- New Cooperative Research & Development Agreement combines
GE Aerospace's industry-leading technology with the U.S.
government's world-leading supercomputing capabilities to
revolutionize the future of flight
- Builds on established partnership where GE Aerospace was the
first industrial user of Frontier, the world's fastest
supercomputer located at the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge
National Laboratory
FARNBOROUGH, England, July 21,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) and
the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have
reached a new Cooperative Research & Development Agreement
(CRADA) on supercomputing, expanding the company's capabilities to
design next-generation aircraft engine technologies like Open
Fan.
With the agreement, announced today at Farnborough International
Airshow, GE Aerospace and Oak Ridge will collaborate to develop
new, state-of-the-art computational modeling and simulation
capabilities. Oak Ridge's expertise will help GE Aerospace better
manage large simulations, more efficiently extract information,
incorporate cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to
improve understanding of results, and streamline the process to
visualize the physics.
"Supercomputing and access to Frontier is changing the way we
design jet engines, allowing us to solve previously impossible
problems. We're now able to digitally fly components of an Open Fan
at full-scale in a simulated environment before the hardware is
built," said Mohamed Ali, senior
vice president of engineering for GE Aerospace.
"Our expanded research collaboration through a new cooperative
agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory will accelerate our
engine design and testing, building confidence that Open Fan
architecture is the most promising engine technology to help the
aviation industry meet its net zero ambitions," Ali
added.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is home to Frontier, the world's
fastest supercomputer, capable of crunching data at exascale speed,
or more than a quintillion calculations per second. It is also
renowned for its computing expertise.
"We have some of the world's most accomplished computer and
computational scientists. We are proud to bring them to this
research and development agreement with GE Aerospace," said Gina
Tourassi, associate laboratory director for computing and
computational sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
To model the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of a
full-scale Open Fan engine design, GE Aerospace created
computational fluid dynamics software capable of running on
Frontier.
After an initial simulation in 2023, GE Aerospace now has run
additional simulations of improved designs on Frontier that analyze
different engine operating conditions to better understand
aerodynamic characteristics and acoustic signatures.
GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines unveiled in 2021 the
CFM Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE)*
program, which encompasses development of a suite of technologies,
including advanced engine architectures like the Open Fan, compact
core, and hybrid electric systems to be compatible with 100%
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The goal of the RISE Program is to
develop technologies that enable a future engine to achieve at
least 20% lower fuel consumption and 20% fewer CO2
emissions compared to today's most efficient commercial
engines.
Through the RISE program, CFM International continues to mature
the Open Fan engine architecture, which removes the nacelle for
greater propulsive efficiency while achieving the same speed and
cabin experience commercial aviation passengers can expect from air
travel today. GE Aerospace's use of supercomputing power and
software tools are helping engineers understand Open Fan
aerodynamic and acoustic physics in new ways. For example, Frontier
unlocks the ability to better evaluate new engine technologies at
flight scale in the design phase. As a result, GE Aerospace can
improve test hardware designs and better optimize engine
performance and airframe integration.
GE Aerospace plans to hire more than 900 engineers in 2024,
reflecting its continued focus on innovation to support current
aircraft engine programs and develop new technologies for the
future of flight. View job openings at
invent.ge/engineering.
*RISE is a registered trademark of CFM International, a 50-50
joint company between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft
Engines.
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SOURCE GE Aerospace