Widechord describes the fan blades on certainturbofan engines that have a blade design with a specific geometry - In layman's terms, they would be described as having wider blades than other jet engines. The technology was pioneered byGeoff Wilde atRolls-Royce in the 1970s.[1]
The main fan on a jet engine consists of a number ofaerofoils mounted at the rotational center on thefan disk, and as the engine core rotates the fan blades accelerate anair mass and create the force to move forward which givesthrust (in accordance withNewton's third law).
In theory the larger the fan diameter (the line from the tip of one fanblade to its opposite member) the greater the thrust. In practical applications, fan size is limited by the weight, the space available around the aircraft and by the increaseddrag (resistance) generated by the larger frontal area.
In the race to achieve better fuel economy, more thrust and less weight & noise from jet engines, designers have refined the blade design and materials to extract more thrust for any givenfan disk area. One significant improvement[1] is to make blade chords wider and, more recently, alter the blade geometry to give it ascimitar-like shape. Further refinements include making the blades from a light material such astitanium and to manufacture them with a hollow cross-section.
Modern jet engines such as theRolls-RoyceTrent 900 and theEngine AllianceGP7000, which both power theAirbus A380, are examples of engines with wide-chord fans.
A wide chord fan has fewer, wider blades compared to the narrower blades on earlier technology fans. The blades are often hollow and made fromtitanium. The wide-chord fan blade was designed and developed at Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick in Lancashire. The manufacturing process uses superplastic forming, diffusion-bonded technology to achieve a light weight, strong design.[2]