• Rolls Royce Trent 1000 Engine Corrosion

. Trent 1000 durability improvement explained.

Trent 1000 durability improvement explained. Trent 1000 durability improvement explained. Trent 1000 TEN HPT blade enhancementSince the entry into service of the Trent 1000 TEN, Rolls-Royce has communicated to operators that the high-pressure turbine blades in these engines would have a limited life of 1,000 cycles. In April we announced that, for a sub-set of the Trent 1000 TEN fleet, HPT blades were deteriorating faster than anticipated and that we were implementing an accelerated inspection regime.Ahead of our plans to start incorporating a new design of HPT blade into the fleet in early 2020, we completed a detailed technical evaluation of our proposed HPT redesign.

We have now identified that it will not deliver a sufficient level of enhanced durability and as such we are being prudent in assuming that an improved blade is unlikely to be ready before the first half of 2021.We will further step up our investment in engineering to support the specialist team which has been assembled to focus on resolving the final design and engineering challenges on the Trent 1000. This effort will be aided by a bespoke facility we have created in Derby dedicated to Trent 1000 test engines, which is now fully operational, enabling faster testing and validation of new component designs. So what is going on with the Trent 1000 Package B and Package C engines?At Rolls-Royce, we constantly monitor the health of our engines. In particular, we keep a close eye on the amount of time they are able to stay on wing, so we can help the airlines we serve get the most value from their engines.Regarding the Trent 1000 Package B and Package C engines, our monitoring revealed a number of durability issues. Such in-service issues can sometimes develop with advanced engineering. Unexpected things happen on all engine systems when building new equipment with new technologies. In this case, some parts wore out faster than we forecast.

Of course, this is not an excuse, but an explanation.The first issue we tackled was sulphidation on the Intermediate Pressure (IP) turbine blade. Sulphidation is a form of chemical corrosion, caused by pollutants in the air which can vary greatly from airport to airport. These can then react with the high temperatures found in the hot section of an engine.To guard against this corrosion, we introduced a new blade design featuring an improved protective coating. This new design improves engine durability and more than 95% of the flying fleet now has this new standard of blade.Another durability issue, this time with the high pressure (HP) turbine blade, required attention.

The condition of the blades deteriorated earlier than expected. A new blade design was made available in October 2018 to rectify this.Further investigation revealed that improvements were also required for the intermediate-pressure compressor (IPC) rotor blade. Under certain conditions the blades could vibrate, which caused a few of them to crack.We are now progressing with the installation of a modified IPC blade for Pack C engines, which represent about half the Trent 1000 family's installed base.As a number of Pack C engines operate with original IPC blades without issues, and don't need immediate replacement of the component, we foresee that the fleet-wide implementation of the new IPC blades will stretch into the mid-term.Meanwhile, a redesign for the IPC blades for Pack B and TEN engines is under way. We expect that the new IPC blade for the Trent 1000-TEN will become available for installation by year-end. The Pack B blade will follow soon thereafter.Those were essentially the three issues and all have happened at the same time, making it more challenging to resolve.This has caused disruption to our valued customers, which we sincerely regret. Rolls-Royce remains committed to providing the best powerplant on the Boeing 787.How many Trent 1000 powered planes are grounded?There are 330 aircraft in service and despite significantly increasing our Trent 1000 related maintenance, repair and overhaul capacity over the last twelve months, the number of aircraft on ground (AOG) remains at a high level.

We sincerely regret the disruption that this has caused our customers.We are determined and confident that as we execute our plans we will see a significant improvement. When will the Package B and Package C engines’ durability issue be entirely resolved?We have a robust solution in place to eliminate these issues from the fleet as quickly as possible. We foresee that the number of aircraft on the ground due to Package B and Package C durability issue will be reduced to a single-digit figure by Q2 2020.All the technical changes are expected to be fully embodied into the Trent 1000 Package B and Package C fleets by 2022. In order to get to a zero AOG situation as soon as possible, we have significantly increased capacity at our MRO facilities, invested in new tools, equipment and people, launched new initiatives to reduce engine turnaround time and increased production capacity to ensure parts supply.One example of this is the Delta TechOps Authorised Maintenance Centre, which is already servicing Trent 1000 engines and recently opened a new test cell, the world’s largest, capable of taking engines up to 150,000lbs of thrust. What new measures have you added to your testing process to reduce the likelihood of similar durability issues?As aviation meets unprecedented operational situations, we learn and, of course, share the knowledge we gain from them, so that engine systems and industry-wide protocols are as reliable as possible.Armed with this new understanding, we’re going to be building even more durable engines going forward.

Rolls Royce Trent 1000 Engine Corrosion

Wasn’t there a fourth issue on the Package B and Package C engines (IPC rotor seal)?A fix is also in place for a small population of Trent 1000 engines where cracks have been identified in the IP compressor rotor seal.

Said its timetable to fix problems found in the TEN version of the Trent 1000 engine will be delayed after evaluations revealed that proposed modifications would not deliver a “sufficient level” of enhanced durability.The development of a new high-pressure turbine (HPT) blade for the TEN-derivative of the Boeing 787 engine is now unlikely to be ready before the first half of 2021, the company said in a financial update on Nov.