The demonstrator, dubbed the Advance 3, is being assembled in the company’s Bristol, England, facility and will fire up for the first time in Derby in the August-September time frame, he adds.
...
The Advance demonstrator is a hybrid combining a Trent XWB-84 case and fan system and the LP turbine from a Trent 1000. “In the middle is the all-new core, both in terms of architecture as well as new technology [that] includes the two new compressors [HP and IP], a lean-burn combustor, ceramic matrix composite [CMC] seal segments and advanced cooled turbine blades. The demonstrator brings them together in a system context,” Newby says.
Compared to the current Trent family, the Advance core “changes the work split significantly,” says Newby. “We will do much more work on the HP compressor with a two-stage HP turbine driving it and a lightly loaded IP compressor. This allows us to grow the pressure ratio in a very efficient manner but also provides a core which leads us to the UltraFan.” Rolls believes the plan takes advantage of the three-shaft configuration in ways that have not been possible before. “You can have a very lightly loaded HP spool with a decent pressure ratio in the IP compressor because it runs at its optimum speed,” Newby says. This provides the launch platform for the UltraFan because “then you take the HP spool and combine that with a geared LP system, and it allows you to grow the bypass ratio as well.”
Lots more details in the article. Good to see this R&D program is moving forward.