FLUG REVUE October 2006: V2500 now assembled in Germany as well

October 2006

IAE V2500 NOW BUILT AT DAHLEWITZ

By Patrick Hoeveler

Germany is doing well as an engine manufacturing centre: production of the International Aero Engines (IAE) consortium's best-seller, the V2500, is in full swing at Rolls-Royce Deutschland in Dahlewitz, while at MTU Maintenance in Hanover the first Pratt & Whitney PW6000 to be assembled in Germany was due to be handed over shortly after this month's FLUG REVUE went to press. The entire engineering division of IAE which was previously based in Derby, England, has been relocated to Brandenburg, Germany. Even in the US headquarters in Connecticut there is just a team of ten technical customer support staff which reports to the 65-man department in Dahlewitz. At present, amongst other things, they are working on a new production standard for the engine in the V2500Select programme, which is expected to enter into service in mid-2008.

The initiative combines support services and maintenance work that are tailored to the customer with technical improvements to the components produced by each of the IAE partners. According to the consortium, this approach could reduce V2500 operating costs by as much as 25%. “That is why over 90% of customers have opted for such an aftermarket agreement since the launch of V2500Select,” said a spokesperson in East Hartford. Given the high price of kerosene, a lot of interest has been expressed in the technical improvements as well.

As Michael Goeing, Vice-President Engineering at IAE, explained, “Our goal is to reduce fuel consumption by one percent and to extend time on wing by 20 percent.” According to Goeing, who was previously chief engineer for the BR715, Tay, Spey and Dart programmes at Rolls-Royce Deutschland, the improved fuel consumption will primarily come from changes to the Rolls-Royce high-pressure compressor. The first compressor stages are to receive new blades with elliptical edges that were designed with the aid of three-dimensional computer simulation. Another improvement which will help boost aerodynamic performance is the super-polishing of surfaces.

On the other hand, the longer on-wing operating time will be achieved by modifications in the turbines, where the temperature is to be cut by two percent. MTU Aero Engines is fitting the low-pressure turbine with improved outer diameter seals which offer less leakage losses. On top of this, the engineers are changing the angle of the blades in the first turbine stator segment to rematch the cycle according to the changes of the HP compressor. In the high-pressure turbine, Pratt & Whitney is toughening the rotating and stator blades by adding a thermal barrier coating and rearranging the distribution of the cooling air.

Although the new production version will contain all these improvements, the initial retrofit kits that will be available from mid-2008 will be a slimmed-down version. As the kits are usually installed during normal maintenance, the upgrades will be confined to components that can be easily replaced or have to be replaced. Super-polishing in the high-pressure compressor and the new low-pressure turbine stator segment will not yet be included. However, IAE is considering offering retrofit packages tailored to individual requiremnets. Management is also considering whether to adjust the list price of the “new” V2500.

To test all modifications three engines will be run by the shareholding companies from next April on. IAE expects certification to be achieved in August or September 2007, with flight testing at Airbus to follow at the end of 2007. So far the upgrade has been confined to the A320 family, but retrofit-kits for the Boeing MD-90 are also under evaluation.

Meanwhile production in Dahlewitz is in full swing. To meet the IAE overall objective of one finished engine per day, some 180 units need to be built in Brandenburg per year. The other half will come from Middletown in the USA. “Apart from engine testing, we have already achieved this rate here in Germany,” Goeing confirms. So far over 45 examples of the V2500 have been assembled in Dahlewitz, with good results as well. “We have already received a lot of positive feedback from our customers.” Starting from September the newly produced engines can finally tested on the company's own test stands, known as “Adam” and “Eve”. The modification of the cells for the V2500 is due to be finished shortly. Whether and when a successor to the IAE product could be running here remains an open question. As Goeing puts it, “We are developing technologies in order to fulfill requirements which are not yet known.”

From page 94 of FLUG REVUE 10/2006

Last updated 15 September 2006

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