The Honeywell AGT1500 is a
gas turbine engine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...
. It is the main powerplant of the
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest ta ...
series of
tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
s. The engine was originally designed and produced by the
Lycoming Turbine Engine Division in the
Stratford Army Engine Plant
The Stratford Army Engine Plant (SAEP) was a Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command installation and manufacturing facility located in Stratford, Connecticut, where it was sited along the Housatoni ...
. In 1995, production was moved to the
Anniston Army Depot in
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is the county seat of Calhoun County in Alabama and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 23,106. Acco ...
, after the Stratford Army Engine Plant was shut down.
Specifications
Engine output peaks at , with of torque at that peak,
[AGT1500 page](_blank)
, Honeywell. which occurs at 3,000 rpm. The turbine can provide torque in excess of at significantly lower RPMs. The engine weighs approximately and occupies a volume of , measuring .
[
The engine can use a variety of fuels, including ]jet fuel
Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial a ...
, gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
, diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
and marine diesel.[
# Recuperator – a fixed cylindrical ]regenerative heat exchanger
A regenerative heat exchanger, or more commonly a regenerator, is a type of heat exchanger where heat from the hot fluid is intermittently stored in a thermal storage medium before it is transferred to the cold fluid. To accomplish this the hot fl ...
that extracts waste heat from the exhaust gases and uses it to preheat the compressed air
# Rotating Gas Producer – the five-stage, dual-spool compressor which achieves a 14.5:1 compression ratio at full power, driven by the compressor turbine, which operates with a maximum turbine inlet temperature of
# Accessory Gearbox – bevel gear
Bevel gears are gears where the axes of the two shafts intersect and the tooth-bearing faces of the gears themselves are conically shaped. Bevel gears are most often mounted on shafts that are 90 degrees apart, but can be designed to work at oth ...
s that extract from the high-pressure spool to operate the fuel control unit, starter, oil pump, and vehicle hydraulic pump
# Power Turbines – the first stage of the two-stage power turbine is driven by a variable-geometry nozzle to improve efficiency
# Reduction Gearbox – reduces power turboshaft speed
History
Development had started by 1964 with a contract given to Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
in 1976, originally as an engine for the later cancelled MBT-70
The MBT-70 (German: ''KPz 70 or KpfPz 70'') was an American– West German joint project to develop a new main battle tank during the 1960s.
The MBT-70 was developed by the United States and West Germany in the context of the Cold War, intend ...
.[Leyes, p. 218] Serial production of the AGT1500 began in 1980; by 1992, more than 11,000 engines had been delivered. In 1986, with the Cold War about to wind down, Textron Lycoming began developing a commercial marine derivative, which they called the TF15.
See also
* Anselm Franz Anselm Franz (January 20, 1900—November 18, 1994) was a pioneering Austrian jet engine engineer known for the development of the Jumo 004, the world's first mass-produced turbojet engine by Nazi Germany during World War II, and his work on tur ...
, lead designer of AGT1500 at the early stage
References
*
External links
AGT1500 Gas Turbine Engine
AGT1500 Turbine Technology pdf on Honeywell.com
*
Gas turbines
Tank engines
Honeywell Aerospace aircraft engines
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