Monday, 24 October 2016

Rolls-Royce has run the world's most powerful aerospace gearbox for the first time, marking a significant step in the development of its new UltraFan engine design.

The first run of the Rolls-RoycePower Gearbox (PGB), at the company's facility in Dahlewitz, Germany, marks the start of a series of tests which will see the gearbox reach up to 100,000 horsepower - the equivalent of more than 100 Formula 1 cars.

Mike Whitehead, Rolls-Royce, Chief Engineer and Head of Programme UltraFan Technologies, Civil Aerospace, said: 'This is another significant step in bringing our future technology to life. We launched the UltraFan design in 2014 and now we are putting our new infrastructure to work to turn it into reality.'

The power gearbox is a vital component of the UltraFan design as it enables the engine design to offer efficient power over a wide range of take-off thrusts.

The first run took place on Rolls-Royce's Attitude Rig, which allows engineers to simulate the effects of the gearbox being on the wing of an aircraft that is climbing after take-off, coming in to land or banking while in flight. The initial run confirmed rig dynamics and oil system functionality at low pressures and speeds.

More advanced testing will take place during the rest of the year to provide additional data on low power high speed combinations at various pitch and roll angles and at different simulated altitudes. High power testing will take place next year on the PGB Power Rig where the gearbox will reach full power.

UltraFan, available from 2025, will offer a 25% fuel efficiency improvement over the first generation of Rolls-RoyceTrent engine. It will feature:

  • A new engine core architecture - to deliver maximum fuel burn efficiency and low emissions.
  • A CTi Fan System - carbon/titanium fan blades and a composite casing to reduce weight
  • Advanced ceramic matrix composites - heat resistant components that operate more effectively by requiring less cooling air
  • A geared design will deliver efficient power for high-thrust, high-bypass ratio engines of the future.

Rolls-Royce is working in partnership with Liebherr-Aerospace, through their Aerospace Transmission Technologies joint venture, to develop manufacturing capability and capacity for the new power gearbox. Rolls-Royceleads the design definition and design integration of the power gearbox, as well as testing activities.

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About Rolls-RoyceHoldings plc

  1. Rolls-Royce's vision is to be the market-leader in high performance power systems where our engineering expertise, global reach and deep industry knowledge deliver outstanding customer relationships and solutions. We operate across five businesses: Civil Aerospace, Defence Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.
  2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
  3. We have three common themes across all our businesses:
    • Investing in and developing engineering excellence
    • Driving a manufacturing and supply chain transformation which will embed operational excellence in lean, lower-cost facilities and processes
    • Leveraging our installed base, product knowledge and engineering capabilities to provide customers with outstanding service through which we can capture aftermarket value long into the future.
  4. Annual underlying revenue was £13.4 billion in 2015, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at £79.5 billion at the end of June 2016.
  5. In 2015, Rolls-Royceinvested £1.2 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royceengineers at the forefront of scientific research.
  6. Rolls-Royce employs over 50,000 people in more than 46 countries. Nearly 15,700 of these are engineers.
  7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2015 we employed 228 graduates and 277 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes.

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Rolls-Royce Holdings plc published this content on 24 October 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 24 October 2016 10:42:04 UTC.

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