Rolls-Royce Trent 900

Trent 900
Type Turbofan
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Rolls-Royce plc
First run May 2004 (first flight)
Major applications Airbus A380
Unit cost US$25m alone,[1] US$46m incl. support[2]
Developed from Rolls-Royce RB211

The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is a British series of turbofan engines, developed from the RB211 and is one of the family of Trent engines. It is one of the powerplant options available for the Airbus A380, along with the Engine Alliance GP7000.

Design and development

A Trent 900 on test at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex

In the early 1990s, Airbus had begun development of a larger competitor to the Boeing 747, an aircraft designated A3XX, which was later to be formally launched as the A380. By 1996, its definition had progressed to the extent that Rolls-Royce was able to announce that it would develop the Trent 900 to power the A380. In October 2000, the Trent 900 became the A380's launch engine when Singapore Airlines specified the engine for its order for 10 A380s; this was quickly followed by Qantas in February 2001.

Rolls-Royce has seven risk and revenue sharing partners on the Trent 900: Industria de Turbo Propulsores (low-pressure turbine), Hamilton Sundstrand (electronic engine controls), Avio S.p.A. (gearbox module), Marubeni Corporation (engine components), Volvo Aero (intermediate compressor case), Goodrich Corporation (fan casings and sensors) and Honeywell (pneumatic systems). In addition, Samsung Techwin, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) are programme associates.

The Trent 900 made its maiden flight on 17 May 2004 on Airbus' A340-300 testbed, replacing the port inner CFM56-5 engine, and its final certification was granted by EASA on 29 October 2004 and the FAA on 4 December 2006.[3] Rolls-Royce announced in October 2007 that production of the Trent 900 had been restarted after a twelve-month suspension caused by delays to the A380.[4]

On 27 September 2007, British Airways announced the selection of the Trent 900 to power 12 A380 aircraft,[5] helping to take the engine's share of the A380 engine market to 52% at the end of February 2009.

The Trent 900 family powers the Airbus A380. It comes in two thrust ratings for the A380, 310 kN (70,000 lbf) and 320 kN (72,000 lbf) but is capable of achieving 360 kN (81,000 lbf).[6] It features a significant amount of technology inherited from the 8104 demonstrator including its 2.95 m (116 in) diameter swept-back fan which provides greater thrust for the same engine size, and is also about 15 percent lighter than previous wide-chord blades. It is also the first member of the Trent family to feature a contra-rotating HP spool and uses the core of the very reliable Trent 500. It is the only A380 engine that can be transported on a Boeing 747 freighter whole.[7]

Whereas most members of the Trent family are controlled by Goodrich FADECs, engine controllers on the Trent 900 are provided by Hamilton Sundstrand, a United Technologies (UTC) company. UTC is also the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, who, with GE Aircraft Engines, is partnering to produce the Engine Alliance GP7000, the other engine available for the A380. This kind of cooperation among competitors is prevalent in the aircraft market as it provides for risk sharing among them and diversity in source countries, which may be a significant factor in an airline's choice of airframe and powerplant.

The Trent 900 will be the first Trent engine fitted with the advanced Engine Health Monitoring (EHM) system based on QUICK Technology.

Variants

Rolls-Royce Trent 970B- 84 mounted on a British Airways Airbus A380

[8]

Upgrades

The Trent 900 family of engines had their first set of upgrades marketed as the Trent 900EP; these were available for delivery from 2012. This package delivered a 1% saving on fuel burn compared to non EP engines. Rolls Royce told Aviation Week and Space Technology that the upgrades were intended in most cases for both new engines and as retrofits.[9] This upgrade is based on advancements made during the development of the Trent XWB (for the Airbus A350 XWB) and matches improvements made for the Trent 700 called the Trent 700EP.[10] Block 1 includes elliptical leading edges in the compressor, smaller low-pressure turbine tip clearances, and new coating for the high-pressure compressor drum, as well as an upgrade to the engine control (FADEC) software.

The EP2 package entered testing in May 2013 and was scheduled to be available for delivery in mid 2014. This package aims to provide a further 0.8% reduction in fuel burn on top of the improvements offered by the EP package.[11] Changes include better sealing of the low-pressure turbine, improvements to fan blade tip clearances, and other changes derived from the engines developed for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350.[9] EP2 passed a type certificate test by European Aviation Safety Agency on 27 November 2013[12] and an update type certificate was issued on 11 December 2013.[13]

Applications

Notable incidents

On 4 November 2010, a Trent 972 powered Airbus A380-842 (Registration VH-OQA) of Qantas Flight QF32 suffered an uncontained engine failure (explosion) in engine number 2 en route from Singapore to Sydney and returned to Singapore Changi Airport where it landed safely. Qantas grounded its fleet of six A380s for over three weeks after the accident pending the investigation and said it may replace up to 16 engines after identifying potential problems.[14] VH-OQA was repaired at an estimated cost of A$139 million. The aircraft has four new engines, a repaired left wing, and had extensive onground testing and two test flights. It returned to service on 28 April 2012.[15]

On 10 November 2010, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive, ordering airlines using the Trent 900 engine to conduct frequent and stringent tests, including extended ground idle runs, Low Pressure Turbine (LPT) stage 1 blade and case drain inspections and HP/IP structure air buffer cavity and oil service tube inspections.[16] However, on 22 November 2010, the EASA eased its inspection guidelines, citing progress in the investigation. It dropped requirements for extended ground idle runs and requirements for repetitive inspections of the LPT stage 1 blades and case drain.[17]

An investigation by Rolls-Royce concluded that the accident was caused by an oil fire and was confined to a specific component in the turbine area of the engine. The fire led to the failure of the Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) disc. It also said the issue is specific to the Trent 900.[18]

Airbus determined that the IPT disc failure released 3 different high energy fragments, resulting in some structural and systems damage. It also concluded that segregated wiring routes were cut by 2 out of the 3 individual disc debris and as a result, engine 1 could not be shut down after landing.[19]

On 18 November 2010, Airbus announced it may seek compensation from Rolls-Royce for any disruption caused by the Qantas incident and the plans to reassign engines.[20]

In a preliminary investigation report of the engine failure of Qantas Flight QF32, released 3 December 2010, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau outlined safety actions taken already, including the issuing of a safety recommendation about potential engine problems with the Trent 900.[21] The safety recommendation relates to a possible manufacturing issue with a misaligned counterbore in some pressured oil pipes, which could lead to fatigue cracking, oil leakage, oil fire, and engine failure.[22]

Qantas claimed on 16 December 2010 that thrust restrictions recommended by Rolls-Royce following the engine failure would have led to severely reduced payloads, making routes unprofitable.[23]

Specifications (Trent 900)

General characteristics

  • Type: Three-shaft high bypass ratio (8.7–8.5) turbofan engine
  • Length: 5,478 mm (215.7 in) tip of spinner minus rubber tip to Tail Bearing Housing Plug Mount Flange
  • Diameter: 2,950 mm (116 in) fan
  • Dry weight: 6,246 kg (13,770 lb)

Components

  • Compressor: single stage LP (fan), 8-stage IP compressor (IPC), 6-stage HP compressor (HPC)
  • Combustors: Single annular combustor
  • Turbine: single stage HP turbine (HPT), single stage IP turbine (IPT), 5-stage LP turbine (LPT)

Performance

Source: EASA Type Certificate

Cost

In 2000 Qantas were quoted a price of US$12.85 million per Trent 900.[25] In 2015 Emirates Airlines signed a contract for 200 Trent 900s including long-term service support at a cost of US$9.2 billion or US$46 million per engine.[2] In 2016 ANA bought engines for three new Airbus A380 aircraft for $300m: $25m per Trent 900.[1] A new set of LLPs is worth $7 million and an overhaul costs slightly more.[26]

See also

Related development

Comparable engines

Related lists

References

  1. 1 2 "ANA Group selects Rolls-Royce engines worth $300m for Airbus A380 aircraft" (Press release). Rolls-Royce. 29 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Rolls-Royce wins largest ever order from Emirates" (Press release). Rolls-Royce. 17 April 2015.
  3. ↑ European Aviation Safety Agency (11 August 2005). "RB211 Trent 900 Series Engines Type-Certificate Data Sheet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2007.
  4. ↑ "Rolls-Royce settles into a launch groove for A380". Flight International. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  5. ↑ "Rolls-Royce hit by Airbus delays". BBC News. 6 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  6. ↑ http://www.rolls-royce.com/civil/products/largeaircraft/trent_900/
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  8. ↑ Trent 900, Rolls Royce Website
  9. 1 2 Norris, Guy, Better burn, Aviation Week and Space Technology, 7 October 2013, pp. 44–45
  10. ↑ "Trent 900EP's 1% improvement is 'just the start': Rolls-Royce". Flight Global. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  11. ↑ "Rolls Tests A380 Trent Upgrade". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 19 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Enhanced Trent 900 passes EASA type test". Flight Global. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
  13. ↑ "EASA Type Certificate Data Sheet Rolls Royce RB211 Trent 900 Series Engines" (PDF). European Aviation Safety Agency. 11 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  14. ↑ http://www.qantas.com.au/regions/dyn/au/publicaffairs/details?ArticleID=2010/nov10/5029d
  15. ↑ Chong, Jordan (20 April 2012). "Qantas A380 back in the air, 'as good as new'". Herald-Sun. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  16. ↑ http://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/easa_ad_2010_0236_E.pdf/EAD_2010-0236-E_1
  17. ↑ "EMERGENCY AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE". EASA. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  18. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  19. ↑ Airbus QF32 AIT 3, dated 17 November 2010
  20. ↑ Hepher, Tim (18 November 2010). "Airbus may seek A380 cost compensation from Rolls". Reuters.
  21. ↑ "ATSB releases Qantas A380 engine failure preliminary report" (Press release). ATSB. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  22. ↑ "Inflight engine failure – Qantas, Airbus A380, VH-OQA, overhead Batam Island, Indonesia, 4 November 2010: Safety Recommendation AO-2010-089-SR-012". ATSB. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  23. ↑ "A380 flights to Los Angeles unprofitable with Trent 900s: Qantas". Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  24. ↑ https://www.rolls-royce.com/~/media/Files/R/Rolls-Royce/documents/civil-aerospace-downloads/trent-900-infographic.pdf
  25. ↑ Will Horton (14 Dec 2010). "High thrust Trent 900s limited to 75 flight cycles: Qantas". FlightGlobal.
  26. ↑ "Semi-Annual Jet Aircraft Value Listing". Aircraft Value News. June 25, 2018.
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