Rolls-Royce has begun construction work on a new £30 million ($53 million) engine testbed site for the Trent 1000 for the Boeing 787, and is poised to receive parts for the start of assembly of the first engine in November and the build-up to the beginning of test runs in February 2006.
“The design of the engine is essentially complete – there are still a few things to do on the external systems, but the propulsion configuration is firm with Boeing and we are on plan and on time,” says R-R director of Boeing programmes, Dominic Horwood.
Investment in the new “58-bed” outdoor test site near Derby, UK is mirrored by an additional $42 million allocated to development of an engine noise testing facility at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Mississippi that will be used to test the Trent 1000 in 2007. Altitude tests are, meanwhile, scheduled for mid-2006 at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Revealing new details about the test plan, Trent 1000 chief engineer Andy Geer says the overall programme will involve 16 engines plus at least two spares. Seven are destined for ground tests, most of which will undergo multiple rebuilds, while a further engine will be flown on the L-3-operated Boeing 747 flying testbed recently acquired by R-R for the 787 test effort.
The first preliminary design review for the flying testbed is “coming up” says Geer, who says flight tests will begin in the first quarter of 2007. A further eight engines are destined for the first four 787s for “flight compliance and aircraft validation tests”, plus a further two for spares.
In the interim R-R is also gearing up for a series of rig tests between now and the end of the year, beginning with a combustor validation rig. Others include a low-pressure compressor aerodynamics test rig, and a special rig to evaluate the new low hub to tip ratio fan. R-R has, meanwhile, completed the selection of its risk- and revenue- sharing partnerships on the Trent 1000 with the addition of Spain’s Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) as the sixth partner.
ITP, which is 47% owned by R-R, in partnership with Sener Aeronáutica, will be responsible for assembly of the low-pressure turbine (LPT) module and for the majority of the manufacture and design work on the LPT. “We’ve finished sourcing the rest of the engine, and we’re now driving it hard to get parts in for the November start of assembly of the first engine,” says Horwood.
GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES
Source: Flight International
