Rolls Royce UltraFan

Grey Havoc

Grey Havoc

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https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/rolls-royce-ultrafan-could-spark-patent-complaint-p-437769/
 
www.bbc.co.uk

Giant jet engines aim to make our flying greener

How much more efficiency can be wrung out of the jet engine - technology which is over 70 years old?
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Around 0.7m (over 2 ft) bigger fan than the biggest Trent.

Intriguing to see a return to the carbon fibre blades originally developed for the early RB-211, but abandoned due to a tendency to fail under birdstrike and similar impact. I guess the heavy titanium leading edge of the ultrafan must have something to do with that.
 
I would assume that carbon composite technology and manufacturing techniques have advanced somewhat in the 50 years since the RB.211 fan blade was developed, also, I'm sure Rolls Royce has studied the GE90 fan blade . . .

cheers,
Robin.
 
Could P&W have 'locked out' rival geared versions by wording patent better ??

I'm thinking of the gaffe made by Darlington's patent guy who only worded it for a pair of close-coupled transistors on chip. "Or More" could have covered literally every microchip until patent lapsed...

Were P&W constrained by 'prior art' of geared super-chargers, turbos etc ??
 
Nik said:
Could P&W have 'locked out' rival geared versions by wording patent better ??

I'm thinking of the gaffe made by Darlington's patent guy who only worded it for a pair of close-coupled transistors on chip. "Or More" could have covered literally every microchip until patent lapsed...

Were P&W constrained by 'prior art' of geared super-chargers, turbos etc ??
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Geared turbofans are not new, Garrett introduced the TFE731 half a century ago. Why do you think any particular P&W patent would be relevant to the UltraFan?
 
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TMA1 said:
...when does it just become a leaky turboprop?
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Why do you see this conventional shrouded fan engine as related in any way to the turboprop? Are you confusing it with the open propfan type?
 
After completing 70 hours of testing with the ground test stand engine Rolls Royce is proceeding to produce two flying demonstrator engines for 2028 with flight testing to take place by the end of the decade.

Ultrafan 30 for narrow bodies will have 30,000lbs of thrust and a 15:1 bypass ratio with a fan diameter of around 90 inches.
Ultrafan 80 for widebodies will have 80,000lbs of thrust and be a similar size to the previous test stand demonstrator (120 inches, 15:1 bypass).

www.flightglobal.com

Rolls-Royce revs up UltraFan test plan, including narrowbody-sized engine

Rolls-Royce intends by 2028 to be running two versions of its UltraFan demonstrator engine - one for widebodies and the other for single-aisles - with flight tests to follow by the end of the decade.
www.flightglobal.com www.flightglobal.com
 
www.telegraph.co.uk

Rolls-Royce boss urges Labour to back £3bn jet engine project

Scheme for short-haul planes could create 40,000 UK jobs and boost trade, says Tufan Erginbilgic
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
The chief executive of Rolls-Royce is lobbying ministers to support his company’s £3bn jet engine project, saying it could be the “the single biggest item for economic growth for the UK”.

Tufan Erginbilgic is pushing for the Government to back Rolls’s plans to launch a range of engines for short-haul planes, a market it abandoned more than a decade ago.

He said the project could create 40,000 jobs in Britain and deliver a surge in exports.

Mr Erginbilgic is lobbying Labour to support the scheme as the Government prepares to launch its upcoming industrial strategy.

He said: “Any country needs to support competitively advantaged industries. If you give some momentum that will create lots of export growth, and employment with that.”

Britain’s biggest manufacturing company has stepped up talks with potential partners as it eyes a return to making engines for short-haul planes of the kind used by Ryanair and easyJet.

Speaking at the Paris Air Show, Mr Erginbilgic said: “We are progressing. We would like to enter narrowbody, that’s true, and it’s even more true right now.

“Our preference is partnership. I can’t go into details because of the confidentiality about these things, but we are talking to multiple parties.

“Do we have the technology, do we have the capability, do we have the opportunity? Yes, yes and yes.”

Rolls-Royce would seek government support in helping to fund the £3bn development cost of the engine. Mr Erginbilgic argued that General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, the other major player in the sector, get four or five times as much backing.

He said that support for the project would also deliver a huge boost to the economy. He said: “It is that big. Think about that. If you pick economic growth in the UK, one item, this will be the number one.”

He added that the project could create more than 40,000 jobs across the supply chain.

Rolls, which has its main manufacturing plant in Derby, would use technology developed as part of its Ultrafan programme on the new engines. It would need to develop a reduced-thrust version of the Ultrafan, which was initially developed for larger, long-haul planes.

The 120-year-old company aims to develop the engines to coincide with the introduction of the next generation of the narrowbody planes from Airbus and Boeing in about a decade’s time.

Mr Erginbilgic is eyeing new markets after piloting a stunning turnaround at Rolls-Royce. He told Rolls’s 42,000 workers that they were on a “burning platform” when he took over in 2023.

However, shares in the company have surged more than 700pc since Mr Erginbilgic, a former BP executive, took charge.
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