AEDC rolling out lean concept for testing the A-10 engine

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  A decision to bring a sea level test cell to AEDC in 1994 is paying dividends as initial testing of a legacy, but modified General Electric TF34 turbofan engine was recently initiated.

"We were successful in being chosen for the A-10 [Thunderbolt] engine, TF34, AMT (accelerated mission test)," said Mike Dent, Deputy Director of AEDC's Turbine Engine Ground Test Complex. "This is very significant because AEDC is expanding its test capability with the introduction of a basic, low-cost test alternative. It's ideal for workhorse engines such at the TF34 that do not have sophisticated control systems like the F119 or even F110 and F100."

Test Facility Director, Lt. Col. Brent Peavy has coined this capability "lean testing."

Two GE TF34 engines have powered the A-10, commonly known as the "Warthog," since the legacy fighter went into service in 1972. AEDC testers were involved with aerodynamic and store separation evaluation work on the A-10 and engine operability testing on the TF34 and a competing engine, the Avco Lycoming, during the 1970s.

Refinements to the engine over the years through the Air Force Component Improvement Program (CIP) have enabled the TF34 engine to log more than 2,000 hours before needing an overhaul. CIP provides the sustaining engineering that keeps the Air Forces' 22,000 fielded engines flying as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Dent said he was contacted around a year ago by representatives from the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC), the engine owner for the TF34.

"They were planning accelerated mission testing for the TF34 to evaluate upgraded hot section components of the engine," he said. "The program is called the TF34 BRU which stands for boltless rotor upgrade."

The ALC was preparing to do the AMT at Jacksonville Navy Air Depot and asked AEDC for assessment of possible risks with testing at a production facility and for suggestions to mitigate those risks.

The Turbine Engine Test Complex pulled together a team of government and ATA engineers and management to consider various options and associated risks. A proposal to perform the AMT at AEDC was determined by OC-ALC and Propulsion leadership at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to be the "best value" alternative.

Patty Stiggins, AEDC's Air Force project engineer on the TF34 engine test, said the Air Force's decision to conduct the AMT in SL-1 will help fulfill requirements to validate more recent component improvements to further extend the life of the engine.