CTI Composite Fan Technology

The forecasted doubling of aircaraft in service over the next 20 years has led to long term challenging
environmental emissions goals being set for the aviation industry. Combining this with airline operators’
requirements for reduced operating costs generates the need for a step change in fuel burn and hence CO2
emissions. This can be achieved by moving to engines with lower specific thrust that utilise larger diameter
fans. The weight of these fans must be minimised to avoid losing the fuel burn advantage. The purpose of this
projec t is to complete the development of carbon fibre composite materials for use in a lightweight fan system
for high bypass ratio direct drive turbofans for the wide-body civil aircraft market. It will focus on modelling the
propagation of damage, the effect on material properties of inclusions of manufacturing features and defects,
general damage tolerance and environmental effects of moisture and temperature variation. Work will also
attempt to optimise the key components to maximise the weight reduction potential. The project includes the
manufacture and testing of sub-elements and components to validate the resulting methods and principles.