The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) have certified a new durability kit for the high-pressure turbine (HPT) hardware of CFM LEAP-1A engines, which power Airbus A320neo aircraft.

This kit is designed to enhance turbine uptime, particularly in hot and harsh environments, and includes updates to the Stage 1 HPT blade, the Stage 1 nozzle, and the inner front nozzle support, as reported by the associated media outlet Aeroin.

Gaël Méheust, President and CEO of CFM International, emphasized that this new hardware delivers on the promise of ensuring that LEAP engines achieve the same level of maturity, durability, and operational uptime as the CFM56 product line, which is already well-established among customers.

Durability challenges

To ensure that the improvements addressed durability challenges in harsh environments, CFM collaborated with a team of geologists to create a type of dust that simulates the conditions engines face in various parts of the world.

Using a patented dust ingestion system, the company was able to replicate the wear on HPT blades observed in the field. This allowed CFM to design, test, and validate improvements that enhance durability and extend the operational life of these components.

Reduction in fuel consumption

The CFM LEAP engine family is renowned for providing a 15% to 20% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as significant noise improvements, compared to the previous generation of engines. With more than 3,500 aircraft equipped with LEAP engines in operation, CFM customers have already avoided the emission of over 40 million tons of CO2.

LEAP engines are considered the most successful product launch in CFM’s 50-year history, with the fastest growth in flight hours ever recorded in the industry, surpassing 60 million hours in just eight years.