US-based aircraft engine manufacturer GE Aviation has started construction of two factories to mass-produce silicon carbide (SiC) materials to produce ceramic matrix composite components (CMCs) for jet engines in Huntsville, Alabama.
To be built with an investment of more than $200m, both factories are expected to be completed by the first half of 2018.
When fully operational, the plants will employ up to 300 people.
Also providing silicon carbide (SiC) materials for land-based gas turbines, the ceramic fibre plant will begin its production in 2018.
A sum of $21.9m of the total investment for the plants will be provided by the US Air Force Research Lab Title III Office.
GE Aviation industrialisation of advanced technologies vice-president Sanjay Correa said: "GE Aviation is creating a fully integrated supply chain for producing CMC components in large volume, which is unique to the US.
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By GlobalData"The new factories in Alabama are vital to this strategy. We are deeply gratified by the tremendous local, state, and national support for this effort."
The plants will meet US’s requirements for CMC materials for commercial and government-funded programmes, as well as GE and its global partners in selling and supporting jet engines and gas turbines worldwide.
One of the two Huntsville facilities will manufacture SiC ceramic fibre, while the other will use the material to produce unidirectional CMC tape required to make CMC components that help reduce the overall engine weight.
Along with Nippon Carbon and Safran Ceramics of France, GE is currently operating a large-scale SiC ceramic fibre factory in Japan.
For more than two decades, scientists at GE’s Global Research Centers and the company’s industrial businesses have worked to develop CMCs for commercial applications.
Comprising GE and Safran Aircraft Engines of France, the CFM International joint venture has developed LEAP commercial jet engines that use CMCs in the high-pressure turbine section.
With more than 10,500 orders and commitments, the LEAP engine is currently completing certification testing and scheduled to enter airline service next year.
