PRATT A WHITNEY PW4084

New super power

Much of the future
of the world's
largest engine
maker rides on the
PW4084's success,
as does the initial
fortune of the new
Boeing twinjet.
BY GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES
CUTAWAY DRAWING BY TIM HALL

A
ccelerating effortlessly into the rainswept
Washington sky in June, the Boeing 777
was uncannily quiet. In spite of a com-
bined thrust of more than 670kN
(150,0001b), the aircraft's two Pratt & Whitney
PW4084 turbofans were virtually inaudible
above the background hum of the TV news
helicopters gathered like seabirds around a
prize catch.
The flight was the successful culmination of
events set in motion in 1990, when the need
for a huge engine such as the PW4084 was
defined, along with the Boeing 777, during
meetings with launch customer United
Airlines. As a vital partner in Boeing's enor-
mous development effort for the new twinjet,
P&W has since kept pace with the airframer's
tight schedule, being the first of the "big three"
engine makers to power the aircraft.
P&W faced a daunting task. The Boeing-
United agreement gave it four years to develop
and fly one of the most powerful engines in the Most of the PW4084 tests have been made at 400kN
world. Furthermore, the engine was to be so
rigorously tested and ruggedly built that the enter service on United's 777 in June 1995. much larger 2.84m-diameter fan. This was
77 could be cleared from day one for 180min The first aircraft will be powered by versions needed to hel.p boost the flow and potential
extended-range twin operations (ETOPS). of the PW4084, known as the PW4074 and thrust beyond the levels achieved by the
To meet the strict timetable, and to reduce PW4077 after their different thrust ratings, 302kN-rated PW4168, which powers the
uncertainties, P&W expanded the PW4084 74,5001b and 77,2001b (330 and 345kN). P&W Airbus A330 with the aid of a 2.53m-diameter
straight from its well-established PW4000 line refers to all the powerplants as the PW4084 fan. This, in turn, has grown from the first
of two-shaft turbofans. "The inherent low risk because the engine is certificated to 84,6001b members of the PW4000 family, which are fit-
of our family approach has been the advan- (375kN) for the heavier, "B"-market, 777. ted with a 2.37m fan. The PW4084 fan pro-
tage," says P&W large-commercial-engines duces a bypass ratio of 6.4:1 and in testing has
PW4000 senior vice-president Dr David "Ed" THIRD-GENERATION CHANGES produced thrust levels of more than 445kN,
Crow. The PW4000 has logged more than 10 In spite of the overall commonality with the although the initial versions for the 777 are
million hours of revenue passenger service other family members, some fundamental certificated at either 3 3 OkN or 345kN.
since its 1987 debut. P&W says that this will changes to the basic PW4000 were required to Perhaps even more fundamental than the
have grown to 15 million hours on six different reach the high thrust levels needed by Boeing. large size of the fan is the move to a wide-
types of aircraft by the time the first PW4084s The biggest of these changes, literally, is the chord fan-blade design. "In so far as design

FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 September 1994

 CUTAWAY KEY & DETAILS
1 Aerodynamic composite spinner 36 Inlet guide vanes (nickel) 70 Nickel HP turbine case 96 Air manifolds to turbine case
cone (Kevlar) 37 Titanium rotor blades 71 Seven-stage LP turbine rotor 97 Bifurcation conduit
2 2.84m (112in) diameter fan: 22 38 Nickel variable stators assembly (nickel) 98 Drain mast
titanium hollow tan-blades 39 Eleven stage HP compressor 72 Cast-nickel rotor blades and 99 Integrated drive generator air/oil
3 Composite fan-biade platform (bolted in four sections) stators heat exchanger and valve
(graphite) 40 Electron-beam welded-titanium 73 LP turbine/LP compressor-drive 100 Gearbox drive bevel gear to
4 Platform to disk-attachment pin sections coupling flange tower shaft
flanges 41 Electron-beam welded-nickel 74 No 4 bearing, supported by 101 Horizontal layshaft drive to
5 Fan-blade titanium support disc sections turbine exhaust case, oil damped gearbox via angle gearbox
6 Fan-to-booster attachment bolts 42 Nickel compressor disk 75 Sump and breather zone 102 Main-engine accessory gearbox
7 Composite wraps (Kevlar) 43 Nickel HP turbine/HP 76 Steel turbine-exhaust case and (aluminium)
8 Epoxy abradable fan rubstrip compressor coupling shaft struts 103 Mounting lugs which attach
with honeycombed core, fibrous- 44 Horizontally split titanium HP 77 Engine-mounting points (both accessory gearbox via mounting
aramid paper compressor front case sides) frames to HP compressor case
9 Aluminium Isogrid containment 45 High compressor rear case 78 8th-stage supply pipe for thrust 104 Anti-sway bracket pad
case (titanium) balance 105 Driveshaft torque links
10 Acoustically lined aluminium 46 Compressor spacer case with
honeycomb heat shields
11 Aft fan case, aluminium 47 Variable-stator unison rings
12 Fan exit case rear, aluminium 48 Eighth-stage air for customer
13 Tube assembly for P2 probe services
and harness 49 Ninth-stage air for engine
14 Acoustically lined fan duct compressor clearance control
(4.85:1 bypass ratio) and turbine cooling
15 Ground-handling pads 50 Twelfth-stage air for No 3
16 Fan case to nacelle inlet-duct bearing compartment cooling
attachment flange and turbine cooling
17 Detachable inner fairing splitter 51 Fifteenth-stage air for No 2
(composite) bearing thrust balance load
18 Outlet guide vanes (oarbonfibre "muscle" pressure and airflow
composite) sensing
19 Intermediate-case radial support 52 Compressor-discharge pressure
struts with fairings and vent seals
20 Intermediate-case radial support 53 HP compressor and HP turbine-
struts without fairing, showing spool roller bearing supported by
"Split ship" attachment bolted diffuser case
structure 54 High pressure turbine (HPT)
Accessory gearbox viewed from front
21 Six-stage low-pressure (LP) cooling duct
compressor spool 55 HP turbine cooling air seal
22 LP airfoils, stages three to five 56 Compressor bleed anti-vortex 79 Pressure-oil and scavenge-oil 106 Hydraulic pump
are orthoganal to airflow (all tubes lines to No 4 bearing 107 Starter drive-pad
blades are titanium) 57 Nickel LP shaft compartment 108 Lubrication and scavenge oil
23 Cast-titanium intermediate 58 No 3 bearing sump and breather 80 P 4.95 probes pump
casing zone 81 Exhaust-nozzle mounting flange 109 Integrated drive generator
24 Step 59 Nickel diffuser case 82 Exhaust-plug mounting flange system
25 Thrust bracket (forged steel) 60 Diffuser struts 83 Automatic turbine-rotor 110 Breather air discharge port
and centre-body attachment 61 Cast-nickel combustion-chamber clearance control-system 111 Oil-tank adapter cover
bolts (2) "Float wall" segments actuator 112 Breather valve
26 Engine-mounting attachment pad 62 Combustor inner and outer- 84 LPT valve-control cable with 113 Main oil-filter housing
27 Fan-thrust-bearing and oil-slinger sheet metal shell external heat shield (upper HPT 114 De-oiler
ring 63 Fuel injectors (24) with fuel valve-control cable, not shown 115 Back-up generator
28 Fan-bearing support cone atomisers for clarity) 116 Permanent magnet alternator
29 LP compressor-turbine coupling 64 Air-cooled stage-one cobalt 85 LP turbine and HP turbine air 117 N2 crank pad
(titanium) nozzle vanes shut-off valves 118 Fuel pump/fuel metering unit
30 LP compressor stability bleed 65 Stage one and two HP turbine
valve rotor discs (nickel powder)
31 Fairing for service plumbing 66 Stage one and two single-crystal
32 LP compressor rotor-support turbine blades, multi-pass air
roller bearing cooling
33 N1, speed sensor pick up 67 HPT inter-stage inner air seal
34 High-pressure (HP) compressor 68 Stage-two turbine nozzle vane
spool-thrust bearing (oil damped) assembly
35 Wiring harnesses 69 Nickel LP turbine case

Accessory gearbox viewed from rear

86 Clearance control collector 119 Ignition exciters

87 Cooling-air inlet duct (air "in" 120 Turbine vane and blade cooling-
from fan stream) air solenoid
88 HP turbine clearance control 121 Starter air-valve solenoid
air manifolds 122 No 3 bearing buffer air cooler
89 LP turbine clearance control 123 N1 speed transducer
pipes 124 2.5 bleed valve actuator
90 Compressor airflow control 125 Engine air/oil heat exchanger
system bleed valve (two) and valve
91 Variable stator vane (VSV) 126 Back-up generator air/oil heat
actuator assembly exchanger and valve
92 Bellcrank and adjustable links 127 2.9 (start/stability) bleed-valve
93 VSV fuel-actuated actuator solenoid
94 Turbine vane and blade cooling 128 Engine-relay unit
air valve both sides 129 Oil-quantity transfer tank
View looking forward on intermediate case 95 Fuei-flow transmitter 130 Electronic engine-control unit
PRATT A WHITNEY
philosophy goes, by far the biggest change
was to this sort of fan," says Crow. "The per-
formance advantages have been well known
for some time. When you remove a shroud
that is placed in a high Mach number regime,
you improve efficiency and increase the mass
flow." A shroud, sometimes called snubber or
clapper, is required by all turbofans with con-
ventional, narrow-chord blades. The snub-
ber maintains the spacing of the blades and
gives rigidity to the fan, preventing blade
flutter. Wide-chord blades, because of their
increased size and different shape, have in-
built rigidity and require no such support.
Having dismissed composite fan blades as
"inappropriate" for the sort of potential bird-
strike conditions likely to be experienced at
high tip speeds, the company opted for hol-
low titanium blades. P&W's problem was
that, using techniques in which two blade
sides were brazed together to make a com-
plete blade, it could not make diem with con-
sistent performance or within reasonable
cost. "So we machined each blade side in a
flat piece, so it was cheaper, then diffusion-
bonded them together at the centre, rather
than at the edges. This is a lower stress
design which we then superplastically form
into shape. The leading and trailing edges are
then machined," says die company.
Each blade is "...designed for robustness
and is 50% to 55% hollow. If it had been
60% hollow it would have been equal [in
weight] to a composite blade," adds Crow.
The fan is 93.7% efficient and performance
is deemed to be "...outstanding. It's every-
thing we expected it to be."
The fan performed well during the critical
3.6kg- and four l.lkg-bird-ingestion tests
which were both made while running at
400kN. The newly introduced four-bird test
was particularly arduous because the engine
is put through 20min of continuous opera-
tion at various throttle settings immediately
after impact with the birds.
"There was no stall, which we were really
pleased about, and we only lost around three-
tenths of 1% thrust in the four-times-2.51b
[1,1kg] bird test. In Japan, they have about
400 bird strikes a year, so these results proba-
bly helped us sell it there", Crow says.
While the need for power was paramount,
the design team also took other, more prag-
matic, factors into consideration. "The 112in
[2.84m]-diameter fan is the design feature
that set die way the engine looked, and it was
driven by the design goal to transport it in a
747," says PW4000 project engineer Allan
Zimmerman.
"The shipment and handling of the engine
was a major influence on the design," con-
firms Crow. "We can carry diis engine, fully
assembled with externals, in a 747. The
Rolls-Royce Trent has a fan-mounted gear-
box which makes diat difficult and the
[General Electric] GE90 has too large a fan.
As a result, the 4084 is very handleable
and we're really pleased."
PW4Q84
Each of the PW4084's 22 fan blades is
held in place by a sturdy cast-titanium retain-
ing-disc rim. The greater inertia of the larg-
er, heavier, blades also means that a
Kevlar-wrapped aluminium fan-containment
case is required. By contrast, the standard
containment case for the 38 narrow-chord
titanium fan blades of the smaller PW4000
series is made from aluminium. The new case
proved its worth during die fan blade-off test
when it contained a blade which was
detached by an explosive charge while the
engine was producing 460kN. The Kevlar
case was deflected outwards 200mm by the
force of die blade impact.
CORE CHANGES
The PW4084 grew in length as well as width.
Most of this occurred in the low-pressure
spool which was extended at the front and
back. "We added two low-pressure compres-
sor [LPC] and low-pressure turbine [LPT]
stages to drive the pressure ratio up to 40:1.
This gives you more energy to drive die larg-
Wide-chordfans are a major change
er-diameter fan," says Crow. The PW4084
LPC has six stages and the LPT has seven.
Rather than increase the size of the gas
path to accommodate the additional stages,
P&W maintained roughly the same intake
and exhaust areas and simply followed the
curve of the existing LPC and LPT bearing
housings. "The construction is really scaled
to include the extra stages and provide extra
rigidity. The extra LPT stages are mounted
the same, but scaled up. It's an installation
trade to curve die LPT but, if we'd increased
the size of the stages, it would have begun to
impact on the casing. This way there are no
aerodynamic or structural impacts and the
benefits are near-common parts and
increased pressure ratio," adds Crow.
The engine's lengdi is furdier extended by
an increase in distance from the back edge of
the fan to the first stage of the LPC and the
splitter. The distance is almost five times
greater dian in other PW4000-series engines
in which the fan abuts almost directly on to
the LPC. Spacing to the splitter was
increased, to make up for the different flow
characteristics of die wide-chord fan.
Although the aerodynamic flow through
the roots of the fan is expected to divert most
ingested debris into the fan stream, P&W
has provided an additional escape route for
unwanted material entering the core. "We
call it the 25 bleed," says Crow, explaining
die compressor bleed which is located at the
rearmost stages of the LPC to discharge
"dirt" back out into die fan stream.
The thrust capability of the engine is also
reflected in the strikingly large main
thrust-balance ball-bearing for the low-
pressure rotor-with 57mm-diameter balls.
"We have to take the thrust out, either by
aerodynamic piston or ball bearing. As the
piston discharge hurts efficiency, we
increased die size of die ball-bearing to min-
imise dirust balancing," says Crow. The No 1
bearing rings are made out of M50, a low-
alloy, high-speed-bearing steel. The balls are
made from 52100, a high-carbon, low-alloy
steel with high-compression strength and
good resistance to fatigue and abrasion. M50
is used for the No 2, 3 and 4 bearings while
52100 is used for die 1.5 bearing.
SURGE PROTECTION
Further down the engine, another new fea-
ture has been introduced into the high-pres-
sure compressor (HPC) to help prevent the
repetition of surge problems which were
encountered on initial test flights and on
some early versions of the engine, including
the PW4460. The full-ring compressor case
is, as the name suggests, a ring-style 360
HPC case which wraps around die compres-
sor in one unit rather than in the four seg-
ments traditionally used in die past.
"It gives us much better clearance control,
which leads to better surge control. This area
always experiences rapid changes in clear-
ance margin because, first of all, you get
centrifugal growth of the rotor as it speeds
up, dien you get heating of the case, followed
by the gradual heating up of the bore of the
disc. Now, what we have done is to match
these changes by altering the material and
mass of the rings," says Crow.
The so-called M&M (mass and materials)
ring case is made up of Thermax, an alloy
material invented by Incoloy, which supplies
it along with its licensee, CarTech. Different
versions (Thermax and Thermospan), each
with a slightly different co-efficient of expan-
sion, are used in varying amounts and loca-
tions along the length of the case. This is
achieved by segmenting the case into rings
which vary in mass and which, in total, weigh
around 20kg more than die equivalent-sized
segmented case. "Also, die standard seg-
ments tend to curl or bend in differently, so
we avoid that problem," Crow adds. Because
of this, the enhanced control clearances in
die compressor are of the order of 0.75mm.
Pimm
 Thermax covers the 400-43 0C range,
while Thermospan covers the slightly cooler
305-315C range. "These materials have a low
negative expansion rate up to a certain tem-
perature. Above this certain temperature, they
have higher positive rates of expansion, which
increase with temperature similar to other
alloys which we use. The aim is to match the
point at which expansion takes place to the
expected cruise temperatures," says the com-
pany. In the case of the HPC, Thermax is used
to wrap around stages eight to 11, and
Thermospan around stages 12 to 15.
An enhanced form of active clearance con-
trol is also used around the aft end of the core,
running from the high-pressure turbine
(HPT) and along the entire length of the
HPC. The active clearance-control system is
controlled by the engine's Hamilton Standard
dual-channel full-authority digital-engine
control (FADEC), which despatches cooling
air to shrink the case during the cruise. The
resulting clearances are as small as 1.15mm in
the LPT and between 0.25mm and 0.5mm in
the HPT.
Other changes within the heart of the
engine are focused on the materials used in the
HPT and the design of the combustor. "We're
using third-generation single-crystal materials
in the turbine," says Crow, who adds that the
material will help maintain the same "tremen-
dous" temperature margin for the PW4084 at
374kN as it does in the PW4000 at 290kN.
The turbine blades are constructed of the
same single-crystal material, PWA 1480, used
in the company's F100-229 and Fl 19 military
engines, as well as in the PW2000 and
International Aero Engines V2500.
Air for convectional and film cooling is sup-
plied to the passageways within the blades
from a turbine. This unit is known as the
TOBI (tangential on-board injection) and acts
as a diffuser, drawing air in and swirling it in
the same direction as the turbine. The cool air
is leaked on to the blade surface, to provide
film cooling, which protects the blade surface
from thermal "scrubbing" and scouring. The
severe thermal stress on the blade is also eased
by the cool air within the blade passages,
which carries away some heat by convection.
A thermal-barrier coating protects the vane
aerofoils providing up to 95C insulation. The
ceramic coating is laid on to the surface using
electron-beam vapour-deposition techniques.
Known as PWA 266, the ceramic is derived
from a stabilised zirconia, called yttrium.
Also benefiting from the use of ceramics is
the engine'sfloatwallcombustor. This is called
"floatwall" because it has a series of cleverly
attached ceramic-coated tiles which are posi-
tioned slightly away from the combustor walls
and therefore appear to "float" over them. The
tiles keep the fierce heat of combustion away
from the sides of the forged-nickel alloy roll-
ring forming the outside of the PW4084
annular combustor and "...prevent the trans-
mission of thermal stress to the outside lin-
ing", says Crow.
Designing for ETOPS
D riven by the joint Boeing-United "working together" agreement for a service-
ready aircraft, P&W's plan for the engine was originally geared to early pre-service
screening of any problems which might appear later in revenue service. As the 777
programme began shifting in emphasis towards early ETOPS, the engine programme
shifted with it.
The P&W early-ETOPS effort is built on four major planks. Firstly, the use of a
derivative engine. Secondly, a so-called "smarter design", learning from the experi-
ences of the past. Thirdly, a rigorous test phase, the like of which had never been seen
with a P&W commercial engine. Fourthly, a greater degree of working with the cus-
tomers long before the engine actually enters service.
P&W began its ETOPS-ready programme by implementing several stages of
screening when designing the derivative engine. Continuous improvements in the
entire range of engines were also brought into the design process from the start. Then
P&W further improved the chances of early ETOPS clearance by selecting an engine
derived entirely from the current family.
The same design team which had produced the other engines, including the
PW4168, continued work on the new powerplant. The design process was enhanced
with the implementation of lessons learned from other engines in service as well as
previous certification experiences. These ranged from changes to improve surge mar-
gin, to alterations in the engine accessories, which are traditionally the main problem
source for all engine makers. Like the 777 and all the systems on the aircraft, the
engine then underwent a series of unprecedented verification tests.
"For the externals, we went through a new design practice, whereby we analysed
each external design for vibration modes and natural frequencies," says Crow. "Each
component had to be capable of operation with twice the level of vibration we expect
in real life. We basically tried to shake everything off the engine so we, rather than our
customer, could find the problems first." More than 1,200 strain gauges, four times
the number used on previous programmes, were fitted to tubes, brackets and clamps,
to measure vibration levels.
Production tooling was made concurrently with the prototype engines, as were the
maintenance tools. "The same ones used in development and assembly will be used by
airline customers because they were de-bugged early on. Together, we wrote the
maintenance manuals a full two years earlier than we normally would," says Crow.
The differences will be readily apparent to the 777 operator's line-maintenance peo-
ple. The tool kit contains just six common handtools and can be carried in a small
pouch. Steps are built into parts of the fan and compressor casings to give mechanics
easier access to the engine, even when the aircraft is on the ramp. Clamps holding
down wire bundles are hinged, rather than being connected with bolts which could be
dropped and lost inside the accessories. "For the externals [accessories], we had the
benefit of a clean sheet," says Crow.
One of the areas that has been responsible for most error reporting in the past is the
FADEC. The Hamilton Standard FADEC for the PW4084 has "a factor of four times
the redundancy of anything before it", says Crow. "It has so much redundancy built in
that it will operate for 45 days after first failure, to allow the aircraft to return to home
base. It has a 95% accuracy probability of a correct problem diagnosis, as opposed to
50% at the moment."
The engine has been put through its paces during rigorous certification testing,
which culminated with the award of the US Federal Aviation Administration ticket in
late April. Since first being run as a development engine in July 1990, the PW4084 has
been run for more than 2,500h and 6,000 flight cycles. P&W also elected to run the
engine at 400kN (90,0001b)-thrust during 12 of 20 FAA milestone tests. This auto-
matically helps clear the way for the next growth-engine stage, the PW4090.
Testing at such high thrusts also unearthed a weakness. Following a slam decelera-
tion after a fan blade-off test, some of the struts holding the engine in the test stand
gave way. The problem was traced to the structure supporting the engine centreline,
where loads transmitted by torque down the engine had overcome its carrying capac-
ity. The turbine-exhaust case has therefore been stiffened with a rivetted doubler. A
thicker-gauge material will be used to stiffen the cases of production engines.
The first three 777s powered by PW4084 engines are now well into the flight-test
programme and reportedly giving trouble-free service. Indeed, confidence was so high
that the crew took the unprecedented step of shutting down and re-lighting one of the
engines midway through the maiden flight. In all, five P&W-powered 777s will under-
go more than 3,200h of flight testing and more than 2,300 flight cycles will be built up
over a year's worth of flying.
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 September 1994