Arcam AB fka AMAVF

[charlie T colton]

GE Aviation Looks To Future, Takes Breath

Does anyone know the details about the LPT failures "earlier this year when a batch of faulty castings in France caused a big scare"? I've looked and can't find who the supplier was and what the exact nature of the failure was. Soft information is given below the new article.

At aviationweek.com - GE Aviation Looks To Future, Takes Breath - Jun 19, 2017

GE and its partner Snecma will deliver close to 500 Leap engines this year for the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX, with the number climbing to more than 2,000 a year by 2020 (the engine also powers the Comac C919). Joyce’s team has devoted a huge effort to preparing the supply chain for the massive increase in production, with redundancy to ensure it can handle any potential issues that occur anywhere within the supply base. “We’ve done the most comprehensive failure modes and effects analysis on our supply chain,” Joyce says. That preparation was illustrated earlier this year when a batch of faulty castings in France caused a big scare but just a brief ripple in the well-oiled machinery.

But that attention to execution doesn’t stop Joyce from thinking about the future.

“We’ve all been very, very busy over the last eight to 10 years. I’ve probably spent $8 1/2 billion in commercial research and development” to bring the Leap, GE9X (for the Boeing 777X) and Passport business jet engine (for the Global 7000) to fruition.

“So when people say, ‘Gee, it’s kind of disappointing there aren’t too many commercial engine programs going forward,’ I’m thinking, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I’m kind of happy that we’ve got to start delivering what we committed to, and can reload our technology portfolios for what it’s going to take in the out years, the way-out years. Taking a deep breath right now is not a bad idea. Just take a look at where we’ve been.

“But stay tuned. I’m more excited about material technology development now than I have been at any time in my 37 years in the industry.

“I look at titanium aluminides and I look at all the metal powders for additive, I take a look at ceramic matrix composites. It’s a whole family of material systems, and what those will all enable in terms of the way we think. It’s the beginning of a new material system journey for this company for the next two to three decades.

“And then architectures, you know, there’s lots of different engine architectures that we’ve all looked at in the past, and there’ll be a time with these other enabling technologies, when they earn their way on, easily. And so, although I don’t think I’d want to relive it, I kind of wish I was a 35-year-old senior engineer in one of these companies. The innovation and the level of application going forward is very exciting. Super exciting.”

Asked about technologies for the next-generation narrowbody-size airliner mooted for service around 2030, Joyce replied: “The last thing I want to talk about is that when I’m just barely getting this generation in the air.” But, he added, the projected timetable “will give us time to mature some very, very exciting technologies that we’re looking at for that product.”
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GE is so enthused about additive manufacturing that it launched GE Additive, led by David Joyce, as a company to attract third-party business. It aims for revenues of $1 billion by 2020, and in the last year bought controlling shares of Arcam of Sweden and Concept Laser of Germany, two leading additive equipment and material suppliers. Joyce says additive technologies are expected to result in $3 billion to $5 billion dollars in cost savings throughout GE by 2025.


The GE9X is, in essence, a replacement for the GE90.

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General Electric: There Is No Need To Panic - May.11.17

However, in this case, the market has overreacted to a small problem which is easily fixable. It is important to note that there is no technical issue with the LEAP engine provided by CFM. There are some quality issues with the "low-pressure turbine discs", which were found during the inspections. It did not affect the test flight. This issue does not affect other LEAP engines being supplied to Airbus (OTCPK:EADSF) and Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China. The company has already said that until the inspection is completed, production will continue with products procured from other suppliers.

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Boeing Halts 737 Max Flights as Engine Issue Spoils Jet's Debut - May 10, 2017

Teething issues are bound to emerge in the highly complex new turbofan engines powering the Boeing and Airbus single-aisle jets, Epstein said. The Leap-1B engine pushes the limits of turbine design with a smaller fan diameter since it was designed for the 737 Max, which rides lower to the ground than the A320neo. As a result, the CFM engine generates some of the highest turbine temperatures in the industry outside of military applications. “So there is little room for error,” he said.

First Delivery

The Max has accumulated 3,714 orders before its commercial debut but is still racing to catch up to Airbus’s A320neo. The first of the new 737 models is slated to be handed over next week to Malindo Air, followed later in the month with a delivery to Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. Other major customers due to take the Max this year include Southwest Airlines Co. and American Airlines Group Inc.

The decision to halt flights was made “out of an abundance of caution,” Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said Wednesday, adding that the plane completed flight testing months ahead of schedule. “The step is consistent with our priority focus on safety.”

Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for GE Aviation, said about 30 CFM International engines will be inspected at sites in the U.S. and France. In the meantime, production will continue using discs from other CFM suppliers, he said. The issue doesn’t affect other versions of the Leap engine used on planes from Airbus and Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., Kennedy said.