GE’s Advanced Turboprop Engine Completes First Run

3DP parts represent 35% of new power source — more than any production-scale engine in aviation history

GE Aviation completed the first test run of its new Advanced Turboprop engine, a “clean sheet” design that the developer said incorporates more 3D-printed components than any production engine in aviation history, 35% of the turboprop's parts. More specifically, GE noted that 855 conventionally manufactured parts had been reconceived as 12 additive-manufactured parts, including sumps, bearing housings, frames, exhaust case, combustor liner, heat exchangers and stationary flow-path components.

In development since 2015, GE Aviation reported it has committed more than $400 million to the engine program. The R&D program and testing have been carried out at GE Aviation’s operation in Prague, Czech Republic, where manufacturing of the new engines will be centered.