General Electric GE38

The General Electric GE38 is a gas turbine developed by GE Aviation for turboprop and turboshaft applications. It powers the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion as the T408.[1]

GE38 / T408
The T408 on a CH-53K King Stallion
Type Turboshaft
National origin United States
Manufacturer GE Aviation
First run December 26, 1989
Major applications Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion (T408)
Developed into CFE CFE738

Design and development

The GE27 was developed in the early 1980s under the "Modern Technology Demonstrator Engines" (MTDE) program sponsored by the United States Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate.[2] Sporting a 22:1 pressure ratio, which was a record for single-spool compressors at the time, the GE27[3] was GE's unsuccessful submission to power the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The GE27 also had a compressor air flow of 27–28 pounds per second (12–13 kg/s) and a turbine temperature of 2,400–2,500 °F (1,320–1,370 °C; 2,860–2,960 °R; 1,590–1,640 K).[2] The GE27 first ran in late 1984, but it unexpectedly lost the V-22 engine competition to the Allison 501-M80C, which was not a participant in the MTDE program.[4]

In the late 1980s, GE used the GE27 as the basis for the commercial development of turboshafts, turboprops, turbofans, and propfans under the GE38 name. GE formed a 50/50 venture with Garrett (then a division of AlliedSignal) to develop the turbofan variant[5] called the CFE (Commercial Fan Engines) CFE738, which used the GE27's gas generator core.[2] One of a range of advertised GE38 unducted fan (UDF) sizes,[5] the 9,620 lbf (4,360 kgf; 42.8 kN) takeoff thrust GE38-B5 was for a time the baseline engine for the West German-Chinese MPC-75 regional airliner.[6] The GE38 became the T407 military turboprop in partnership with Lycoming Engines for the Lockheed P-7A, with a maximum takeoff power of 6,000 shp (4,475 kW). First run on December 26, 1989,[7] the T407 engine was scheduled to undergo flight testing on a Lockheed P-3 Orion testbed aircraft in the summer of 1990,[8] but the US Navy canceled Lockheed's P-7 contract on July 20, 1990.[9] The commercial version of the T407 was the GLC38 (General Electric/Lycoming Commercial 38), which was unsuccessfully offered for several turboprop airliners in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[2]

The new T408 (GE38-1B) is slated to power the new Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion three-engined helicopter for the US Marine Corps. It has a power rating of 7,500 shp.[10] The GE38 completed its first round of ground testing in May 2010.[11] Two test engines have completed over 1,000 hours of ground testing by November 2011. Five test engines will be used in the 5,000-hour test program.[12] In September 2019, GE delivered the first production T408 engine to the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for the CH-53K.[13] GE also offered the engine to power the U.S. Navy's Ship-to-Shore Connector air-cushioned landing craft.

The T408 was also tested by the U.S. Army and Boeing as an alternative powerplant on an NCH-47D Chinook testbed helicopter. The helicopter configuration was ground tested beginning in late 2019, followed by an initial flight on September 22, 2020.[14] Conclusion of the test trials was announced on May 12, 2021.[15]

Variants
T407-GE-400
T408-GE-400 (GE38-1B)
CFE CFE738
Turbofan variant of the T407-GE-400, used on the Dassault Falcon
CPX38
Proposed turboprop engine variant of the GE38-1B[17]
GE38-3
An 8,000 shp (6,000 kW) class derivative engine under consideration by the U.S. military in 2006[18]
GE38-B5
A contra-rotating, ungeared, unducted fan (UDF) derivative with a bare engine weight (including the UDF) of 2,395 lb (1,086 kg), a UDF diameter of 85 inches (2.1 meters), and a blade count of 11 on one propeller and 9 on the other; provides a takeoff thrust of 9,644 lbf (4,374 kgf; 42.90 kN) with a thrust-specific fuel consumption (TSFC) of 0.240 lb/(lbf⋅h) (6.8 g/(kN⋅s)), and a cruise thrust of 2,190 lbf (990 kgf; 9.7 kN) with a TSFC of 0.519 lb/(lbf⋅h) (14.7 g/(kN⋅s)); proposed for the MPC 75 German-Chinese regional airliner in the late 1980s[6]
GLC38
Proposed turboprop variant of the T407-GE-400

Applications

Specifications (T408)

Data from GE Aviation.[19]

General characteristics
  • Type: Turboprop/turboshaft
  • Length: 57.5 inches (1.46 m)
  • Diameter: 27 inches (0.69 m)
  • Dry weight: 1,104.7 pounds (501.1 kg)

Components
  • Compressor: 5+1 Axi-Centrifugal compressor (5 axial stages and 1 centrifugal stage)
  • Turbine: a 3-Stage Power Turbine, a 2-stage-single crystal cooled HP turbine
  • Oil system: synthetic

Performance

See also

Related development

Comparable engines

Related lists

References
  1. Sikorsky Unveils CH-53K Helicopter; U.S. Marine Corps Reveals Aircraft Name
  2. Leyes II, Richard A.; Fleming, William A. (1999). The History of North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 365–372. ISBN 1-56347-332-1.
  3. Zoccoli, Michael J.; Rusterholz, Kenneth P. (June 1–4, 1992). "An update on the development of the T407/GLC38 modern technology gas turbine engine" (PDF). Volume 2: Aircraft Engine; Marine; Microturbines and Small Turbomachinery. International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition. Cologne, Germany: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). doi:10.1115/92-GT-147. ISBN 978-0-7918-7894-1. OCLC 8518815331.
  4. "Navy surprise on V-22 power" (PDF). Propulsion. Flight International. Vol. 129, no. 3995. Detroit, Michigan, USA. January 25, 1986. p. 16. ISSN 0015-3710. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2014.
  5. "Manufacturers positioning for coming competitive battles". Air Transport World. Vol. 23. September 1986. pp. 20+. ISSN 0002-2543. Gale A4426985.
  6. MBB CATIC Association (July 1987). MPC 75 feasibility study - Summary report: B1 - Project definition (PDF) (Report). pp. B1–2, B1–13, B1–23, B1–25, B1–30 to B1–32, B1–37, B1–45 to B1–46, Appendix B1-4.1 pages 20 to 31.
  7. Zoccoli, Michael J.; Klassen, David D. (June 11–14, 1990). "T407/GLC38: A Modern Technology Powerplant". T407/GLC38: 'A modern technology powerplant' (PDF). Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition. Brussels, Belgium: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). doi:10.1115/90-GT-242. ISBN 978-0-7918-7905-4. OCLC 7344745132.
  8. Munson, Kenneth; Jackson, Paul; Gunston, Bill (July 1990). "Gallery of US Navy, Marine Corps, and Army aircraft". Air Force Magazine. Vol. 73, no. 7. p. 90. hdl:2027/osu.32435027300748. ISSN 0730-6784.
  9. Vartabedian, Ralph (July 21, 1990). "Navy cancels $600-million Lockheed plane contract". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020.
  10. "GE Launches New Engine Program for U.S. Marine Corps Heavy-lift Helicopter". GE Aviation, January 24, 2007.
  11. "GE38 Completes First Engine to Test Program". GE Aviation, May 6, 2010.
  12. "GE38 Looking to Take to the Sea". GE Aviation, January 18, 2011.
  13. Grillo, Thomas (October 25, 2019). "GE sends first T408 to Navy". Lynn Daily Item. ISSN 1532-5709.
  14. Trevithick, Joseph (September 23, 2020). "CH-47 Chinook with far more powerful T408 engines has flown for the first time". The Drive.
  15. Jennings, Gareth (May 13, 2021). "US Army concludes trial of Chinook fitted with King Stallion engines". Jane's.
  16. Reim, Garrett (14 July 2020). "CH-47 Chinook flight tests with more powerful GE T408 engine could begin within weeks". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  17. O'Connor, Bill (October 5, 2010). "Turboprop version of GE38 turboshaft due mid-decade". AINonline.
  18. National Research Council (NRC) (2006). "Derivative engine programs". A review of United States Air Force and Department of Defense aerospace propulsion needs (Report). p. 95. doi:10.17226/11780. ISBN 978-0-309-10247-6. OCLC 1050643189.
  19. Model GE38 Archived 2009-02-08 at the Wayback Machine. GE Aviation. Retrieved: 19 October 2010.
  20. deBock, Peter (September 18, 2019). GE turbines and small engines overview (PDF). 2019 INTEGRATE Annual Meeting. General Electric Global Research. ARPA-E. Retrieved September 23, 2021.

Bibliography
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