As Pratt & Whitney continues to work with supplier Goodrich on the nacelle design of its PW1000G geared turbofan engine, the companies are using the nacelle for the Boeing 787 as the springboard for the new engine's nacelle design.
Speaking to Flight International at the MRO Americas conference in Dallas in April, Bob Saia, P&W vice-president next generation product family, said that the 787 nacelle is a lightweight structure with an advanced design.
Using that as a baseline, Saia explained that the companies plan to work through new aerodynamic geometries to achieve low-drag nacelle designs. P&W and Goodrich are also looking at ways to improve the effectiveness of the thrust reversers with lighter weight designs.
The PW1000G will power the Bombardier CSeries small airliner and Mitsubishi MRJ regional jet. Its larger fan size will result in a bigger nacelle, but Saia said that "we can actually do some new things to the nacelle".
He said that although the front end of the nacelle is larger "the relationship from the front of the nacelle to the mid-span - which is kind of the maximum diameter - we can actually improve some of those design features to save weight and aerodynamic efficiency".
Goodrich and P&W expect the debut of the first PW1000G nacelle to be three to four months after the first testing starts in mid-2010.
Source: Flight International
