On the horizon: Whispering jets - MTU Aero Engines
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2/2012
On the horizon:
Whispering jets
MTU Aero Engines Holding AG
Dachauer Straße 665 Customers + Partners Technology + Science Global
80995 Munich • Germany
Tel. +49 89 1489-0
Fax +49 89 1489-5500
info@mtu.de
A fresh approach from A diagnostic tool to see Growing business
www.mtu.de Down Under inside blades with accessories
Contents
Cover Story
On the horizon: Whispering jets 6 – 13
Customers + Partners
Another step forward 14 – 17
A fresh approach from Down Under 18 – 21
Global bestseller 22 – 25
India – boom despite barriers 26 – 29
Technology + Science
A diagnostic tool to see inside blades 30 – 33
Keeping a close eye on tolerances 34 – 39
A fresh approach from Down Under A diagnostic tool to see inside blades
From modest beginnings, Virgin Australia has worked its way up to Latest-generation turbine blades have an intricate internal structure.
Products + Services become the second-largest airline in Australia within a decade. MTU In order to detect variations in these high-tech castings, MTU has
Two coats are more durable than one 40 – 43 Maintenance Hannover in Langenhagen takes care of the maintenance developed a fully automated computed tomography method that
Successful GE38 PT stress test at 44 – 47 of the carrier’s GE90-115B engines powering its Boeing 777-300ER improves the quality assurance process.
MTU facility long-haul aircraft. Pages 30 – 33
Pages 18 – 21
Global
High-tech in the desert 48 – 51
On the horizon: Whispering jets
Growing business with accessories 52 – 55 Noisy aircraft have a negative impact on the environment, human
health and airline costs. Technologies capable of reducing noise are
high in demand—new engine technologies especially so. Pratt &
Whitney and MTU have the solution: the geared turbofan.
Report Pages 6 – 13
Test passed successfully 56 – 59
In Brief 60 – 61
Masthead 61
Successful GE38 PT stress test Growing business with accessories
GE Aviation and MTU are pleased that the GE38 has successfully The Sea Island Remote Terminal at Vancouver International Airport
completed its power turbine stress test in Munich. The test has spe- was bustling with activity during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now MTU
cial significance, because it is the first time that a German company Maintenance has moved into the building, equipped it with the latest
More REPORT in digital form has tested a U.S. military engine on the manufacturer’s behalf. in modern machinery and converted it into an accessory repair shop.
Get the eMagazine and iPad Pages 44 – 47 Pages 52 – 55
app for more multimedia fea-
tures from www.mtu.de/report.
2 3
Editorial
Dear Readers:
Two of the world’s most important air shows took place this year—the
Farnborough International Airshow on the outskirts of London, and the ILA
Berlin Air Show on the new exhibition grounds just outside Germany’s cap-
ital. Both exhibitions were exceptionally important for MTU. Through the
stakes we have in engine programs, the orders placed for new engines and
maintenance services at Farnborough have allowed us to rack up the biggest
order volume ever in terms of value in MTU’s history. At the ILA, Germany’s
largest air show, we were one of the top exhibitors and presented ourselves
as a highly successful, innovative and ambitious company.
Once again, the geared turbofan (GTF) was the top crowd-puller, and not at
all surprisingly so. Apart from delivering outstanding efficiency, the GTF
technology offers yet another compelling advantage: it cuts noise levels in
half. Aircraft noise is becoming an issue of increasing concern to the gen-
eral public—both to noise-plagued residents living near airports and to the
stakeholders in the industry. It makes me proud and happy to say that,
together with our U.S. partner Pratt & Whitney, we have succeeded in spot-
ting this trend early on, so that we anticipated the need for “whispering jets”
and, with the GTF, have promptly come up with the answer to this pressing
challenge.
Our innovative ideas also reflect in other products: in the turbine center
frame for the GEnx engine, the first of which has recently been delivered and
will in future be onboard one of Cargolux’s freighters, the GE38 helicopter
engine, for which we are supplying the power turbine and have carried out
stress tests on behalf of the engine manufacturer General Electric for the
first time, and our newly developed repair technique for air seals, to mention
just a few examples of impressive recent developments. Given our strong
track record, I’m firmly convinced that we will achieve our very ambitious
financial goal—that of doubling our revenues to six billion euros annually by
2020.
Read this latest issue of Report to learn more about MTU’s broad range of
capabilities and expertise—it certainly makes for interesting reading.
I hope you will enjoy reading it.
Sincerely yours,
Egon Behle
Chief Executive Officer
4 5
Cover Story
On the
horizon:
Whispering
jets
By Denis Dilba
Noisy aircraft not only have a negative impact on the envi-
ronment and human health, but increasingly also on airline
costs. Technologies that significantly reduce aircraft noise
and help save hefty noise fees are in high demand, and new
engine technologies especially so. The solution proposed by
Pratt & Whitney and MTU Aero Engines is the geared turbo-
fan. In addition to its low fuel consumption and low level of
pollutant emissions, this propulsion system also produces
50 percent less noise than today’s engines. Its entry into
service is slated for 2013.
A
mong the effects of air traffic that people com-
plain about the most, noise has topped the list
for many years. It is a subject that has often given
rise to some highly emotional public debates, ranking in
importance even above the issue of air pollution. Aircraft
noise is a nuisance, and is increasingly becoming a major
factor driving the costs of airlines and aircraft manufac-
turers, because the majority of airports in the world now
penalize operators of noisy aircraft by imposing additional
unit noise charges for take-offs and landings. In simplified
terms, the higher the noise level generated by an aircraft
during take-off or landing, the higher the airport fees. “At
present rates, these charges can account for up to five
percent of an aircraft’s total operating costs,” relates
Paul Traub, who is responsible for aero-acoustic design at
MTU Aero Engines in Munich. Many airport authorities
have banned night flights to protect local residents against
aircraft noise. Exceptions are granted only in special cir-
cumstances (rescue flights or flights operated by couri-
ers) and for aircraft equipped with low-noise engines.
6 7
Cover Story
The noise issue is exacerbated by the steadily dynamic flows can be greater than that gen-
increasing volume of commercial air traffic erated by the engines, which are operating at
which, if it continues to grow at the current a lower speed at this point. Says Traub: “Air-
average rate of around 4.5 percent per year, craft noise is the sum of all the noise pro-
30 Stage 2
will double in the next 15 years. This is why duced by aircraft and engine components.”
B737-200
Noise level (cumulative margin 4 in EPNdB 5)
the combined objective of reducing noise le- Almost every stationary or rotating part caus-
20
vels and significantly increasing fuel efficien- es pressure variations or turbulent flows, and
cy is one of the greatest challenges the avia- Stage 3 hence noise.
10
tion industry is facing. This is nothing new to B747-100
A300
Stage 4
the stakeholders. Back in 2000, the European 0 A310 A320 - CFM56 “But there’s no doubt that the biggest sources
B737-800
aviation industry made a voluntary commit- A320 -V2500 of noise remain the fan and the exhaust jet,”
ment to cut fuel consumption and noise Stage 51 says Dr. Dominik Broszat, an expert in aero-
-10
A340-600
emissions in half by 2020. Even if major im- A380 acoustics at MTU. For specialists like him,
provements have since been achieved, this -20 A320neo - GTF2 there is more than one category of noise. He
doesn’t make things any easier for Traub and today’s GTF 3 makes a distinction between tonal noise com-
his colleagues. Given that aircraft and their -30 ACARE 2020 target ponents and broadband noise: “Tonal noise
engines remain in service for several decades, occurs at discrete frequencies produced by
their designers need to anticipate future -40 rotating parts. These are caused, for example,
changes in allowable noise limits and devel- 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 at the fan or in the turbine and also in the
Year of aircraft certification
op solutions to meet the tightened standards compressor, where they are generated by
of the future. 1 Current estimate of future regulatory noise limit (yet to be officially defined) pressure fluctuations between the alternat-
2 Existing A320 design with GTF
3 All-new aircraft design with first generation GTF ing rows of rotor blades and stator vanes.”
While it is true that passenger jet engines are 4 The sum of the differences at all three measurement points between the maximum noise level These tonal noise components play a major
according to the aircraft certificate and the maximum noise level according to the regulations.
one of the major sources of noise, especially 5 Effective Perceived Noise Level in decibels (unit of measurement of aircraft noise used in aircraft role in noise assessment. Broadband noise,
during take-off, they are not the only one. The certification) on the other hand, is perceived as a loud
aircraft itself is also responsible for creating rushing sound. It arises from the airflow
turbulence on the surfaces of the fuselage, Considerable progress made: Aircraft noise has been drastically reduced since 1970. The GTF is yet around the fuselage and wings, and from tur- Not cheap: Almost all airports impose unit noise charges for take-offs and landings.
another huge step forward.
wings and landing gear, which makes up a bulent mixing of the hot jet exhaust with the
major share of the noise. During the landing ambient air.
approach, the noise generated by these aero-
Fuselage Wings and tail section
se
n e noi
Turbi
se
r noi
busto
Com
oise
Jet n
o ise
Fan n
oise
Fan n
ise
ess or no
Compr
Nose and main landing gear Engines and nacelles Flaps and control surfaces
Sources of aircraft noise. The fan, compressor, combustion chamber, turbine and exhaust gas jet are all sources of noise in a turbofan engine.
8 9
Cover Story
What is noise?
Noise is loud, unwanted sound. Noise causes
sound waves, that is variations in pressure, to
travel outward from the source through the air.
dB(A)
These waves evoke an auditory sensation in the
human ear—we hear a sound. Because the ear-
160
drum, or tympanic membrane, responds to this Firecracker Acute irreversible
stimulus in much the same way as a sound pres- exploding 150 damage
sure receiver, the perceived strength of the nearby
140
sound is best described in terms of sound pres-
sure. The higher the pressure of the sound Rock- 130 Pain threshold
waves, the louder the perceived sound. The concert
120
human ear is an extraordinarily sensitive organ.
It can hear sounds of a wide range of intensities, Turbofan engine 110
which are measured using the logarithmic deci- (aircraft taking
off**) 100
bel (dB) scale, in which audibility grades vary
from barely audible (0 dB) to very loud (130 dB, Health risk through The engines powering the A320neo will also incorporate geared-turbofan technology.
90 long-term exposure
GTF engine
pain threshold). Each step of ten decibels repre- (aircraft taking
sents a doubling or halving of the perceived 80
off*)
sound intensity. Heavy 70 Communication
road traffic impeded running the fan at a slower speed would and turbine speed requirements, allowing fuel results obtained by the MTU engineers in
Some data for comparison: The noise of traffic on 60 automatically increase the aerodynamic loads consumption and emissions to be signifi- their computations and simulations: “The
a busy highway typically reaches a level of 80 dB, 50 acting on the low-pressure turbine. This in cantly reduced. At the same time, the GTF noise footprint of an aircraft powered by
a pneumatic drill 100 dB. In the near future, a Quiet turn would result in poorer efficiency or sets new standards in terms of noise reduc- geared turbofans is 70 percent smaller than
conversation 40
passenger aircraft powered by first-generation increased weight. tion, thanks to its lower fan speed and a low- that of the latest generation of turbofans
GTF engines will produce a level of noise at take- 30 pressure turbine (LPT) that rotates three used to power short-haul and medium-haul
off which is comparable to that of a truck travel- The next decisive leap forward in noise re- times as fast. Because it runs at higher jets,” reports Dr. Klaus-Peter Rüd, Director,
ling at 80 kph. The extent to which noise is per- Whispering 20 duction technology is expected to come from speeds, the MTU-developed LPT is not only Advanced Product Design at MTU. And that’s
ceived as a nuisance depends not only on objec- 10 the geared turbofan (GTF) engine, which is markedly more efficient but also generates not the end of it. The next GTF generation can
tive measurements of sound pressure but also scheduled to enter service in 2013. A reduc- high-frequency noise that is rapidly attenuat- be expected to be even quieter, because by-
on subjective or psychoacoustic factors such as 0 Threshold of audibility tion gearbox permits the fan and the turbine ed by atmospheric absorption, and that is pass ratios in excess of 10:1 can be achieved
loudness, tonality, and duration of exposure. to run at their respective optimum speeds. often inaudible to humans. Initial noise tests with this technology, enabling the jet noise to
* approx. 85 dB(A), comparable with a truck (80 kph at a distance of 15 m)
The unit to measure aircraft noise used by air- ** Entered into service in 2000 This puts an end to the tradeoff between fan on the GTF have confirmed the theoretical be reduced even further. Already today, the
worthiness authorities in the certification of air-
craft, EPNdB or effective perceived noise in de-
cibels, takes all of these factors into account. Sources of noise and their sound pressure levels.
Until now, one of the most effective weapons portion of the air ducted around the core reduced by no less than 75 percent in the
in the battle against engine noise has been engine which, in a high-BPR engine, provides take-off phase.
to maximize the bypass ratio (BPR). In by- the larger part of the thrust. In the 50 years
pass or turbofan engines, the air flow through or so since the turbofan was first introduced, However, there is a limit to the improvements
the engine is split into two parts. In the core through successive generations of turbofan that can be achieved through noise reduction
flow, the air is further compressed and engines up to the present day, the bypass measures with these conventional engine
enters the combustor, where it is mixed with ratio has increased to a value close to 10:1. designs in future. Partly because any further
fuel and ignited, releasing the energy needed In other words, the mass of air ducted around increase in the bypass ratio will require a
to power the turbine. Because the turbine is the core engine has increased significantly larger turbofan engine, and hence an in-
mounted on the same shaft as the fan at the relative to the core flow. These improvements crease in engine weight to a point where
engine intake, it drives the fan, causing it to have had two beneficial effects: Fuel con- economic operation is no longer possible; The noise contour of an aircraft with conventional turbofan engines. The noise contour of an aircraft powered by GTF engines is reduced approximately
rotate. This accelerates the bypass flow—the sumption was cut and aircraft noise was and partly because attempts to limit noise by 70 percent.
10 11
Cover Story
The geared turbofan: a success story
Dr. Rainer Martens, Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Rainer Martens has been Chief Operating Officer at MTU Aero How can the GTF be further optimized in the future?
Engines since 2006. It is under his tenure that a significant part of The geared turbofan still has considerable potential for improvement.
the development work took place on the geared turbofan—a product We’re already working on increasing the diameter of the fan and on
which has since become well established in the market, with orders optimizing the core engine, and we’re continuing to look into options
for over 2,500 engines received to date. of increasing pressures and temperatures inside the engine. Another
focus is on introducing high-strength materials that are even lighter
Dr. Martens, what was MTU’s formula for this success? than those we’re using today. The CSeries powered by the geared turbofan is expected to enter into service late next year.
A success like this doesn’t just come out of nowhere, it’s the result
of decades of preparatory work. We carried out the first preliminary For the long term, we’re working on an intercooled compressor and a
studies into a geared turbofan engine way back in the 1990s, but heat exchanger in the exhaust duct. Our experience with stationary
chose not to pursue the concept further at the time for lack of a gas turbines tells us that such configurations offer advantages. But engine of the future is a great success. MTU their number,” explains the engineer. The 3D in the hot section, where the exhaust gases
viable business case. Now, market conditions are different: rising before this technology can be used on aircraft engines for these Aero Engines currently holds stakes in four configuration of the individual blades also flow, but it is an option that might be worth
kerosene prices and more stringent environmental regulations have advantages to materialize, there are a few things we still need to opti- of Pratt & Whitney’s GTF programs. The affects the way they radiate sound. Noise pursuing to make engines even quieter.”
spurred the demand for quieter and fuel thriftier engines. It quickly mize. For instance, we have to work out how to deal with the weight of PW1000G has been selected as the exclu- can be reduced by tilting them slightly in the MTU’s aero-acoustics expert is keeping a
became clear that there was definitely no way we could deliver the the heat exchanger, which is an additional component. sive engine for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet radial or axial direction. But obviously, what- close eye on every kind of technological devel-
improvements in specifications demanded by customers simply by (MRJ). Bombardier will equip its CSeries, due ever measures are taken to reduce noise, opment that might help reduce engine noise.
improving existing technologies. We had to take a different approach, to enter service in 2013, with the geared tur- they must not result in degraded perform- “If there’s anything that we can use, we will
so that’s what MTU did in collaboration with Pratt & Whitney. Our bofan. Airbus has chosen the new propulsion ance. “As in almost every other aspect of do so one day,” comments Broszat, for as he
answer to the challenge was the geared turbofan. system for its A320neo, as has Irkut for the engine design, it is a question of finding the says: “Aircraft with quiet engines are not only
MS-21 jet. best tradeoff between the various require- good news for the environment and for people
What thrust range is the GTF designed for? ments and design options available,” says who live near airports—they also sell better.”
The new engine family covers a thrust range of between 10,000 and Traub, Broszat, and Rüd still have a few tricks Broszat.
33,000 pounds. What we do is scale the size of the individual com- up their sleeves when it comes to eliminating
ponents for them to match the various thrust categories; the new engine noise. In the so-called cut-off design, Another noise reduction technique consists
engine architecture and the turbomachinery assemblies remain the the MTU engineers select blade-to-vane of lining the engine’s flow ducts with thin,
same. ratios such that as much of the noise as pos- perforated panels with hollow cavities of a
sible is prevented from propagating in the defined depth behind them. These structures,
How do you envisage the future of the GTF? direction of the airflow. “But we always have known as Helmholtz resonators or lambda/4
In the longer term, the technologies used in the GTF—the gearbox, to keep an eye on aerodynamic performance, resonators, filter out disturbing sound fre- For additional information, contact
Dr. Dominik Broszat
the small core, the fan with a low pressure ratio, and the high-speed weight and costs,” says Traub, describing the quencies. They are commonly used in the air +49 89 1489-6097
low-pressure turbine—could form the basis of virtually any engine challenges of this meticulous work. “For intake system. “The technology is well estab-
For interesting multimedia services
architecture, for long-haul aircraft and short- and medium-haul air- The PW1500G is the exclusive powerplant for the Bombardier instance, because rotor blades are very ex- lished in the cold section of the engine,” says associated with this article, go to
craft alike. CSeries. pensive, we only have limited scope to vary Broszat. “At present, it is not very widely used www.mtu.de/report
12 13
Customers + Partners
Another step D
r. Hans Penningsfeld, Technical Program 2012—just nine months later—the Cargolux freighter
Manager, GEnx, says: “The delivery of the was handed over, and in September, MTU delivered
plane to Cargolux marks another important the 100th TCF to GE.
milestone for MTU and a great success for its entire
GEnx team.” Wolfgang Hiereth, Director, GE Programs The TCF poses a variety of challenges. “For a start, its
forward
at MTU in Munich, adds: “We are the sole supplier of function is to direct the extremely hot gases exiting
turbine center frames for GEnx engines—both for the the high-pressure turbine past structural components
Boeing 787 and the 747-8.” and the oil lines they contain toward the low-pres-
sure turbine, while keeping aerodynamic losses to an
Munich-based MTU is making great strides in record absolute minimum,” explains Dr. Penningsfeld. “At the
By Bernd Bundschu time: It wasn’t until early 2009 that Germany’s lead- same time, it supports the rear roller bearing for the
ing engine manufacturer began to work on the TCF, high-pressure turbine shaft and directs cooling air to
In late May, Boeing delivered a 747-8 freighter to Cargolux. It was the fourth of 13 which had originally been developed by General the high-pressure and low-pressure turbine rotors.”
of this aircraft type the airline has on order, but for MTU it marked a first: The Electric (GE). Following the handover to GE of the Its main components are the hub strut case and flow-
first production module on August 24, 2011, MTU path hardware. MTU has set up an innovative produc-
Luxembourg-based freighter is equipped with GEnx-2B67 engines incorporating the took on full design responsibility for the TCF. In May tion line for each of these two components.
first turbine center frames (TCFs) to have been produced by MTU Aero Engines. The
TCF is positioned between the high-pressure turbine and low-pressure turbine of this
jet engine and is a highly engineered component. MTU has design responsibility for
this module in the new GEnx program.
14 15
Customers + Partners
Queen of the
freighter fleet
The Boeing 747-8F is the latest freight version of
Boeing’s legendary jumbo jet. The four-engine
freighter’s design is based on that of its predeces-
sor, the 747-400F, but with a fuselage that is 5.60
meters longer. This new and improved version of the
aircraft boasts the latest in technical equipment as
well as new engines: It is powered exclusively by
GE’s GEnx-2B67, which delivers 299.8 kilonewtons
of thrust.
Despite their greater power, these engines are still
fuel efficient, giving the 747-8F a range of 8,130
kilometers and a maximum payload capacity of Three turbine center frames are produced in Munich every week.
around 140 metric tons—which is 20 tons more than
that of the 747-400F. The 747-8F’s additional vol-
ume of 120 cubic meters provides 16 percent more
revenue cargo volume than its predecessor and These new production and assembly concepts ensure the
offers space for seven additional standard pallets. highest levels of efficiency, process stability and component
The aircraft is loaded through both a nose door and quality, and keep turnaround times short. Josef Moosheimer,
a large side door. Senior Manager, Program Coordination, GE Programs, says:
“There’s always a learning curve to climb when you launch a
The first 747-8F rolled out of the factory on new program, but in this case we got through it quicker than
November 12, 2009 and completed its first flight on expected.” This year, MTU will turn out an average of three
February 8, 2010 in Everett, Washington. The air- TCFs each week. Once production is fully up and running, MTU
craft received certification from the Federal Aviation plans to manufacture close to 300 units per year to meet the
Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation demand; for the GEnx is likely to become a real best-selling
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat Safety Agency (EASA) on August 19, 2011. engine. There are currently around 1,400 units on order, with
the total market estimated at some 4,400 engines.
The new GEnx-2B67 engines help the Boeing 747-8F achieve
double-digit percentage improvements in fuel consumption
over the 747-400F and substantially reduce emissions and
operating costs. “Compared to its predecessor, GE’s CF6, the
overall pressure ratio has increased from 35:1 to 43:1 and
the bypass ratio from 5.1:1 to 8.6:1,” says Dr. Penningsfeld.
Optimizing the turbine center frame has also helped boost
efficiency. “And pilots are full of praise for the engine,” Hiereth
is proud to report.
On June 14, 2012 the overall GEnx program entered a new
phase when the Federal Aviation Authority approved the first
Performance Improvement Package (PIP). “We’re currently
working on further upgrades and introducing them is our next
The Boeing 747-8F is Boeing’s latest freighter variant. major milestone,” says program coordinator Sabine Ludwig,
who has already begun to make the necessary preparations
for maintenance. In her mind, the objective is clear: “We want
There are currently 70 Boeing 747-8Fs on order, and to keep up MTU’s excellent performance in the program for
16 aircraft have been delivered. The first 747-8F the long term.”
was handed over to the Luxembourg-based freight
airline Cargolux on October 12, 2011. For additional information, contact
Wolfgang Hiereth
+49 89 1489-3501
The GEnx turbine center frame is assembled by MTU Aero Engines in Munich.
16 17
Customers + Partners
A fresh
approach from
Down Under
By Achim Figgen
From modest beginnings, Virgin Australia has worked its way up to
become the second-largest airline in Australia within a decade.
Whereas initially it only flew domestic routes in true low-cost style,
today Virgin Australia operates intercontinental flights as well. The
GE90-115B engines that power its Boeing 777-300ER long-haul air-
craft are repaired and overhauled by MTU Maintenance Hannover.
The young airline has grown into a serious competitor for Qantas.
T
he success story began in late 1999 when the Virgin Group
founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson announced
its plans to launch an airline in Australia. All previous at-
tempts at running a successful carrier Down Under had failed,
and so the beginnings of Virgin Blue were fairly low key. With just
two Boeing 737s and 200 employees, the new airline began plying
the route between its home base in Brisbane and the bright lights
of Sydney in late August 2000. In the months that followed, its
fleet and route network grew at such a rapid pace, that Virgin Blue
was celebrating its millionth passenger as early as June 2001.
Things really took off when the veteran Ansett Australia airline
ceased operations in September 2001. Virgin Blue was able to fill
this vacuum and take advantage of the growth opportunities that
suddenly presented themselves in the form of available slots at
Australian airports, where capacity used to be notoriously tight.
In 2004, the airline spread its wings beyond Australia’s shores,
with its New Zealand-based subsidiary Pacific Blue offering flights
on popular tourist routes between Australia, New Zealand and
various Pacific islands. A year later Polynesian Blue was founded
in a joint venture with the government of Samoa.
18 19Customers + Partners
While Virgin Blue started out as a low-cost carrier—with a uniform
fleet, point-to-point services only, —it wasn’t long before it took a
fresh approach to air travel: In 2002 it started offering connecting
flights; a frequent flyer program was introduced in 2005; it aban-
doned its strategy of operating a Boeing-only fleet in 2006 and
ordered Embraer 170 and 190 aircraft; lounge access was introduced.
When plans were announced in 2007 to create a new airline for long-
haul routes, it was clear that the Australians had their sights set high.
February 2009 saw the first flight of V Australia—as the new airline
was named—when a Boeing 777-300ER destined for Los Angeles took
off from Sydney.
The fleet now includes five A330-200 aircraft for Australian transcon-
tinental routes, and partner carrier SkyWest Airlines operates ATR 72
aircraft on regional routes. Thanks to a series of alliances and collab-
orations with established airlines such as Air New Zealand, Delta Air
Lines, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines, the route network has
recently been significantly expanded. The decision to incorporate
Australia in its name was a logical next step, and so in 2011 Virgin
Blue, V Australia and Pacific Blue were folded into the Virgin Australia
Airline brand. Polynesian Blue was renamed Virgin Samoa.
The long-haul services division, operating routes between Sydney and
Abu Dhabi and between Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne and Los
Angeles, has remained a legally independent entity called “Virgin
Australia International”, as Virgin Australia International Fleet Engineer
John Weber explains. The team of seven engineers is responsible for
all Boeing 777 maintenance and overhaul work. As they are unable to
cope with the entire workload themselves, it was good news when in
late 2010 MTU Maintenance Hannover obtained the license to main-
tain GE90-110B1 and -115B engines. In late summer 2011, Virgin
Australia International—jointly with Air New Zealand—awarded the
Germany-based engine specialists a twelve-year contract to maintain
the engines for the 777-300ER. The first GE90-115B arrived in
Hannover in August 2011 and was returned the following February.
To date MTU Maintenance has overhauled four of these large engines,
including two under contract from Virgin Australia International.
Experience has shown that the first maintenance jobs always take a Ready for the heavyweight: The test cell at MTU Maintenance Hannover
is being approved for certified GE90 test runs.
little bit longer, and yet the engines were always ready on schedule,
as Weber confirms. In fact, expectations regarding turnaround time
were already exceeded with the fourth GE90, according to Tobias
Wensky from MTU Maintenance Hannover. Wensky attributes this Oliver Skop, who at MTU Maintenance is responsible for providing company goes the extra mile to keep it that way: Once the overhaul
achievement due to the fact that the GE90 design is similar to that of customer support to Virgin Australia International, Air New Zealand has been completed, the engines are currently sent to Emirates in
the CF6 and CFM56 engines—with which MTU Maintenance has and other carriers, says the cooperation with the Australian airline is Dubai for final testing—a temporary solution that will come to an end
extensive history and detailed experience—and the highly motivated excellent: “Virgin always notifies us promptly.” Skop also explains soon, as the test facility in Hannover is presently undergoing accept-
workforce at MTU Maintenance Hannover. Wim van Beers, Director, that MTU undertakes trend monitoring on the engines under its care ance to perform GE90 test runs.
Sales Asia/Pacific Rim in Hannover, identifies another advantage that and regularly evaluates their performance data and various engine
MTU offers: As an OEM-independent service provider, MTU can pro- parameters. “So we are aware early of any potential problems that may For additional information, contact
vide customer service to meet individual needs, from one-stop serv- arise.” Wim van Beers
+49 511 7806-2390
ice solutions to maintenance programs built around the specific re-
quirements of an airline. Van Beers also highlights that MTU’s experi- Holger Sindemann, Managing Director & Senior Vice President, MTU For interesting multimedia services associated with this article, go to
ence in engine construction has given them the expertise to develop Maintenance Hannover, is very pleased to have Virgin Australia www.mtu.de/report
its own repair procedures. International as a customer: “The airline is a major player in the region.
Air New Zealand sends its GE90-115B engines to MTU Maintenance for I’m proud that we were able to secure them as a customer with our
maintenance, repair and overhaul.
Whereas the timetable for scheduled engine maintenance is generally maintenance expertise and the high level of quality we deliver.” The
planned several months in advance, shop visits call for flexibility. GE90 is an important driver of growth for the Hannover shop, and the
20 21Customers + Partners
Global
bestseller
By Patrick Hoeveler
Almost 30 years after the IAE consortium was founded, the
V2500—with its various upgrades and improvements—remains a
real bestseller. The engine powers the Airbus A320 family and the
McDonnell Douglas MD-90 and has clocked up over100 million flight
hours in service with airlines based in 70 countries. It is set to
remain one of the most important engine programs for many years
to come.
B
ack in the 1980s, when IAE International Aero Engines AG
was founded, the idea of bringing together five shareholders
from three continents to jointly develop and build a new air-
craft engine met with a great deal of skepticism. How could such
an undertaking possibly succeed, especially given that the new
engine would be competing against a well-established rival, the
CFM56? A glance at the recent statistics confirms the wisdom of
the decision taken almost thirty years ago: To date, more than
5,000 IAE V2500 engines have been delivered, 2,000 are on firm
order. And yet, shortly before the engine’s first run in December
1985, the partners—Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero
Engines, Japanese Aero Engines Corporation (JAEC, composed of
Ishikawajima-Harima, Kawasaki and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
and FiatAVIO (who switched later to a supplier role)—had opti-
mistically estimated future sales of the engine at a mere 3,500
units.
Just under four years later, the newcomer entered into revenue
service, powering aircraft for Adria Airways, Cyprus Airways and
Indian Airlines. More customers from all around the world soon
followed, from China to the U.S. to New Zealand. In 1998, Luft-
hansa took delivery of the thousandth V2500. Increasing sales
successes saw the milestones begin to pile up; for example, IAE
delivered V2500 number 2,000 in 2002 and number 5,000 fol-
lowed early this year. Today the V2500 is in service with approx-
imately 190 customers from 70 countries, and there is no end to
the success story in sight: “Long-term prospects we think are
extremely bright,” said David Hess, President of Pratt & Whitney
and new IAE Chairman of the Board of Directors, at this year’s
Farnborough Airshow.
22 23Customers + Partners
SelectTwo™: the
latest V2500
configuration
Improvements to the bestseller have come
hot on each other’s heels: With the
SelectOne™ configuration, which entered
service in 2008, fuel consumption was
reduced by roughly one percent compared
to the original V2500. The partners chalked
up sale number 1,000 of this new version
less than three years later. By then work was
already underway on SelectTwo™, which con-
tains a software upgrade for the electronic
engine control system in order to reduce
speeds when taxiing and during landing
approaches. This allows consumption to be
brought down roughly by a further 0.5 per-
cent. This figure may not seem significant at
first glance, but for an A320 fleet flying
190 customers from 70 countries operate V2500 engines. 2,300 flights a year, the upgrade equates to
savings of 4.3 million dollars over ten years
for the airline.
The V2500 also continues to be the most important engine At MTU, production is due to be raised from 470 turbine mod- Müllenholz. “A lot of customers want to purchase both the
program for MTU, which is responsible for the engine’s low- ules this year to around 530 starting from 2013. The German V2500 and the GTF.” Müllenholz estimates that the V2500 With the latest V2500 SelectTwo™ configu-
pressure turbine. “Production will be running at a peak over company’s revenue will also go up sharply as a result of Pratt will continue to be manufactured for the Airbus A320 family ration due to enter into service next year,
the next two years,” confirms Leo Müllenholz, Director, IAE & Whitney’s purchase of Rolls-Royce’s program share in IAE: through the end of the decade, by which time more than engineers are working flat out on approval
Programs at MTU in Munich. The engine remains a big hit with “Rolls-Royce’s exit from the IAE consortium gave us the 7,000 of the propulsion systems will have been delivered tests. For example, water ingestion tests
customers: “We get very good feedback from operators about opportunity to increase our share in the program from 11 to worldwide. In the military sector, moreover, V2500-E5 pro- were conducted at MTU in Munich. Here
its excellent reliability and its fuel consumption, which is lower 16 percent.” This move has resulted in MTU taking on respon- duction for the Embraer KC-390 transport aircraft will contin- engineers demonstrated, by spraying water
than its rival engine’s fuel burn.” Thanks to these advantages, sibility for more than 500 accessory parts. Over the coming ue for many years to come. into the compressor on the test rig, that the
airlines and leasing companies are continuing to opt for the 25 years, the company is anticipating additional revenue of engine works perfectly even in heavy rain
V2500, whose production rate of almost two engines per three to four billion euros. “Furthermore, the V2500 is very On top of this, the V2500 is also a mainstay of MTU’s mainte- conditions. At the same time, the IAE mem-
working day has reached its highest-ever levels since the pro- important for its successor program, the PW1100G-JM geared nance business. “At almost all MTU Maintenance locations it bers are planning further improvements that
gram began. turbofan engine (GTF), in which MTU also has a share,” says accounts for around 60 percent of revenue,” explains Andrea can be retrofitted to the existing fleet and
Lübke, Director, Engine Programs at MTU Maintenance. “The which are designed to reduce operating costs
program will be our main driver of growth over the next ten even further.
years.” Around 250 engines undergo maintenance every year.
“Thanks to our wealth of experience, we can cater to the spe-
cific needs of our customers and define the optimum scope
of work required for each individual engine.” In July of this
year the maintenance shop in Hannover received its 3,000th
V2500. With the bestseller to remain a fixture across the
globe for many years to come, it comes as scant surprise that
the IAE shareholders have extended their cooperation up to
2045.
For additional information, contact
Leo Müllenholz
+49 89 1489-3173
For interesting multimedia services associated with
this article, go to
www.mtu.de/report
Brazilian airline TAM has its V2500 engines maintained by MTU Maintenance. A winning combination for decades: the A320 and the V2500.
24 25Customers + Partners
India – boom despite T
he Indian subcontinent is a booming economy with a population of one
billion people. Its steadily growing middle class represents a purchas-
ing power that has incited many foreign companies to join in the rush
barriers for a stake in the market. But the national passenger airlines have been un-
able to keep pace with these developments. In February 2012, India recorded
domestic air traffic growth of over 12 percent—the second-highest rate in the
world after Brazil. As a result, the six large Indian domestic airlines were able
to fill over 75 percent of their seats. These statistics are indicative of India’s
By Andreas Spaeth huge potential in the aviation sector. Whereas, in statistical terms, the aver-
age U.S. citizen takes 1.8 flights each year, the corresponding figure for India
The aviation market in India is one of the most promising in the world in terms of growth potential. Its is merely 0.1 flights per year; or, seen from a different angle, on average each
domestic airlines currently carry a total of around 60 million passengers per year—a figure that repre- Indian citizen flies only once every ten years. “If Indians would fly only a third
as much as Americans do per capita, that would be an air travel market of
sents only six percent of the population—but in the long term the size of the market could increase to 700 to 800 million passengers per annum, rivaling that of the U.S.,” com-
800 million Indian air travelers. The chief factors inhibiting the subcontinent’s development are bureau- ments IATA’s Director General and Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler.
cracy and inefficiency. In the aviation sector, low-cost carrier IndiGo is the only profitable Indian airline;
it moreover is now one of MTU’s major customers.
26 27Customers + Partners
The Indian exception
In August 2006, an Airbus A320 operated by the privately
owned low-cost Indian airline IndiGo took off for the first
time. Since the airline was launched with the support of U.S.
investors, it has developed into one of the fastest-growing
budget carriers in the world and the only profitable domes-
tic airline in India.
The airline’s present fleet of 60 Airbus A320s equipped with
V2500 engines, for which MTU supplies the low-pressure
turbines, carries over twelve million passengers each year.
Between now and 2015, another 65 A320 aircraft are sched-
uled to join the fleet. 30 of them were purchased in 2011 as
part of one of the largest orders ever to be placed in aviation
history, when IndiGo signed a contract with Airbus for 150 IndiGo has ordered 150 A320neo aircraft powered by geared
turbofan engines.
Eleven million people live in the metropolis of Delhi alone. A320neo aircraft. At the Farnborough International Airshow
in July 2012, IndiGo placed firm orders for 300 PurePower®
PW1100G-JM engines, plus additional options, to power the
The present market situation is less encouraging: In the financial year Many of the present problems can only be solved by the Indian gov- A320neo jets. MTU supplies the high-speed low-pressure of the lower engine operating cost, we are confident that we
2011/12, India’s domestic airlines together generated losses of around ernment, for instance by reducing the extremely high levels of taxa- turbine for these geared turbofan engines, as well as half of can maintain our competitive low fares while simultaneously
2.5 billion U.S. dollars; they are moreover burdened by debts totaling tion that add to operators’ costs: over eight percent on aviation fuel the high-pressure compressor. The IndiGo order thus also offering our customers the most environmentally friendly
20 billion U.S. dollars. The national flag carrier Air India is in a partic- and often up to 30 percent in local taxes levied on domestic flights by represents one of the largest-ever in the engine manufac- way to fly.” IndiGo currently flies to 32 destinations in India,
ularly precarious position, and owes no less than 3.6 billion U.S. dol- the various federal states. The situation could also be improved by turers’ annals. operates six international routes, and is rapidly growing to
lars to its creditors. Only recently, the Indian government had to step lifting the ban on foreign direct investments in Indian airlines. Another become India’s leading airline. In June 2012, it held 26 per-
in to save Air India from bankruptcy by granting another 5.8 billion serious obstacle to progress is the poor infrastructure. Nearly all of “With this choice of engine, IndiGo hopes to gain a compet- cent of the market, only slightly behind Jet Airways (27.4
U.S. dollars in government aid to cover the airline’s costs through to the country’s major airports suffer from capacity problems and have itive advantage from the outset,” says Klaus Müller, Senior percent).
2020. Thanks to these subsidies, the state-owned airline is able to limited aircraft parking space. Delhi is the only major hub to have under- Vice President, Corporate Development at MTU Aero Engines.
offer cut-price ticket rates that oblige its competitors to similarly gone expansion so far. And the lack of airports in many of the highly Dr. Anton Binder, Executive Vice President, Commercial Pro- “IndiGo is very strongly positioned in the market,” comments
reduce their fares, reducing profit margins to zero. “The current aver- populated urban regions is an obstacle to the expansion of the grams, adds: “The economic aspect played a major role in this Müller, citing the one-type fleet and strict adherence to the
age ticket price in India is 95 U.S. dollars. To break even, 106 U.S. domestic air network and deprives a large part of the Indian popula- decision, as for instance a reduction of around 15 percent in low-cost model as the main reasons for its success. Or in
dollars would be necessary on average,” says Boeing India President tion of access to air travel. Despite the liberalization of the Indian avi- fuel burn compared with the V2500.” Aditya Ghosh, Presi- the words of Aditya Ghosh: “Our only big objective is to prove
Dinesh Keskar. Privately owned Kingfisher Airlines is also on the verge ation sector in 2005, which briefly revived the market and led to a dent of IndiGo Airlines, confirms this rationale: “As a result that low cost is not low quality.”
of bankruptcy. In six years of operation, the company has not gener- massive increase in aircraft orders and the creation of new air carri-
ated a single cent in profit and was recently forced to radically reduce ers, the results show that the business models pursued by the major-
its route network. ity of airlines are ineffective in this operating environment. The only
exception is low-cost carrier IndiGo.
“India has not been able to develop its economy at the same rate as
China because of its poorly developed infrastructure and bureaucrat-
ic hurdles,” says Klaus Müller, Senior Vice President, Corporate
Development at MTU Aero Engines in Munich. “Whereas in China, we
were able to establish a presence in Zhuhai more than ten years ago,
it will be at least another five years before MTU is ready to invest in
India. But all the same, MTU sees the outlook for India as very
strong,” he confirms, referring in particular to the availability of a
highly skilled Indian workforce.
For additional information, contact
Dr. Anton Binder
+49 89 1489-2884
IndiGo also operates conventional A320s.
India’s aviation industry has huge potential for growth. For interesting multimedia services associated with this article, go to
www.mtu.de/report
28 29Technology + Science
A diagnostic
tool to see
inside blades
By Denis Dilba
Latest-generation turbine blades have an intricate internal struc-
ture made up of countless very fine cooling ducts and cooling
air holes. This complexity pushes conventional inspection tech-
nology beyond its limits. In order to reliably detect variations in
these high-tech castings, MTU Aero Engines has developed a
fully automated computed tomography method that signifi-
cantly improves the quality assurance process and helps save
costs.
I
t all started with an engine component that was par-
ticularly hard to inspect, recalls Stefan Neuhäusler,
an expert in digital radioscopy and X-ray inspection
at MTU in Munich who came up with the idea of chang-
ing over to a new inspection technique. The component
exhibited flaws that were extremely difficult to detect
and locate using the test equipment available at the
time. To get to grips with the problem, they had to resort
to the conventional time-consuming and costly method
of cutting up the component, taking a good look inside,
and optimizing the manufacturing process on the basis
of their findings. “There’s got to be a faster and simpler
way to do this,” thought Neuhäusler, and had tests per-
formed to see if it was possible to recognize the defec-
tive area using a computed tomography (CT) scanner.
His intuitive idea was spot-on: “We were able to precisely
locate the defect with the aid of the three-dimensional
CT images.” That was seven years ago.
30 31Technology + Science
The CT scanner reproduces the internal struc-
It took five years from the launch of the flaw tures of the blade as two-dimensional cross-
detection technology project to reach the sectional images, hundreds of which are cre-
point where the process was sufficiently sta- ated and then used to visualize and analyze
ble to be used in MTU’s standard production the overshots. The digital image data is sent
processes and turbine blade inspection to a cluster computer that reconstructs the
times could be cut. “We knew immediately slices into a 3D image. This is similar to image
that we were onto something that had the processing techniques employed in hospitals.
potential for use in inspection on the shop But whereas in a medical CT scanner the X-ray
floor,” says Neuhäusler. But after having source and X-ray detectors rotate around the
solved the original problem and given that patient, in this industrial application the
production engineering was able to detect all object under examination, in this case the
other defects using the conventional meth- HPT blade, is rotated in the X-ray path be-
tween the tube and the detector. Because
nickel-based alloys have a higher density than
the human body, which consists mostly of
water, the industrial CT scanner also requires
harder X-ray beams. “The majority of medical
imaging applications employ soft X-rays and
an exposure time of just a few milliseconds,
whereas our CT system requires a hardened
X-ray beam and an exposure time of around
600 milliseconds per image,” explains
CT scan of a reconstructed airfoil segment from a Christof Piede-Weber, who helped mature
GP7000 low-pressure turbine blade.
the new CT scanner from a functional proto-
type into a production system. It was built in
ods, Neuhäusler and his colleagues were ini- collaboration with one of the world-market
tially unable to justify the relatively high costs leaders in industrial X-ray technology, and is
of the new technology, despite its ability to housed in a lead-shielded enclosure. Says
deliver exceptionally precise results. It wasn’t Piede-Weber: “Apart from the blades, nothing
until the company started producing the com- can get in and nothing can get out.”
plex blades for the high-pressure turbine
(HPT) of the GP7000 engine powering the The CT system allows images to be obtained
Airbus A380 that the CT-based method found with a high resolution, which permit safe in-
its way into production. “For the first time, spection of the specified characteristics. “The
standard technologies were inadequate for us outstanding feature of this solution—and the
to be able to properly assess the parts in full real challenge in terms of know-how, is its
detail.” reports the MTU expert. “The reason speed, which is achieved by a high degree of
was that the design was too complex for us automation. These, basically, are the factors
to be able to recognize and evaluate defects that make it so cost-effective,” says the Inspection of coil locations after thermal shock testing.
in turbine blades on two-dimensional X-ray expert. And this is how the system works in
images alone.” the production environment: The HPT blades
are delivered to the inspection station on a To enable the system to automatically detect gional jets,” adds Kopperger. LPT blades and
Unlike other HPT blades, those used in the transport system, and a robot then transfers flaws in a blade, Neuhäusler, Piede-Weber and electronic components, too, are inspected
GP7000 engine have a more swept design, them to the radiation-shielded test chamber. their inspection department colleagues first by means of CT scans, to verify that the pro-
to optimize their aerodynamic efficiency, and The CT scanner produces close to 1,000 had to teach the image-processing software duction processes are capable of turning out
a more complex internal structure with a far images and processes them to create a 3D to recognize deviations. To do this, they parts that comply with the requirements.
greater number of cooling ducts and laser- reconstruction of the component’s geometry, “trained” the system using HPT blades ex- “The new inspection technology constitutes
drilled cooling air holes. Neuhäusler explains: which is then analyzed for nonconformities hibiting defined artificial defects. Kopperger: a unique selling proposition that places MTU
“For example, it can sometimes happen that entirely automatically. Then, the blades are “With the CT system, we apply a conservative in an excellent position for the future.”
the laser penetrates too far into the material. sorted into separate containers depending approach to ensure maximum reliability.” If
This is acceptable, but only down to a certain on the inspection results. “Because there is there is even the slightest doubt, suspected Another area in which Kopperger envisages
depth and on condition that a certain mini- no need for manual intervention, we have nonconforming blades will always be rejected applications for the CT scanning technology is
mum wall thickness is maintained.” Other- been able to significantly speed up the pro- as scrap first and then re-inspected one by the inspection of components produced using
wise this phenomenon, known as “backwall cess,” says Dr. Bertram Kopperger, Senior one. “The non-destructive CT-based process additive manufacturing processes.
overshot” in technical parlance, has the same Manager, Manufacturing and MRO Technolo- not only benefits the GP7000 program but
effect as a notch and can reduce the service gies at MTU. “In the past 18 months, we have will also help reduce time and costs in other
For additional information, contact
life of the blade. CT cross-section of a GP7000 low-pressure turbine blade. Inspection for casting core residues, wall cut the average time required to inspect each programs, for instance, the MTR390 for the Stefan Neuhäusler
thickness measurement, inspection for pores. blade in half.” Eurocopter Tiger and smaller engines for re- +49 89 1489-6620
32 33Technology + Science
Keeping a
close eye on
tolerances
By Daniel Hautmann
The development of aircraft engines and their components is an in-
creasingly complex task, and the time available for the job is constantly
getting shorter. To ensure that its new products are innovative and
always meet the latest requirements, MTU Aero Engines has for many
years been cooperating with university professors, research scientists,
and engineering students in dedicated centers of competence. The
Tolerant Airfoils technology development project, which is about to be
concluded, is a textbook example of this successful approach to coop-
eration between industry, science, and academe.
T
he Tolerant Airfoils project was launched in 2009 and is one
of the most ambitious but also one of the most promising
technology development projects currently being pursued by
Germany’s leading engine manufacturer. Its aim is to optimize the
costs and functionality of MTU’s next-generation high-pressure com-
pressors, with special emphasis on analyzing solutions geared towards
bringing down the costs of blisk manufacturing. A blisk—the acronym
stands for “blade-integrated disk”—is a high-tech component that is
manufactured in one piece and increasingly used in advanced engine
compressors. Heading up the project is Dr. Gerhard Kahl, who is
responsible for coordinating all compressor technology projects at
MTU. He works in close collaboration with the Center of Competence
“Compressors”, which has been established at the Institute of Jet
Propulsion and Turbomachinery (IST) and the Laboratory of Machine
Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) at RWTH Aachen University.
“Blisks are highly engineered, integral components, usually made of
a titanium alloy,” explains Kahl. They are the technology of the future,
because they are key to building lighter, more fuel-efficient engines.
Blisks can already be found in an increasing number of engine types,
including the engines selected to power the new Airbus A320neo.
MTU is a specialist in the design and manufacture of these compo-
nents, and is ramping up its production capacity. The current output
rate of around 500 blisks a year will be increased to several thousand
units before long. To meet the demand, MTU is currently building a
new shop in Munich, where all of the company’s blisk manufacturing
activities will be accommodated.
34 35You can also read
