Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT)

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It appears in some cases at least 2 rows of stators without a rotor between: Why?
 
It indeed appears strange.

Three fans, two fan airpaths so the flow from the two latter fans is always mixed? There's probably good reasons for that.
 
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/06/ge-sets-aetd-record/
 
bobbymike said:
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/06/ge-sets-aetd-record/

Well, that's remarkably amazing good fortune! Looking forward to reading more.
 
Ian33 said:
bobbymike said:
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/06/ge-sets-aetd-record/

Well, that's remarkably amazing good fortune! Looking forward to reading more.
I envision a couple of these on the F-X 6th generation fighter, around 100k thrust total, cruising high over the Pacific theater, larger VLO platform with a dozen or so NGADM nestled in her belly............
 
bobbymike said:
Ian33 said:
bobbymike said:
http://breakingdefense.com/2015/06/ge-sets-aetd-record/

Well, that's remarkably amazing good fortune! Looking forward to reading more.
I envision a couple of these on the F-X 6th generation fighter, around 100k thrust total, cruising high over the Pacific theater, larger VLO platform with a dozen or so NGADM nestled in her belly............

Took the words right out of my mouth. Thats a crazy amount of performance. A Souped up YF23 perchance?
 
http://www.geaviation.com/military/engines/adaptive-cycle/#prclt-HeJWFU1s
 

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Another GE video on ceramic matrix composites entering into production and being integrated throughout more of the engine design. I seem to recall the National Aerospace Plane was looking at using Titanium Nitride shaped into shingles as the outer heat shield material. I wonder if silicon/silicon carbide would be able to handle this function as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is1BBilkyUM
 
:eek:

Jaw firmly on the floor. That is absolutely amazing. Thanks for the video, it is a rare day when I smile in wonder at YouTube. GE got it going on.
 
http://www.airforce-technology.com/features/featurespeed-and-efficiency-are-adaptive-jet-engines-the-way-forward-4809082/
 
the next phase of the program will be AETD /AETP (Adaptive Engine Technology Demonstrator / Adaptive Engine Transition Program). Once again, it is going to come down to the two old-time rivals, Pratt & Whitney and GE Aviation:
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/2015/10/10/pratt-ge-battle-future-military-engines/73201826/
http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/ge-details-sixth-generation-adaptive-fighter-engine-plan
 
Alex119 said:
the next phase of the program will be AETD /AETP (Adaptive Engine Technology Demonstrator / Adaptive Engine Transition Program). Once again, it is going to come down to the two old-time rivals, Pratt & Whitney and GE Aviation:
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/2015/10/10/pratt-ge-battle-future-military-engines/73201826/
http://m.aviationweek.com/defense/ge-details-sixth-generation-adaptive-fighter-engine-plan

Well who else would there be? Allison was bought by RR ages ago.
 
sferrin said:
Well who else would there be? Allison was bought by RR ages ago.

Under ADVENT, contracts were awarded to GE and Rolls-Royce (through their Allison subsidiary). When the first AETD contract was launched at the end of 2013, Rolls Royce was dropped from the competition and Pratt & Whitney was brought back in.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pentagons-proposed-budget-would-fund-adaptive-engine-development-396475/
https://news.usni.org/2014/06/23/next-generation-engine-work-points-future-u-s-fighter-designs
 
Air Force eyeing advanced engine prototype awards this summer

June 10, 2016


HARTFORD, CT -- The Air Force is in the final stages of negotiations with engine-makers Pratt & Whitney and General Electric for a prototype program meant to mature advanced technologies that could be used to field higher-performing and more fuel-efficient engines and upgrades for key Air Force platforms.

The companies have been developing and maturing technologies through the service's Advanced Engine Technology Demonstration program since 2011 and are on pace to conduct hardware demonstrations early next year. At the same time, the Air Force is preparing to launch the next phase of work, the Advanced Engine Transition Program, which will support the two companies as they develop a full prototype engine.

Jimmy Kenyon, Pratt's senior director of advanced programs and technology, told Inside the Air Force this week the service expects to award contracts for AETP this summer and is eyeing a demonstration in the early 2020s.

"We're looking at ways we can try to accelerate that some if we can," Kenyon told ITAF in a June 7 interview at the company's facility in Hartford, CT. "We'd really like to do that if we can but 2020 is probably a good target."

The company flew reporters to Hartford for a tour of its military and commercial engine production facilities.

Although AETD and now AETP are geared toward developing capabilities that could be incorporated on a number of platforms -- whether they be future fighter aircraft or follow-ons to the legacy fleet -- both companies have been designing their hardware enhancements and prototype engines to fit an F-35.

Kenyon said the company's work is focused on an F-35 application, but noted that Pratt is continuing to look at how that might have implications for other platforms. The company, which makes the engines for the Air Force's top three priority programs -- F-35, KC-46 tanker and now the B-21 bomber -- is in a good position to be exploring those other applications, Kenyon said, particularly as the F-35 programs looks to incorporate and compete new capabilities.

He noted that even though AETD and AETP are not billed as F135 follow-on engine programs, the exercise keeps the company "very mindful" of future competition on the program.

"Look, we feel competition every day. Even AETD in its own right keeps us mindful of our position with the F135," Kenyon said. "It's a way to keep us honest on the products that we have. Looking into the future, obviously if the DOD decides that there's a business case that makes sense there and they put it out there, that's what they're going to do. In the future, the door is always open."

The F-35 program does not currently have a requirement for enhanced engine capabilities; however, the company is working with the Navy through its Fuel Burn Reduction program to mature technologies that could be fielded as an upgrade down the road. Kenyon said the company is in discussion with the F-35 joint program office about how to incorporate those upgrades into its follow-on modernization program.

Where the Navy's program would address what Kenyon called "low-hanging fruit" in developing a near-term upgrade plan, AETD and AETP could have longer-term application.

"Looking beyond that, we are looking at ways we can use AETD technologies and insert them into the F135," Kenyon said. "And then of course because we are developing that engine for future applications, it could become a longer-term upgrade as well. So really what we're doing here is we're laying out an option space."

He continued: "It really becomes a continuous upgrade path for the F-35 that's going to keep that airplane flying ahead of its peers well into the future."
 
Air Force Funds Next Advanced Engine Stage

WASHINGTON — The Air Force has awarded a set of contracts to progress its Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) forward.
General Electric Aviation and Pratt & Whitney each received a contract following their work on the previous development program. Both companies received contracts worth $1.01 billion, with a period of performance ending in Sept. 2021.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/support/2016/07/01/aetp-air-force-funds-next-advanced-engine-stage/86595466/
 
More GE CMC testing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJF-0rb9G8U
 
Adaptive Engine Technology at Foundation of Future Propulsion

—Gideon Grudo3/3/2017

​The future of propulsion will at least be complemented heavily by adaptive engine design, according to a panel of experts and industry executives. And Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein thinks that future is bright. “I believe we’ll bring propulsion in aircraft … forward in a way no one else can,” he said Thursday at AWS17. Speaking in a different panel at the same event, executives from General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, and a subject expert rolled around ideas and concepts about the future of engines. Mark Lewis, director of the Institute for Defense Analyses’ Science and Technology Policy Institute, said development of propulsion will focus on better cycle efficiency (like an adaptive engine or alternative energy sources, for example), better propulsive efficiency (such as higher bypass/unducted fans), and better components (improved blades, for example). However, Lewis emphasized that rockets are currently very efficient, clocking it at rates higher than 90 percent, which is better than gas turbines (65 percent), cars (20 percent), and human beings (15 percent).

Pratt & Whitney is going to be testing modifications to its F-135 engines in the Spring, said James Kenyon, the company’s director of advanced programs and technology. He added that additive manufacturing came in very useful as Pratt played with capabilities for these modifications, allowing engineers to “try things” they couldn’t have tried otherwise. More specifically, Phil Burkholder, Rolls-Royce’s president of Defense Aerospace in North America, said the company would be focusing on developing technologies in tilt-rotor aircraft, unmanned tilt-rotor aircraft, distributed propulsion, and hybrid engine designs. General Electric’s Dan McCormick, the company’s general manager for the advanced combat engine, said the company’s three-stream architecture—an advanced method of air injection as opposed to what a turbojet or turbofan offers—is one way to achieve the type of adaptive engine efficiency that will revolutionize engine tech in the future. Regardless of the future of engines, the old battle between efficiency and energy will be at the center of innovation.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQpIdOfBXcE
 

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Air Force Leaders Hear About What's Next for Propulsion

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2017

Every year, the Air Force Association holds its Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida, to bring together Air Force and industry leaders to discuss the issues and challenges facing today's airmen.

Among those present at last week's symposium were members of the Pratt & Whitney Military Engines leadership and business development teams, on a mission to meet with customers to better understand their needs.

"This was a phenomenal conference – we had frank and productive discussions with commanders from across the Air Force and we took the opportunity to reinforce our commitment to their mission," said retired Lt. Gen. Mike Moeller, vice president of Business Development & International Programs. "It's important to understand their requirements to ensure we deliver the capability they depend upon every day."

In addition to several one-on-one meetings with customers such as Gen. David L. Goldfein, chief of staff, United States Air Force, the topic of propulsion was front and center during one of the panel discussions for the conference. Jimmy Kenyon, executive director, Advanced Programs and Technology, Pratt & Whitney, was joined by representatives from Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation, and the IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute, to discuss what's next on the horizon for the Air Force, particularly with regard to emerging propulsion technologies.

"While the current production engine (for the F-35) meets or exceeds all of today's propulsion performance specifications, we are already looking ahead at how we can continue to improve the F135 for future needs," said Kenyon. "Right now we're maturing a suite of technologies to enhance capabilities … with reduced fuel burn, increased thrust, and improved durability."

Kenyon added that Pratt & Whitney plans to test an F135 incorporating these technologies in the spring, so they'll be ready to transition into qualification to support future block upgrades for all variants for the F-35 Lightning II.

Along a parallel and complimentary path, Pratt & Whitney is also involved in on one of the Air Force's top propulsion priorities – the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, or AETP – added Kenyon.

"We think adaptive engines will be a critical enabler for virtually all future combat aircraft. After all, we've seen firsthand what they can do," he said.

Citing Pratt & Whitney's experience pioneering the first adaptive engine, the J58, which powered the iconic SR-71 Blackbird, and more recently, the F-35B STOVL aircraft, Kenyon emphasized that experience matters when it comes to developing a next generation adaptive engine.

In addition to making improvements to the F135 and developing adaptive engine technologies, Pratt & Whitney is working on improving integrated power and thermal capacity, and looking at opportunities form more electric and even hybrid-electric propulsion and power architectures. The company is also paying close attention to the Air Force's call for lower cost solutions for attritable aircraft, and even looking at novel concepts such as distributed propulsion that can change the way the industry looks at aircraft design, according to Kenyon.

"It really is an exciting time to be in the propulsion industry," he said. "We're delivering great new capability today, working on the next generation of propulsion through programs like AETP, and starting to work on concepts that will define the future of aviation. So what's next? Quite a lot!"

http://www.pw.utc.com/News/Story/20170308-1200
 
It's sometimes hard to follow all that's going on between the publications from GE, Pratt & Whitney, and the various Air Force officials, but here's my interpretation of it.

There appear to be two competing camps for jet engine technology, carving out budget for their respective priorities within the Pentagon. In the one camp are those that want to evolve the existing F135 engine, to produce more thrust and better fuel burn. In the other camp are those that want to develop an all new, variable cycle engine (per the ADVENT or AETP programs), to meet 6th gen fighter needs, and similar applications.

Both objectives have merit, but in the real world of budget priorities and limitations, they will eventually come into conflict with each other).
 
In the one camp are those that want to evolve the existing F135 engine, to produce more thrust and better fuel burn. In the other camp are those that want to develop an all new, variable cycle engine (per the ADVENT or AETP programs), to meet 6th gen fighter needs, and similar applications.

Both GE and P&W are currently working on a $1 Billion contract (each) on the adaptive engine transition program. What you may be referring to is P&W's earlier position that it will work technology from its AETD and AETP efforts back into its F-135 engine. This is understandable since the F-135 is going to be produced for a very long time. Expect GE to also look to spiral technology it develops or matures during the VAATE effort back into its existing propulsion offerings.

Regarding what comes after AETP and ADAPT efforts really depends upon what sort of engine the Air Force and Navy seek for their future fighter programs.
 
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=b90934b82c90e1509f6c668b169f6a8e&tab=core&tabmode=list&=
 
In the one camp are those that want to evolve the existing F135 engine, to produce more thrust and better fuel burn. In the other camp are those that want to develop an all new, variable cycle engine (per the ADVENT or AETP programs), to meet 6th gen fighter needs, and similar applications.

I think there's as much tension between the different class of turbines (UAS, fighter, expendable, mobility, turboshaft/prop,etc.)
as between NGAD and legacy fighters.
 
some interesting numbers...
 

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While the AETP competition continues to advance, Pratt & Whitney continues to evolve the F135 engine (which powers the F-35 today), recently completing initial engine tests for the Growth Option 1 engine:
http://m.aviationweek.com/awindefense/pratt-whitney-marks-first-steps-f-35-engine-upgrade-plan
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a26733/f-35-improved-engine/

The Growth Option 1 engine is being funded under a U.S. Navy Fuel Burn program, with the aim of offering 10% more thrust and 6% lower TSFC, as compared to the base engine.
 
http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2017/August%202017/Engines-of-Innovation.aspx
 
...
 

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Not sure if this picture is a PW AETD engine or not. The description talks about the level of complexity of the test cell instrumentation and then goes on to say it was used for the adaptive technology development program. The pipes around the combustor remind me of the bypass arrangement for the PW J58 on the SR-71.
 

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There's a good article on the program in this week's AvWeek. Basically both companies are working on demonstrator engines sized to fit the F-35, and also have contracts to investigate larger derivatives for 6th-gen aircraft.
 

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fredymac said:
Not sure if this picture is a PW AETD engine or not. The description talks about the level of complexity of the test cell instrumentation and then goes on to say it was used for the adaptive technology development program. The pipes around the combustor remind me of the bypass arrangement for the PW J58 on the SR-71.

Interesting. RR also showed pipes in their notional 6th-gen engine design. Funny that, until recently, all the released artwork has shown the 3rd-stream integrated into the engine case. I wonder if in this case they just modified an F135 to emulate the effect of a 3rd stream without having to build a completely new engine. And that the new engine would have the integral ducting of the 3rd stream.
 
Those are certainly multi-role device:
- inlet pressure ctrl
- power generation (Electricity - scalable - this why they are pipes and not con-centrics walls) (+ the added benefice of vorticity break down)
- Fluidic ctrl at exhaust level and/or Swirl number ctrl.
 
Lawmakers push USAF for adaptive engine transition plan, propose $270M cut

The Senate Appropriations Committee is proposing a $270 million cut to the Air Force's Adaptive Engine Transition Program and are calling on the service to deliver details on plans to transition the new engine technology into major programs like the F-35. The committee approved its version of fiscal year 2020 defense spending legislation this week. In a report accompanying the bill, lawmakers noted concern that no programs have formally mapped a plan to incorporate adaptive engine technology
 
How does this program fit with that of GE's XA100 engine?
 

"A new engine that will power the F-35 and the US Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme has completed testing.

The GE engine, called XA100, uses an adaptive cycle design that provides a high-thrust mode for maximum power and a high-efficiency mode for fuel savings and loiter time.

NGAD is a family of systems currently in development by USAF and industry partners. At the centre of this programme is a sixth generation fighter to replace the F-22 (commonly referred to as F-X). Last September it was revealed that the fighter had been designed, developed and tested in the space of a year and flown.

More recently, concept art of the new combat jet appeared in a USAF biannual report on acquisition."


So is it confirmed that NGAD will have the Adaptive engines?
 

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