GE AVIATION
Engineering the Impossible
THE NEW POSSIBLE
There are roughly 8,000 aircraft flying right now, adding CO2 to the atmosphere. The European Commission’s Clean Sky initiative aims to develop cleaner air transport using new and disruptive technologies.
Armed with a grant from Clean Sky, a team of engineers from GE Aviation, Hamburg and Dresden Universities of Technology and Autodesk Research have joined forces to support that mission. The team is pushing the boundaries of advanced technology to manufacture a more efficient turbine center frame -- a key component in jet engines. Using generative design and additive manufacturing, they printed a large-scale metal turbine frame that is 34% lighter; with components consolidated from 100 parts down to 1 part. The result? An engine that’s got more thrust and burns less fuel and a route to a greener, leaner aviation industry.
