TECHNICAL: PROPULSION
GE discloses F412 configuration details
BY GUY NORRIS
G eneral Electric has revealed
the configuration of the
F412 engine, designed for the
cancelled A-12 US Navy attack
aircraft, technology from which
is now being used to update its
F404 powerplant proposed for
the McDonnell Douglas F-18E/F
(Flight International, 3-9 April).
Details of the engine were
released as part of its bid to
p r o m o t e the g r o w t h F 4 0 4 ,
which will be offered in 90kN
(20,0001b-thrust) and lOOkN
versions, compared with the
71kN presently available. "The
point is that the millions the
Navy spent on developing the
F412 were well spent — almost
all the t e c h n o l o g y for the
growth F404 has already been
tried and tested in one form or
another," says GE.
The F412 is shown to have a
large fan, scaled from the F404-
ROLLS-ROYCE TESTS TAY 727 INSTALLATION
Testing of the Dee Howard-made Boeing 727-100 centre intake "S" duct
optimised for the Rolls-Royce Tay 650 engine is under way at the UK
company's Huchnall site. The tests are due to finish at the end of May
and will pave the way for engine installation, and eventual first
flight of the first Tay-powered 727 in April 1992 (Flight International,
10-16 April).
400, a three-stage low-pressure
(LP) compressor, a seven-stage
high-pressure (HP) compressor,
single-stage HP turbine and
two-stage LP turbine.
Compared with the -400, the
growth F404 would have a
larger, increased airflow fan and
"advanced core" derived from
the F412. As well as an in-
creased airflow, the F412 fan
was designed to have a lower
pressure ratio and an improved
resistance to birds, foreign-
object damage and ice com-
pared with the F404.
The core, single-stage "ad-
vanced low-pressure turbine"
and the lengthened afterburner
are derived from GE's variable-
cycle F120 engine candidate for
the US Air Force's Advanced
Tactical Fighter. Variable-area
and two-dimensional thrust-
vectoring nozzles will be availa-
ble as options. Full-authority
digital engine control system
General Electric F412
F412 fan scaled
from -400
Multi-hole
combuster shell
Increased airflow
compressor
based on that used by the F110-
129 would also be incorporated.
The growth engine would
also feature a 2,000h hot section
and turbine entry temperatures
up to 150°C higher than those
currently produced. GE adds:
"The growth F404 is not an
F412 in disguise. The F412 is
optimised for high subsonic
cruise, with a larger fan and far
higher bypass ratio. It doesn't
have an afterburner. As such, it
fits neither the F-18E/F's mis-
sion profile, nor the airframe."
From 1992, GE is supplying
the F404-402 enhanced per-
formance engine (EPE) as the
standard production powerplant
Single-crystal turbine blades tested
S ingle-crystal turbine blades,
made by a new process, are
being tested in turbofan and
turboshaft engines.
The system, developed by
Swiss-based Sulzer-MTU Cast-
ing Technology, has been
adopted by two European foun-
dries and is being developed
further by the European Com-
mission's Euram-Brite technol-
ogy programme.
Sulzer-MTU says the method
is easier to control and is more
economical than the traditional
process, which involves pouring
molten metal into a ceramic
shell mould with up to ten
blade cavities. The mould is
heated by a resistance furnace to
above the alloy melting point
and the blades begin to solidify
FLIGHT [INTERNATIONAL 17-23 April, 1991
Redesigned
high-pressure turbine
Two-stage low-pressure
turbine derived from F110
for the F-18. The -402 uses
monocrystal turbine materials,
modified electrical-hydro-
mechanical control schedules
and improved materials in the
afterburner to generate up to
20% more power. Compared
with the F404-400, GE claims
this will improve the F-18's
time-to-climb/intercept perform-
ance at 50,000ft (15,100m) and
Mach 1.4 by 3 1 % and its maxi-
m u m acceleration at around
35,000ft and M l . 6 by 27%.
The company adds that spe-
cific excess power in a typical
combat manoeuvring situation
at M0.9 and around 10,000ft
will be boosted by 18%. •
progressively upwards from a
water-cooled copper chill as the
mould is drawn down into a
water-cooled lower chamber.
In the new method the mould
is integrally heated sequentially
to create the required unidirec-
tional heat flow at the solidifica-
tion front.
Two European foundries, Th-
yssen Guss of Germany and
Precicast of Switzerland, have
already c o n c l u d e d l i c e n s i n g
agreements. Direcuonally solidi-
fied guide vanes and intermedi-
ate-pressure turbine blades for a
turbofan, and complex-shaped
vane segments and single-
crystal rotor blades from the
high-pressure turbine of a heli-
copter's turboshaft engine are
being used to test the process.