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GT-·164
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The Growth and Evolution of the TPE331
J-P. FRIGNAC
Chief Engineer,
Aircraft Propulsion Engines
E. J. PRIVOZNIK
Project Engineer
This paper describes the evolution of the Garrett-AiResearch TPE331 turboprop engine. It
discusses the reasoning behind the original design and describes the subsequent growth of
the engine from 575 to 1040 hp within the same engine frame size. The performance of the
various models and the design features that provided minimum fuel consumption and
maximum reliability are also discussed.
Contributed by the Gas Turbine Division of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers for
presentation at the Gas Turbine Conference & Exhibit & Solar Energy Conference, San Diego, Calif.,
March 12-15, 1979. Manuscript received at ASME Headquarters January 3, 1979.
N SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS, UNITED ENGINEERING CENTER, 345 EAST 47th STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017
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ABSTRACT (d) Design an engine frame with ii
minimum frontal area. fl
This paper describes the evolution wl
of the Garrett-AiResearch TPE331 turbo (e) Configure the engine for easy h<
prop engine. It discusses the reasoning installation and maintenance in
behind the original design and describes a variety of aircraft.
the subsequent growth of the engine from w:
575 to 1040 horsepower within the same In 1961, the power section success b<
engine frame size. The performance of the fully completed its first run and was thus hi
various models and the design features ready when, in the fall of 1962, the Vi
that provided minimum fuel consumption requirements for a counterinsurgency Uf
and maximum reliability are also dis (COIN) aircraft indicated a need for a dj
cussed. turboprop of this approximate size. re
Encouraged by the successful operation of Cc
INTRODUCTION early civil engines in various installa ir
tions, the company decided to prepare a
The Garrett-AiResearch TPE331 turbo version of the engine for the COIN appli
prop engine is an excellent example of how cation. This effort started with a 575- ac
a good basic design can foster continued shp engine (ultimately uprated to 715 de
development and diversification. This shp) with a very successful basic design. le
engine evolved from a blend of military It was this engine that evolved over the cc
and civil requirements over the last years into the TPE331 Century series. (See be
twenty years, and during that time it has Figure 1.) gr
almost doubled in shaft horsepower while un
keeping exactly the same frame size. Such ai
an evolution is possible ohly with a care in
fully planned original design. This na
paper will describe how subsequent models ei
were able to improve on it. tb
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ORIGINAL DESIGN ti
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the ring gear stationary instead of the in icing conditions was also less severe tic
planetary gears provided the desired since no inertial separator was required. f le
rotation. Later in the development of This in turn reduced the weight and com div
the engine, this planetary gear set per plexity of the airfame inlet systems. ace
mitted a reduction in the output shaft giz
speed without affecting the engine frame The original turboprop two-stage hig
size or configuration. compressor had a target performance of
5. 8 lb/sec and a pressure ratio of 8.3.
Once the basic gearbox design had The machined titanium impellers were fix
been selected, a number of beneficial radially bladed, and the second stage had out
features were added to it. The gearbox splitter blades. The crossover duct, whe
housing itself was made of magnesium to including the first-stage diffuser, (see fre
minimize weight. Inside the gearbox, Figure 4) was fabricated from 8 tubes sho
gerotor pumps were selected for lubrica individually shaped to rectangular ducts fix
tion and scavenging because of their and welded together. The second-stage ist
small size and high altitude pumping diffuser was a conventional vane-island the
capacity. It was also planned to run the type with bolts through the vanes for sha
gear case with a negative pressure by structural support. Although consider men
using carbon face seals in the power sec able fabrication development took place pow1
tion and restricting the ambient vent to on the crossover duct, this basic con aro1
the gear case. The negative pressure figuration carried through to production. sine
resulted in a reduced sensitivity to max:
leakage from split lines, shaft seals and CROSSOVER The
DUCT SECOND-STAGE
gaskets. COMPRESSOR
cha1
FIRST-STAGE
COMPRESSOR
craJ
be cc
Torque measurement was also an ori norn
ginal requirement. Several methods were dras
examined including sensing the reaction
of the planetary ring gear and ring gear
carrier, but the sensing of the torsion shoe
shaft twist was ·finally selected because the
of its simplicity, low weight, and small the
size. The torsion shaft extends through TPE3
the center of the rotating group and sens
transmits the torque to the gearbox. The with
hydraulic torque sensor converts this hyclr
mechanical twist to a hydraulic signal pell
1040 SHP ENGINE
which is proportional to torque. neg a
Figure 4. Compressor Cross Section. l er :
Power Section Selection mum
It was in the area of power section i n it
selection that the broad experience of Combustor Design. A reverse-flow
AiResearch became most useful. Even dur annular combustor was chosen as best sat
ing the development of the TPE331 in the isfying the design objectives. It could sing:
early sixties, the company had achieved utilize the space surrounding the turbine two-l
an impressive record. For 17 years assembly and still fit within the outer grou1
AiResearch had been manufacturing engines diameter of the diffuser for the second speec
for auxiliary power units and stationary stage compressor (see Figure 2) . This poter
power plants. arrangement enabled close coupling of the ing I
AiResearch secondary-power gas turbines. the fuel atomizers for periodic main ThesE
During the early years of the TPE33l's tenance. In addition, the cross trol�
development, the interchange of knowledge sectional area available for combustion speec
was very evident in the development of the was sufficiently large to allow relati basic
compressor, turbine, and combustor. vely low velocities and, consequently, a a nd t
low-pressure-loss system in spite of the
Compressor Design. Past experience reverse-flow gas path.
was especially useful in the selection of Pilot
a compressor. In the field of auxiliary The combustion system employed a angle
power units, AiResearch had developed a staged system of air-assisted, simplex fue1-
two-stage centrifugal compressor, and in atomizers for fuel injection. The main fue1
1959 it had already been successfully fuel flow was injected through 10 atom Prope
proven in service. This design retained izers that were located in the dome of the ti on
the rugged characteristics of the centri- combustor and sprayed axially downstream.
4
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negative torque in�ut through the propel
ler system. This action resulted in mini
mum disparity in drag level during the
initial takeoff climb segment. 1040 SHP
I
con�
To accommodate the increased turbine -10
inlet temperature required for 1040 shp, fulJ
the first stage of the turbine (stator tu rt
vanes and rotor blades) was air cooled. incr
The basic design for the cooled turbine dyne
was patterned after the turbine in the
AiResearch TFE731 turbofan engine now
used in 14 business jets. The first-stage engi
CORRECTED AIR FLOW, Wa�t2 -LB/SEC Ta bl
"t2 stator incorporated segmented vanes with
trailing eage discharge slots for the perf
cooling air. The turbine wheel used The
Figure 6. Compressor Improvements
inserted blades, with the cooling air to show
the blades being supplied through the a re
cavity between the rotating seal plate ing
Latest Developments and the disk. (See Figure 8.) This in
The latest power increase was a arrangement resulted in minimal leakage Talil
result of the military requirement to because of the reduced diameter of the
improve the earlier 715 shp engine, used labyrinth seals. In addition, the
in the OV-lOA Bronco, to 1040 shp for the leakage through the labyrinth seals was
new, heavier OV-100. Since the airfame used to cool the disks of the second- and
I
engine provisions were the same, it was third-stage turbine wheels, thus again
again necessary to provide the increase minimizing cooling air losses. The
in the same engine frame size. rotating seal plate was also designed to
lock the blades in place, which elimi
This 45-percent leap in horsepower nated the need for rivets or other reten
was accomplished by changes in all three tion devices for the inserted blades.
engine elements--the compressor, the tur
bine, and the combustor--with the main
emphasis being devoted to increasing tur
bine efficiency and turbine inlet temper
ature.
The whole perspective of this Today the TPE331 is not only flying
engine's history can best be seen in in 50 different military and civilian
Table 1 , which shows a comparison of the aircraft but a modified version, the
performance ratings for all civil models. Model IE831, is being used for a number of
The evolution in the last 20 years has industrial applications. Design develop
shown that this engine frame size has had ment is continuing, and it is likely that
a remar kable ability to adapt to escalat the aircraft propulsion field will find
ing requirements. Significant milestones increased usage for the engine for some
in the engine's history are shown in years to come--perhaps for another 20
Table 2. years.
TAKEOFF 605/575 705/6551 755/715 904/840 776/7152 755/7153 907/865 944/9004 1045/10005
{ESHP/SHP)
TH ERMODYNAMIC
RATING 605/575 755/715 755/715 904/840 904/840 907/865 907/865 1045/1000 1045/1000
(ESHP/SHP)
ESFC 0.632 0.57 0.55 0.55 0.57 0.57 0.54 0.54 0.534
{TAKEOFF)
WEIGHT 335 335 335 355 355 370 370 375 395
(APPROX)
1. TO 75°F
2. TO 92°F
3. TO 97°F
4. TO 80°F
5. AUGMENTED 1100 SHP TO T OF 86°F AT SEA LEVEL,
AM
STATIC, TAKEOFF CONDITIONS