Overview
The development of the new Ultra High Propulsive Efficiency (UHPE) engine architecture includes significant changes in the configuration and functioning scheme compared to current technology for the aircraft engines. A main change is the addition of a gearbox to decouple the fan and the turbine rotation, resulting in new requirements for the main turbine shaft (increased RPM and decreased torque); these aspects involve new size and shape needs for this shaft that challenge the current manufacturing methods to achieve an internal bottle bore geometry with Length to Diameter ratio above 30 and length over 2 meters. At this point, the proposal covers the development of new tooling systems to perform the machining of the shaft with the required precision and quality.
The main objective of the BBT project is to develop an intelligent tool concept for the internal profiling of the engine drive shaft integrating different technological subsystems that enable the achievement of large Length to Diameter ratio and meeting the aeronautic requirements related to the machined surface condition.