The value of composites in aeroengines
CompositesWorld takes a closer look at the value of composites used in 10 major aircraft engine platforms.
CFM International's LEAP 1 at the 2012 Farnborough International Air Show (Farnborough, UK).
The January issue of CompositesWorld features a Market Outlook by Chris Red that assesses current and future use of composite materials in large aircraft engines. His report is full of data that characterizes where and how composites are used, and how this important market is expected grow (rapidly) over the next decade.
CW started looking at the engines in the market, and coming into the market, and wondered what the total composites value is for each major engine platform. Red helped us pull the data together and the below data are the result.
There are three important variables to consider: Composites fraction per engine, engine size (as defined by thrust) and production volume. The engine with the largest composites fraction is Pratt & Whitney's PurePower, at 35%. The engine with the largest composites value is the GE Aviation's GE9X, at $972,000. However, the engine with the largest total composites value 2005-2023 is the CFM Inernational LEAP1, at $5.7 billion.
In any case, it's clear that composites are enjoying significant application in large aircraft engines manufactured by each of the big four OEMs.
Engine | OEM | Composites value (est.) | Composites fraction (est.) | Thrust (000, lbf) | '05-'23 production volume (units) | '05-'23 total composites value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LEAP 1 | CFM | $458,635 | 33% | 20-32.9 | 12,390 | $5.7B |
LEAP 56 | CFM | $258,592 | 17% | 19.5-34 | 14,173 | $3.7B |
GEnx | GE | $810,053 | 19% | 53-75 | 4,504 | $3.7B |
Trent 1000 | R-R | $413,086 | 11% | 53-75 | 2,893 | $1.2B |
PurePower | P&W | $773,126 | 35% | 15-33 | 1,465 | $1.1B |
GE90 | GE | $468,550 | 8% | 76-115 | 1,975 | $925.4M |
GE9X | GE | $972,000 | 18% | 90-100 | 952 | $925.3M |
PW 4000 | P&W | $323,052 | 11% | 52-99 | 2,019 | $652.2M |
Trent 900 | R-R | $288,854 | 8% | 70-80 | 1,178 | $340.3M |
Trent 700 | R-R | $258,380 | 9% | 67.5-71 | 665 | $171.8M |
CFM: CFM International
GE: GE Aviation
P&W: Pratt & Whitney
R-R: Rolls-Royce
Related Content
-
One-piece, one-shot, 17-meter wing spar for high-rate aircraft manufacture
GKN Aerospace has spent the last five years developing materials strategies and resin transfer molding (RTM) for an aircraft trailing edge wing spar for the Airbus Wing of Tomorrow program.
-
The state of recycled carbon fiber
As the need for carbon fiber rises, can recycling fill the gap?
-
Infinite Composites: Type V tanks for space, hydrogen, automotive and more
After a decade of proving its linerless, weight-saving composite tanks with NASA and more than 30 aerospace companies, this CryoSphere pioneer is scaling for growth in commercial space and sustainable transportation on Earth.