Rolls-Royce has signed a deal with Liebherr-Aerospace to create a joint venture (JV) to develop a power gearbox for its UltraFan engines.
Planned to be located in Friedrichshafen, Germany, the 50:50 entity will engineer the power gear drive train components.
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Liebherr will initially manufacture components at its existing facilities, and the JV will review the possibility of a standalone manufacturing infrastructure at a later date.
Design definition and integration of the power gearbox, as well as testing activities will be led by Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce Aerospace president Tony Wood said: "The UltraFan engine design includes a suite of new technologies to power next-generation aircraft.
"The power gearbox is an integral part of this new design, and we are delighted to be partnering with Liebherr on this highly efficient future power gearbox technology."
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By GlobalDataUltraFan technology is claimed to offer at least 25% greater fuel efficiency than the first-generation Rolls-Royce Trent engines.
The gearbox produced by the JV will facilitate UltraFan to deliver efficient power over take-off thrusts, for high-bypass ratio engines.
Each unit will be designed to handle the equivalent horsepower produced by more than 500 family cars, Rolls-Royce said.
Liebherr-Aerospace production, purchasing and asset investments managing director and COO Josef Gropper said: "We are thrilled to be participating in this exciting new engine demonstrator programme, which gives us the opportunity to break new ground and significantly enlarge our scope of activities."
Rolls-Royce Germany will be mainly responsible for majority of the design of power gearbox.
The company is currently setting up a power gearbox test centre in Dahlewitz, Berlin, with an investment of more than €80m.
Rolls-Royce has been using power gearboxes for many years, and is working on four geared designs, the AE2100, T56, LiftFan and Model 250.
