GE Aerospace for the Boeing 747-8 and 787. The GEnx succeeded the CF6 in GE's product line.
The General Electric CF6, US military designations F103 and F138, is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines produced by GE Aviation. Based on the TF39, the first high-power high-bypass jet engine, the CF6 powers a wide variety of civilian airliners. The basic engine core also powers the LM2500 and LM6000 marine and power generation turboshafts. It is gradually being replaced by the newer GEnx family.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 500 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce to power the larger A340-500/600 variants. It was selected in June 1997, first ran in May 1999, first flew in June 2000, and achieved certification on 15 December 2000. It entered service in July 2002 and 524 engines were delivered on-wing until the A340 production ended in 2012.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 700 is a high-bypass turbofan aircraft engine produced by Rolls-Royce plc to power the Airbus A330. Rolls-Royce was studying a RB211 development for the A330 at its launch in June 1987. It was first selected by Cathay Pacific in April 1989, first ran in summer 1992, was certified in January 1994 and was put into service on 24 March 1995. Keeping the characteristic three-shaft architecture of the RB211, it is the first variant of the Trent family. With its 97.4 in (247 cm) fan for a 5:1 bypass ratio, it produces 300.3 to 316.3 kN of thrust and reaches an overall pressure ratio of 36:1. It competes with the General Electric CF6-80E1 and the PW4000 to power the A330.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 800 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc, one of the engine options for the early Boeing 777 variants. Launched in September 1991, it first ran in September 1993, was granted EASA certification on 27 January 1995, and entered service in 1996. It reached a 40% market share, ahead of the competing PW4000 and GE90, and the last Trent 800-powered 777 was delivered in 2010. The Trent 800 has the Trent family three shaft architecture, with a 280 cm (110 in) fan. With a 6.4:1 bypass ratio and an overall pressure ratio reaching 40.7:1, it generates up to 413.4 kN of thrust.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 is a high-bypass turbofan engine produced by Rolls-Royce, one of the two engine options for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, competing with the General Electric GEnx. It first ran on 14 February 2006 and first flew on 18 June 2007 before a joint EASA/FAA certification on 7 August 2007 and entered service on 26 October 2011. Corrosion-related fatigue cracking of intermediate pressure (IP) turbine blades was discovered in early 2016, grounding up to 44 aircraft and costing Rolls-Royce at least £1.3 billion.
The Williams FJ44 is a family of small, two-spool, turbofan engines produced by Williams International for the light business jet market. Until the recent boom in the very light jet market, the FJ44 was one of the smallest turbofans available for civilian applications. Although basically a Williams design, Rolls-Royce was brought into the project at an early stage to design, develop, and manufacture an air-cooled high-pressure (HP) turbine for the engine. The FJ44 first flew on July 12, 1988 on the Scaled Composites/Beechcraft Triumph aircraft.
The Rolls-Royce RB.401 was a British two-spool business jet engine which Rolls-Royce started to develop in the mid-1970s as a replacement for the Viper. RB.401-06 prototype engines were already being manufactured when a decision to develop the higher thrust RB.401-07 was taken.
The Rolls-Royce/SNECMA M45H is an Anglo-French medium bypass ratio turbofan produced specifically for the twin-engined VFW-Fokker 614 aircraft in the early 1970s.
The Progress D-18T is a 51,500 lbf (229 kN) high-bypass turbofan that powers the Antonov An-124 Ruslan and An-225 large freighters.
The General Electric Passport is a turbofan developed by GE Aerospace for large business jets. It was selected in 2010 to power the Bombardier Global 7500 and 8000, first run on June 24, 2013, and first flown in 2015. It was certified in April 2016 and powered the Global 7500 first flight on November 4, 2016, before its 2018 introduction. It produces 14,000 to 20,000 lbf of thrust, a range previously covered by the General Electric CF34. A smaller scaled CFM LEAP, it is a twin-spool axial engine with a 5.6:1 bypass ratio and a 45:1 overall pressure ratio and is noted for its large one-piece 52 in (130 cm) fan 18-blade titanium blisk.
The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce Holdings. In July 2006, the Trent XWB was selected to power exclusively the Airbus A350. The first engine was run on 14 June 2010, it first flew on an A380 testbed on 18 February 2012, it was certified in early 2013, and it first flew on an A350 on 14 June 2013. It had its first in-flight shutdown on 11 September 2018 as the fleet accumulated 2.2 million flight hours. It keeps the characteristic three-shaft layout of the Rolls-Royce Trent, with a 3.00 m (118 in) fan, an IP and HP spool. The 84,200–97,000 lbf (375–431 kN) engine has a 9.6:1 bypass ratio and a 50:1 pressure ratio. It is the most powerful member of the Trent family.
The Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 is a high-bypass turbofan engine produced by Rolls-Royce, an iteration of the Trent family powering exclusively the Airbus A330neo. Announced on 14 July 2014, it first ran on 27 November 2015. It made its first flight on 19 October 2017 aboard on the A330neo. It received its EASA type certification on 20 July 2018 as a Trent 1000 variant. It was first delivered on 26 November, and was cleared for ETOPS 330 by 20 December. Compared to the A330's Trent 700, the 68,000–72,000 lbf (300–320 kN) engine doubles the bypass ratio to 10:1 and halves emitted noise. Pressure ratio is increased to 50:1, and it has a 112 in (280 cm) fan and a bleed air system. Fuel consumption is improved by 11%.