CFRP For Lighter Engines

The aerospace industry is one of the industries that benefit most from lightweight construction alongside automotive engineering. Lighter aircraft can reduce fuel consumption and costs. In line with this consideration, Rolls-Royce - one of the world's leading manufacturers of propulsion systems for civil aviation and land and sea-based mobility - set up a University Technology Center - UTC for short - at the Technical University of Dresden ten years ago. UTC Dresden is the company's research partner in the field of lightweight systems, multi-material design and the robust design of drive systems.

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Vertical shaft for high speeds

An example of joint research is the development of a vibration-optimized fiber composite radial shaft for driving auxiliary units of the engine. The so-called royal wave was designed and manufactured at UTC Dresden in cooperation with the research partner, Leichtbau-Zentrum Sachsen GmbH (LZS) - a spin-off of TU Dresden Aktiengesellschaft. The power take-off shaft made of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) and metal allows a 30% higher speed than conventional steel shafts and is also 20% lighter. This will make considerable kerosene savings possible in operation in future engines. The transfer of the developed technology has already taken place. The shaft, which will be manufactured in Saxony in future, is to be used in Rolls-Royce engines.

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• Page 1: CFRP for lighter engines
• Page 2: Robust one-piece inlet cone

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