Engine Overview
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a multi-role, single engine fighter being developed to replace a range of aircraft including the A-10, F-14, F-16, AV-8B Harrier, Sea Harrier, and F/A-18. One of the two primary propulsion systems for this aircraft is the F136.
The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team includes GE Transportation - Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Rolls-Royce plc in Bristol, England, and Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Following successful core and fan rig testing in 2000, the Fighter Engine Team ran the first full engine to test in July 2004. The first engine to test continues on schedule to deliver production F136 engines in 2011. GE, with responsibility for 60 percent of the program, is developing the compressor, coupled turbine, controls and accessories, structures and the augmentor. Rolls-Royce, with 40 percent of the program, is responsible for the fan, combustor, low-pressure turbines and gearboxes.
GE Rolls-Royce JSF F136 Program Details
PRE-SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT and DEMONSTRATION (SDD) PHASE:
PHASE I (1995-1997)
Engine definition completed
PHASE II (1997-2001)
Critical Design Review
80 hours of core testing, successful fan testing
PHASE III (2002-2005)
Detail design completed in 2002
Subsystem testing in 2002-2003
Engine systems interchangeability 2002-2003
Critical Design Review completed in 2003
First full engine to test in 2004 (same engine in endurance testing 2005)
Second full engine to run STOVL (short take-off and vertical landing) demonstration 2005
SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT and DEMONSTRATION (SDD) PHASE:
PHASE IV
Contract proposal plannning in 2004
Contract award anticipated in 2005
12,000+ testing hours
Flight test anticipated in 2009
First production engine delivery in 2011
F136 TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
FRONT FAN (Rolls-Royce):
Long wide-chord, titanium, three-stage blisk
Stage one - hollow core blade; stage two & three-solid blade
Two builds tested to date, verified fan flow and efficiency
Linear friction welding for blade attachment
HIGH-PRESSURE COMPRESSOR (GE)
Five-stage, all-blisk system
Three rotors: stage one and stage two: three to five stages inertia-welded together
Forward swept airfoils, robust blade tips
Bowed/swept stators from 3-D aero codes
High-stage loading to support 40,000-pound-thrust class
COMBUSTOR (Rolls-Royce)
Single annular, simplified design
Fabricated from Lamilloy cooling material
Technology grounded in IHPTET (Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine) experience
Rig-testing ongoing
TURBINE (GE & Rolls-Royce)
Single-stage high-pressure turbine (HPT)
Three-stage low-pressure turbine (LPT)
HPT & stage 1 LPT in a coupled, vaneless counterrotating system
HP turbine blades feature single-crystal material
Successfully rig-tested
AUGMENTOR (GE)
Radial, non-stage, variable flow control
Based on GE YF120, F414-GE-100, F110-129 and F110-132 engines
Text Source:
http://www.geaviation.com/engines/military/f136/