Abstract

The talk presents three examples of aircraft gas turbine combustion research taken from the early years of a career spanning 45 years, before gas turbines became a commodity. Everything was an adventure. Computers were in their infancy. Correlations required for aerothermal design were being created driven by urgent need. The new large fan engines of the 1970s required radical innovations. Tubular combustors were abandoned and replaced by annular designs. Pressure jet fuel injectors were replaced by air assisted atomisers. The lack of design data gave rise to serious performance problems which had to be solved by intensive development. Alongside the development of conventional combustion systems, continuous and intermittent detonation driven systems and wave rotors were under investigation.

The three topics selected for this presentation are 1. Wave rotor research – 1966_{1971 2. The development of the RB211 combustor 1970}1980 3. Investigation into engine fires resulting from intershaft bearing failures in the RB211 1980 ~1981.