MARK PILLING
Volvo Aero is highlighting its expertise in developing specific engine components with its first-ever technology demonstrator at a major show.
The full-sized turbine exhaust case – a component located at the rear of a turbofan in the low-pressure turbine – seen on its stand (Hall 1, A18) features a combination of new materials and production techniques to obtain a lighter and cheaper part.
"Volvo needs to get the impression across to Original Equipment Manufacturers that it has something to bring to their projects at an early stage," says marketing director Robert Lundberg.
The aim is to show engine makers that Volvo has a lot to offer with its design and engineering skills as well as manufacturing high-quality engine components.
Case
The turbine exhaust case is the first component within the civil business field that Volvo has worked on in this manner, and it will follow up with the intermediate case, a part of the fan casing in the low-pressure compressor (LPC), Lundberg says.
The Exhaust Case is sized around a 25,000lb thrust engine, and designed to handle the higher temperatures Volvo believes next generation powerplants will need. Part of the solution comes from using new materials. It has replaced advanced steel alloys with Inconel 718, a nickel-based alloy that has higher heat resistance and strength.
However, this alloy is much more difficult to forge and machine compared with the steel one.
"It is the optimal combination of castings, spray-formed material and forgings that produces the winning formula," says Lundberg.
Major
In addition to its demonstrator, Volvo is producing the exhaust case for two major European Union engine technology development projects.
It hopes OEMs will choose the technology for their new engines, as well as possibly introducing it on existing engines. Some elements of the work have already been fed back into the design of the exhaust case Volvo produces for the IAE V2500 engine.
Volvo's strategy is to become involved at an early stage of engine development programmes. "If you get in too late, you will be too late to make big gains in cost and weight," says Lundberg.
Volvo Aero is a manufacturer and risk-share partner on a host of civil and military engine programmes. Its component specialisations in addition to the exhaust and intermediate case are the LPC spool/drum, diffuser case, low-pressure turbine case, shaft and vanes.
Source: Flight Daily News
