Japan's Aeroengine Industry
Ishiwajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), one of the major shipbuilding companies, is one of the five largest aerospace industries in Japan. IHI specializes in aircraft engines and is the only jet engine manufacturer in Japan. IHI is the major aircraft engine manufacturer in Japan where it manufactures and services all types of engines either under license or wholly Japanese. It is also involved in a number of joint manufacturing agreements with all major aircraft engine manufacturers around the world. IHI produces jet engines under license from General Electric, Pratt and Whitney, Allison, and Rolls Royce. A considerable portion of IHI's business depends on refurbishing aircraft engines for airlines of most producers.
Before World War II, Japan was certainly as advanced as the Allies and Germany in many aspects of aerospace technology. IHI had completed all diagnostic testing and development of its first domestically manufactured jet engine one month before the end of the war, but it was never produced. IHI developed and produced its first jet engine, the J3, in 1959, the first totally Japanese jet engine.
For the development of civil aircraft engines, Japan plays key roles in international joint development projects for such engines as the CF-34, Trent 1000, GEnx, PW1100G-JM, etc. For the development of both defense and civil engine, several national projects are underway with the focus on developing advanced technology applications.
Engine development requires an enormous amount of time, money and increasing risks of being outperformed against growth requirements. Because of such difficulties for any single company to endure, these projects very often become international joint development projects. Since the participation in the V2500, Japan has continued to be involved in and a key player in these international collaborative projects, like the GE90, PW4000, Trent series and CF-34.
The status of participation has grown. In V2500 – design of the fan, and in GE90, PW4000, CF34-8 and CF34-10 – extended to compressor, combustor, turbine, and in Trent series – including design of FADEC (Full Authority Digital Electronics Control). Japan’s technical expertise has been implemented in almost every area of the engine. Japanese companies play an important role in the global joint development of the engines like Trent1000 and GEnx for the Boeing787. Japanese companies are also taking part as the manufacturer of the low pressure turbine components of the GE9X engine, which is developed for the Boeing777X. In addition, Japanese companies are participating in global joint development of the PW1100G-JM engine for the Airbus A320neo to achieve fuel-efficiency, lowpollution, and noise-reduction, with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) taking the lead.
IHI has been involved in numerous engine development projects including the national project for the FJR70 and the Japan-Britain joint project for the RJ500. Currently, IHI is the leader of a five nation collaborative project for the development and manufacture of the V2500 engine. In addition, IHI overhauls and repairs engines from General Electric, Allison, Pratt and Whitney, and Rolls Royce. MI is a co-developer with four other nations of the GE90 engine for the Boeing B777 aircraft.
International Aero Engines (IAE) is comprised of Rolls-Royce, the Japanese Aero Engines Corp. and MTU Aero Engines, in a joint international effort to produce a high-performance, low-noise, low-pollution fanjet engine (the V2500) for a 150-passenger transport. The IAE series of engines was developed through the consortium of four major engine manufacturers consisting of Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Japanese Aero Engines Corporation, and MTU Aero Engines. By the mid-1990s, V2500 jet engine was considered one of the most advanced jet engines.
The project was initially carried out between the Japanese Aero Engines Corp. and Rolls Royce, and later they were joined by United Technology Corp., Motoren-und Turbinen Union, id Fiat. The parts of the V2500 assigned to JAEC are the fan and the low-pressure compressor, and parts of the high-pressure compressor and turbine. The V2500 is used on the Airbus A320 and A321, and on the McDonnell Douglas MD-90. The V2500 was also planned for use on the all-Japanese airliner YSX-100.
In 2012, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce plc (Rolls-Royce), MTU Aero Engines AG and Japanese Aero Engines Corporation, participants in the IAE International Aero Engines AG (IAE) collaboration, completed a restructuring of their interests in IAE. As a result of this transaction, Pratt & Whitney holds a 61% net interest in the collaboration and a 49.5% ownership interest in IAE. IAE's business purpose is to coordinate the design, development, manufacturing and product support of the V2500 program through involvement with the collaborators. IAE retains limited equity with the primary economics of the V2500 program passed to the participants in the separate collaboration arrangement.
Regarding the engines of defense aircraft, both the F3-IHI-30 turbofan engine and the TS1-M-10 turbo shaft engine that were developed in Japan are used in the T-4 intermediate jet trainer and the OH-1 observation helicopter respectively. Research and development efforts on the XF5-1 demonstration engine, an afterburning fan engine with a low bypass ratio and capable of 5,000 kg of thrust with a thrust weight ratio of 8, have made this engine rival any of the advanced engines in the US and Europe. Furthermore, the F7-IHI-10 fan engine, with a bypass ratio of between 8 and 9, is selected and operated for the engine of P-1 Fixed-wing Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
