The GE Aviation GEnx engine recently achieved outstanding endurance test results, completing over 3,000 cycles of dust ingestion testing in a simulated severe environment using a specialized dust ingestion rig. The dust endurance testing is part of the company’s continued investment in the next generation of technology for the engine line.
Ten years ago, the GEnx engine entered service powering a Cargolux 747-8. Developed for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 aircraft, the GEnx has the advantage of lower fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions up to 15% compared to GE’s CF6 engine.
The endurance tests validated several hardware improvements, including an improved combustor deflector and redesigned high-pressure turbine stage one blade. The endurance testing mimicked the dust GEnx engines encounter flying in some of the most severe operating environments in the world. In partnership with GE Research, dust was reverse engineered to replicate specific field conditions. The dust, which can lead to hardware distress, is so fine that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Test engineers used sophisticated equipment, including sensors sensitive enough to detect the dust, and lean principles to improve the findings during the test campaign.
