Testing of the TF33 Pratt & Whitney engine is being conducted at AEDC to verify and validate newly redesigned components of the engine.
The TF33 has powered several different military airframes, including the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System, and the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.
Second Lt. Karlie Madden, AEDC project manager for the test, stated that the engine currently being tested is a 17,000 lb thrust variant used aboard the B-52H Stratofortress airframe.
“The testing at AEDC is to verify and validate the structural integrity and durability of a redesigned inlet case and turbine exhaust case,” Madden said. “The test also includes accelerated mission testing which simulates approximately one-half of an overhaul cycle of testing on the engine, running approximately 690 sea-level operating hours. Multiple performance calibrations have been performed to determine if there are any new performance standards that stem from the redesigned components.”
The testing took place in one of the AEDC Engine Test Facility sea level test cells during the summer and wrapped up in November. The test was requested by the TF33 Systems Program Office of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Propulsion Directorate (AFLCMC/LPS) at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
Though tested at AEDC before, it was the first installation of the TF33 in this sea level test cell.
December 6, 2016
