A gearbox can efficiently transfer the output of the quickly rotating turbine to the slowly rotating fan. (Image: Rolls-Royce plc)
The world's most powerful aerospace gearbox will go into service in 2025: It is part of the Rolls-Royce UltraFan design and will transfer up to 100,000 hp. In a project supported by the German federal government, scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are investigating how the gearbox's properties vary according to size and how they can be optimized. More than anything, the aircraft engines of the future will have to do one thing: reduce fuel consumption while cutting emissions even further. The UltraFan concept from Rolls-Royce entails an ambitious goal. "In terms of fuel burn efficiency, the UltraFan aircraft engine is 25 percent more efficient than the first Trent aircraft engines from Rolls-Royce, and is also smaller and quieter," explains Christian Seydel, who leads the Power Gearbox project for the development of the power gearbox for the UltraFan. This gear-based transmission has a central function. Put simply, less fuel is consumed when the fan, the part of the engine visible from the outside, rotates as slowly as possible while the turbine inside the engine rotates as fast as possible.
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