GE Aerospace and the US 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 at Farnborough International Airshow, GE Aerospace and Oak Ridge will collaborate to develop new, state-of-the-art computational modelling 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 analyse 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) programme, 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 Programme 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 programme, 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 programmes 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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