The Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) F3 is a
low bypass turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
engine developed in
Japan by
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries for the
Kawasaki T-4
The Kawasaki T-4 is a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by the commercial conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its sole operator is the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), in part due to historic ...
jet trainer aircraft. The first
prototype engine, the XF3, was manufactured in 1981 and first flew in the XT-4 in July 1985. About 550 have been built.
Design and development
Ishikawajima-Harima began developing a small turbofan engine in the late 1970s as a competitor for the new jet trainer aircraft being developed by
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
(or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, heavy equipment, aerospace and defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Chūō, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is ...
. The developmental engine was named the XF3, and it was selected over the
SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac
The SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac is a military turbofan manufactured by GRTS (Groupement Turbomeca-SNECMA),Gunston 1989, p.172. a consortium between the two French companies, SNECMA and Turbomeca. Its main application was on the Dassault/Dornier Alph ...
in 1982 to power the
XT-4 trainer. The early developmental models of the engine produced of
thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that sys ...
, but later models (including the model selected for the XT-4) produced of thrust.
The production engine was designated the F3-30 (alternatively, the F3-IHI-30), and it first flew in the XT-4 aircraft in 1985. Production of the qualified engine also began in 1985.
[Hamada, T., Akagi, M., Toda, D., Shimazaki, H., & Ohmomo, M. (1989). T-4 Inlet/Engine Compatibility Flight Test Results. Presented at the ''AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE 25th Joint Propulsion Conference'', Monterey, CA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.]
After the engine and aircraft were in production there were several incidents where one or two of the high pressure
turbine blades failed, forcing the aircraft to make emergency landings. An investigation revealed that the turbine section was suffering from a vibration
resonance
Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied Periodic function, periodic force (or a Fourier analysis, Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system ...
problem, leading to the turbine blade failures. The blades were strengthened and modified to dampen the vibrations. The engine, and the aircraft, returned to service in 1990.
Beginning in 1999, IHI began upgrading the fielded engines with a new high-pressure turbine to increase their service life. This variant of the engine was known as the ''F3-IHI-30B''.
[IHI F3. ''Jane's Aero Engines''.]
subscription page
Edited January 13, 2009. Accessed February 9, 2010.
In 2003, IHI began updating the engine with a more advanced
Full Authority Digital Engine Control
A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or "engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of ai ...
(FADEC). This updated engine was designated the ''F3-IHI-30C''.
XF3-400
Soon after IHI began working on the XF-3, they began developing a more powerful variant of the engine as a technology demonstrator for a theoretical
supersonic fighter. This engine was designated the XF3-400. It was designed to be a higher performance,
afterburning
An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...
version of the XF-3, producing around of thrust. One distinctive quality of this engine was that it was to have a
thrust-to-weight ratio
Thrust-to-weight ratio is a dimensionless ratio of thrust to weight of a rocket, jet engine, propeller engine, or a vehicle propelled by such an engine that is an indicator of the performance of the engine or vehicle.
The instantaneous thrust-to- ...
of 7:1, higher than any similarly sized engine.
[Kashikawa, I., & Akagi, M. (1995). Research on a High Thrust-to-Weight Ratio Small Turbofan Engine. Presented at the 31st AlAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, San Diego, CA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.]
Work on this engine began in earnest in 1986, and a demonstrator engine was built and tested in 1987. IHI was formally awarded a contract for the engine in 1992, after spending the previous years developing and testing the engine internally.
The primary difference between the XF3-400 and the standard F3-30 is the inclusion of an
afterburner
An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and co ...
. Adding the afterburner is the primary reason why the maximum thrust of the -400 is much higher than the -30. Other changes included
compressor and turbine blades that were aerodynamically optimized using 3D
computational fluid dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate ...
techniques, and improved temperature performance in the high-pressure turbine.
A 1998 report revealed that
thrust vectoring
Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket, or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the ve ...
was also being integrated into the XF3-400.
Japan stalls future fighter demonstrator
(1998, October 21). Flight International. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
Design
The F3 is a two-shaft (or two spool) low-bypass turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
. It features a two-stage fan (low-pressure compressor) on the low-pressure shaft, followed by a five-stage high-pressure compressor on the high-pressure shaft. The engine uses an annular combustor
A combustor is a component or area of a gas turbine, ramjet, or scramjet engine where combustion takes place. It is also known as a burner, combustion chamber or flame holder. In a gas turbine engine, the ''combustor'' or combustion chamber is fe ...
, which feeds a single-stage high-pressure turbine followed by a single-stage low-pressure turbine. The XF3-400 variant includes an afterburner after the low-pressure turbine, the production F3 does not.
The two-stage fan uses wide chord blades, and both the production F3 and the advanced XF3-400 use the same fan. Unlike the fan, the five-stage compressor differs between the F3 and the XF3-400, with the advanced XF3-400 benefiting from 3D computational fluid dynamics
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate ...
(CFD) improvements.
The high-pressure turbine blades are single-crystal
In materials science, a single crystal (or single-crystal solid or monocrystalline solid) is a material in which the crystal lattice of the entire sample is continuous and unbroken to the edges of the sample, with no grain boundaries
In m ...
blades, and they are cooled by a thin film of air from inside of the blades. The low-pressure turbine blades, like the high-pressure compressor, were improved between the F3 and the XF3-400 using 3D CFD.
Both the F3 and the XF3-400 use a FADEC for engine control.
Variants
;XF3
:Early developmental designation of what became the F3-IHI-30. Several different configurations were considered in this phase of the program.
;F3-IHI-30
:Production variant of the engine. Used by the Kawasaki T-4
The Kawasaki T-4 is a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by the commercial conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its sole operator is the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), in part due to historic ...
.
;F3-IHI-30B
:Production version of the engine with an upgraded high pressure turbine.
;F3-IHI-30C
:Production version of the engine with an improved FADEC.
;IHI-17
:
;XF3-400
:Supersonic technology demonstrator variant of the engine. Much higher thrust than the production F3. Includes an afterburner and several aerodynamic upgrades.
Applications
*Kawasaki T-4
The Kawasaki T-4 is a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by the commercial conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its sole operator is the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), in part due to historic ...
Specifications (F3-IHI-30)
See also
References
{{Japan military gas turbine aeroengines
1980s turbofan engines
Low-bypass turbofan engines
F3