CFM International has begun ground testing of the first LEAP-1B engine—the exclusive powerplant for the Boeing 737 MAX—at Snecma (Safran) facilities in Villaroche, France. The testing launches a two-year program that will culminate in engine certification in 2016 and entry into commercial service on the 737 MAX aircraft in 2017.
LEAP-1B engine
(CFM International)
CFM said the LEAP-1B engine fired for the first time on June 13, three days ahead of the schedule set when the program was launched in 2011. “After a series of break-in runs, the engine has been operating smoothly and has reached full takeoff thrust,” CFM said in a statement.
The engine will be on test for the next several weeks, during which CFM will verify its mechanical operation, its operability (stall margin), engine starts, and further validate the advanced technologies incorporated in the engine, including the woven carbon fiber composite fan, the Twin-Annular, Pre-Mixing Swirler (TAPS) combustor, ceramic matrix composite shrouds in the high-pressure turbine and titanium aluminide blades in the low-pressure turbine.
CFM EVP Allen Paxson said, “The reason we chose such an aggressive maturation and certification schedule is to wring out any issues and solve them long before the engine ever enters a customer fleet. What the plan has also done is validate our philosophy of extensive component and rig tests well in advance of full engine testing. We had thousands of hours under our belt before we ever assembled the first engine. This engine is right where we want it to be.”
(Linda Blachly - ATWOnline News)
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