Design and Development
In the early 1990s, Airbus had begun development of a larger successor to the Boeing 747, an aircraft designated A3XX, which was later to be formally launched as the A380. By 1996, its definition had progressed to the extent that Rolls-Royce was able to announce that it would develop the Trent 900 to power the A380. In October 2000, the Trent 900 became the A380's launch engine when Singapore Airlines specified the engine for its order for 10 A380s; this was quickly followed by Qantas in February 2001.
Rolls-Royce has seven risk and revenue sharing partners on the Trent 900: Industria de Turbo Propulsores (low pressure turbine), Hamilton Sundstrand (electronic engine controls), Avio S.p.A. (gearbox module), Marubeni Corporation (engine components), Volvo Aero (intermediate compressor case), Goodrich Corporation (fan casings and sensors) and Honeywell (pneumatic systems). In addition, Samsung Techwin, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) are programme associates.
The Trent 900 made its maiden flight on 17 May 2004 on Airbus' A340-300 testbed, replacing the port inner CFM56-5 engine, and its final certification was granted by EASA on 29 October 2004 and the FAA on 4 December 2006. Rolls-Royce announced in October 2007 that production of the Trent 900 had been restarted after a twelve month suspension caused by delays to the A380.
On 27 September 2007, British Airways announced the selection of the Trent 900 to power 12 A380 aircraft, helping to take the engine's share of the A380 engine market to 52% at the end of February 2009.
The Trent 900 family powers the Airbus A380. It comes in two thrust ratings for the A380, 70,000 lbf (310 kN) and 72,000 lbf (320 kN) but is capable of achieving 80,000 lbf (360 kN). It features a significant amount of technology inherited from the 8104 demonstrator including its 2.95 m (116 in) diameter swept-back fan which provides greater thrust for the same engine size, and is also about 15 percent lighter than previous wide-chord blades. It is also the first member of the Trent family to feature a contra-rotating HP spool and uses the core of the very reliable Trent 500. It is the only A380 engine that can be transported on a Boeing 747 freighter whole.
Whereas most members of the Trent family are controlled by Goodrich FADECs, engine controllers on the Trent 900 are provided by Hamilton Sundstrand, a United Technologies (UTC) company. UTC is also the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, who, with GE Aircraft Engines, is partnering to produce the Engine Alliance GP7000, the other engine available for the A380. This kind of cooperation among competitors is prevalent in the aircraft market as it provides for risk sharing among them and diversity in source countries, which may be a significant factor in an airline's choice of airframe and powerplant.
The Trent 900 will be the first Trent engine fitted with the advanced Engine Health Monitoring (EHM) system based on QUICK Technology.
Read more about this topic: Rolls-Royce Trent 900
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