Composite fan blades for

large turbofan engines;

verifying and manufacturing

the future

Justin Dalton

Chief Project Engineer and Head of Programmes

Composite Fan.

The Journey So Far….

Timeline chart

Hyfil & Hyfoil blades for Conway &

RB211

Win VITAL

funding

RR Selects GKN as

partner for VITAL

97.5” Dove phase 1

Dove phase 2 bird tests

Design of Soar 112”

blade

1966 - 1970

VITAL (EU)

ELF (UK)

ELF (UK)

SILOET (UK)

SAGE - ALPS (EU)

SILOET II (UK)

SAMULET II (UK)

First flight

8 Single Arm bird tests

74” FBO test

First sub-element test

formed

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Design of Soar 112”

Casing

Production of Soar blades

& casing

First full fan engine run SOAR fan

blade-off test

First 122” fast make blade & bird test

Full engine Flutter,

noise & bird test

TRL6 MCRL5

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Developing Capability Whole System

Sub-System

Components

Sub-components and Features

Material Characterisation

Tests Completed Analytical Methods

High Strain Rate

Drop Tower Casing Ballistic SAB

Root pull & fatigue SBBB Heavy rub Light rub Liner impact

FBO LSF2

SAB (Single Arm Bird testing)

Four generations of blade

development

Vital Blade 715mm, 74”

Dove Blade 925mm, 97”

Soar Blade 1111mm, 112”

Fast Make Blade 1205mm, 122”

Cti Fan – Automated Fibre Placement

Composite Fan Case

Annulus Filler – CFP - Call for Proposal

• Collaboration formed with FACC to develop capability

• Damage tolerance testing completed

• Components tested on ALPS engine.

• TRL6 review held

• Future exploitation strategy currently being developed

ALPS composite fan testing • Indoor testing

Blade untwist

Tip clearance studies

Indoor flutter mapping

Nozzle calibration

Initial performance curves

• Outdoor ground testing Cross-wind testing

Noise

Outdoor flutter mapping

Long blade tip rubbing test

Bird strike run-on test

Icing

Bird ingestion test

ALPS Flight Test Video 1

3

Thankyou

And still more to do!