GE 90 Fan Blade

In the airline business, it's all about higher, quicker, faster. A lighter engine or a small increase in engine power or efficiency can provide a real competitive advantage for an airline. Which is why having the best fan blade technology helps make GE`s jet engines the most popular in the world.

A few years ago, we began work on taking fan blades to a new level. Using composites material technology, we developed a fan blade for the GE90 aircraft engine that was lighter and more fuel efficient than ever before.

To produce the new fan blades, we came up with a process that results in a 100% defect-free, carbon-reinforced epoxy blade - which means no wrinkles or voids in the fibers. To do that required modeling of the composite process, advanced sensor and data acquisition systems, data-to-information conversion technologies, compression molding presses, autoclaves, and small-scale molds to simulate processes.

The GE 90 fan blades have performed exceptionally well in operational service. This technology will continue to provide high thrust engines for wide-body aircraft and large airplanes of the future, delivering greater efficiency, lower cost of operation, and continued high levels of safety and reliability.

We've also taken what we've learned and applied it in other places - in fan blade sensor, data acquisition, and data-to-information conversion tools for GE Plastics and GE Lighting projects.