Trent 1000 durability improvement explained

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Trent 1000 durability improvement explained

The Trent 1000 has caused Rolls-Royce a number of challenges in the past. We recognise that this situation had a negative impact on many airlines and their passengers, and we deeply regret the disruption that was created.

It has been a difficult journey, and one we could never have undertaken without our customers’ patience and support, but we have now reached a position where there are zero Boeing 787 aircraft on the ground (AOG) due to Trent 1000 durability-related issues.

We understand that many people will be interested to find out more about what caused these issues and what we have been doing to solve the problems with the different Trent 1000 engine types. Here we try to answer all your questions and give you a clearer picture of the progress we have made in returning the Trent 1000 fleet to full health.

“Reaching zero AOGs is an important milestone for us and our focus will be sustained to help our customers return aircraft to regular service as they recover from the impact of COVID-19, and to complete the fitment of upgrades throughout the fleet. This will deliver the performance that we and our customers expect.

“I know that reaching this point this has required incredible dedication and teamwork throughout our organisation, and I want to thank everyone who has played a part in turning this situation around.”
Says Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce, President – Civil Aerospace

Look out for more Trent 1000 updates to this site soon. There are additional FAQs answered here.

Our response

In order to meet and exceed our single digit Aircraft On Ground (AOG) target by mid-2020, we significantly increased capacity at our MRO facilities, invested in new tools, equipment and people, launched new initiatives to reduce engine turnaround time and increased production capacity to ensure parts supply.

Fixing the fleet

So what was going on with the Trent 1000 Package B and Package C engines?

At Rolls-Royce, we constantly monitor the health of our engines. In particular, we keep a close eye on the amount of time they are able to stay on wing, so we can help the airlines we serve get the most value from their engines.

Our monitoring revealed a number of durability issues with our Trent 1000 Package B and Package C engines. Such in-service issues can sometimes develop with advanced engineering. Unexpected things happen on all engine systems when building new equipment with new technologies. In this case, some parts wore out faster than we forecast. Of course, this is not an excuse, but an explanation.

The first issue we tackled was sulphidation on the Intermediate Pressure (IP) turbine blade. Sulphidation is a form of chemical corrosion, caused by pollutants in the air which can vary greatly from airport to airport. These can then react with the high temperatures found in the hot section of an engine.

To guard against this corrosion, we introduced a new blade design featuring an improved protective coating. This new design improves engine durability and more than 99% of the flying fleet now has this new standard of blade.

Another durability issue, this time with the high pressure (HP) turbine blade, required attention. The condition of the blades deteriorated earlier than expected. A new blade design was made available in October 2018 to rectify this.

Further investigation revealed that improvements were also required for the intermediate-pressure compressor (IPC) rotor blade. Under certain conditions the blades could vibrate, which caused a few of them to crack.

We are now progressing with the installation of a modified IPC blade for Pack C engines, which represent about half the Trent 1000 family's installed base.

Meanwhile, a redesign for the IPC blades for Pack B and Trent 1000 TEN engines has been completed. The new IPC blade for the Trent 1000 TEN has been fully qualified and is now in production. The Pack B blade will follow in 2022.

Those were essentially the three issues and all happened at the same time, making it more challenging to resolve.

This caused disruption to our valued customers, which we sincerely regret. Rolls-Royce remains committed to providing the best powerplant on the Boeing 787.

Trent 1000 Package B and Package C engines durability: an illustrated guide

See exactly which areas we’ve made the improvements to and learn new details about each innovative solution.

Trent 1000 TEN HPT blade enhancement

Since the entry into service of the Trent 1000 TEN, Rolls-Royce has communicated to operators that the high-pressure turbine blades in these engines would have a limited life of 1,000 cycles. In April we announced that, for a sub-set of the Trent 1000 TEN fleet, HPT blades were deteriorating faster than anticipated and that we were implementing an accelerated inspection regime.

We have completed a detailed technical evaluation of our work on an improved high pressure turbine blade for Trent 1000 TEN, the last major redesign activity required for the issues which we have identified with the engine. Our understanding of the technical issues has significantly improved and we have now scheduled its introduction to 2022.

Our enhanced design has successfully undergone validation testing, known as a type-test, at conditions beyond those in service. This replacement high pressure turbine blade for the Trent 1000 TEN, the final durability issue to be fixed, is in final stages of certification and planned to be available for its incorporation into the fleet by the end of H1 2022.

Discover more

Read more updates, stories and advances from across the Trent 1000 programme.

Zero AOG milestone reached

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10 October 2019

First Trent 1000 engines with new Package C blade back in service

Trent 1000 updates

15 March 2019

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15 March 2019

A new challenge, a blank sheet of paper and a tight deadline

Trent 1000 updates

8 March 2019

Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 programme accelerates with Delta TechOps

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29 January 2019

Trent 1000 new Package C blade certified

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10 January 2019

Anatomy of a solution: how our testbed helps advancements take flight

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10 January 2019

Trent 1000 service management update

Trent 1000 updates

11 June 2018

Trent 1000 operational response

Trent 1000 updates

30 May 2018

Trent 1000 Package C update

Trent 1000 updates

13 April 2018

Trent 1000 Flickr

Q&A

What new measures have you added to your testing process to reduce the likelihood of similar durability issues?

As aviation meets unprecedented operational situations, we learn and, of course, share the knowledge we gain from them, so that engine systems and industry-wide protocols are as reliable as possible.

Armed with this new understanding, we’re going to be building even more durable engines going forward.

Is the engine safe to fly?

Travelling by aircraft is the safest form of travel and safety will always be our first priority. All of our service management actions have been fully supported by Boeing and the airworthiness authorities. They are precautionary measures that we are taking to ensure the engines continue to remain safe to operate.

How many Trent 1000 engines are there in total?

There are over 800 Trent 1000 engines in service across Package B, Package C and Trent 1000 TEN standards.

What does the compressor do?

The Intermediate Pressure Compressor is a set of spinning discs with small blades which squeezes the air drawn in by the fan at the front of the engine, preparing it for further squeezing in the high pressure compressor and eventually being mixed with fuel and ignited in the combustor. There are 8 rotor stages within the Intermediate Pressure Compressor, each of which features a number of blades. The blades are manufactured from a titanium alloy.

How do you do inspections?

The required inspections take a few hours to complete and can be completed without the engine being removed from the aircraft. It involves placing a probe within the engine and can usually be done between flights.

If an issue is found and a part needs replacing, how quickly can you do that?

Each inspection takes a number of hours to complete, but if an issue is identified with a part, the engine would need to be removed and taken to one of our facilities. The time each engine spends in overhaul depends on the improvements we need to incorporate into that engine. We are using all techniques available to us to accelerate engine overhaul and have been investing in increased capacity to support the increased requirement for inspections.

What does high cycle mean?

A cycle may broadly be described as one take-off and one landing. Engines with high cycles, while not necessarily older by date, can be considered to be more mature and therefore more relatively likely to see durability issues.