IHI Corporation XF9

The IHI XF9 is a low-bypass afterburning turbofan engine developed by the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) of Ministry of Defense of Japan (MoD) and IHI Corporation.

XF9
XF9-1 prototype engine
Type Turbofan
National origin Japan
Manufacturer IHI Corporation

Overview

The XF9 is a product of an ATLA project Research on fighter engine system (2015–2019) which followed two preliminary projects, Research on main components of next generation engines (2010–2015) and Research on fighter engine elements (2013–2017).[1][2] Started after development of the XF5 turbofan engine (1995–2008), these research projects are preliminary works for Japan's future fighter program or the successor to the Mitsubishi F-2 fighter.

The basic concept is to produce a "slim and high-power" engine, thereby creating more capacity for accommodating fuel and weaponry inside the fuselage of stealth fighter to reduce radar cross section. The concept, dubbed High-power Slim Engine, also appears in an MoD report titled A vision for research and development of future fighter aircraft (2010) as the powerplant for a conceptual Japanese future fighter, the i3 FIGHTER.[3]

While its predecessor, the XF5, was a small engine, the XF9-1 prototype is close to the General Electric F110 in size, and is comparable to the Pratt & Whitney F119 in terms of thrust class. With the core that withstands 2,073 K (1,800℃) class Turbine Inlet Temperature,[4] the XF9-1 produces a high thrust, improving fuel economy at the same time. As of 2018, the officially publicized thrust level of the prototype is "11 tons (107 kN / 24,000 lbf) or more" in military thrust and "15 tons (147 kN / 33,000 lbf) or more" with afterburner.[5] The XF9 is designed to be adaptable to a wide range of thrust level, higher or lower, depending on requirement;[6] and the future fighter engine program is conducted with a target maximum thrust of 20 tons (196 kN / 44,000 lbf) in mind, which was unveiled at the ATLA Technology Symposium 2018.

Technical features
XF9-1 on a test run

The XF9-1 is a twin-spool axial-flow afterburning turbofan with a dual redundant FADEC, consisting of a 3-stage fan, a 6-stage high-pressure compressor, an annular type combustor, a single-stage high-pressure turbine, a single-stage low-pressure turbine, an afterburner, and a convergent-divergent nozzle. The concept, slim and high-power, resulted in an approximately 30% higher thrust per unit cross-sectional area compared to the GE F110 the Mitsubishi F-2 is equipped with. To achieve this thrust level, a higher combustion temperature (1,800℃ class) and an optimized aerodynamic design were needed, which in turn required advanced material, manufacturing, cooling and fluid analysis technologies.

Each of the rotors is a blisk to contribute to weight reduction and downsizing.[7] The combustor is equipped with patented new-type burners, Wide-angle Swirler, to facilitate stable combustion and more uniform heat distribution at the outlet. To reduce cost, the high-pressure turbine disk is manufactured by forging technique instead of powder metallurgy (PM) employed in the XF5; the material is a nickel-cobalt base superalloy, TMW-24, developed by NIMS, of which heat resistance is comparable to that of PM superalloys.[8] Turbine blades made of a Japanese fifth generation nickel base single-crystal superalloy are friction welded to the disk to form the blisk, which is enclosed in the shroud made of ceramic matrix composites.[9] The afterburner is a new type to eliminate the conventional annular flame holders to improve efficiency.

As another characteristic, the XF9-1 incorporates a starter generator that outputs 180 kW, meaning that a twin-engine fighter with this engine can be supplied with as much as 360 kW of electricity by engines alone.[4] The capacity is quite large compared to that of conventional fourth or fifth generation fighters such as the Boeing F-15E (76 kW), the Lockheed Martin F-22 (130 kW), and the Lockheed Martin F-35 (160 kW), allowing for next generation avionics and other high power consuming onboard devices and equipment.

In addition, a research to demonstrate thrust vectoring control and its failure handling technology is conducted from 2016 to 2020 in parallel with development of the engine. This research is aimed at achieving higher maneuverability and smaller control surfaces favorable to stealth aircraft. For the XF9-1, the XVN3-1 three-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzle is available, which can deflect thrust up to 20 degrees in all circumference directions.[10]

Timeline
  • 1995-2008
    • Research and development of the XF5 engine
  • 2010
    • Research on main components of next-gen engines (–2015)[1]
  • 2013
    • Research on fighter engine elements (–2017)[1]
  • July 2017
    • Delivery of the core engine[11]
  • June 2018
    • Delivery of the prototype engine (XF9-1) [12]

Specifications

Data from [11][12]

General characteristics

  • Type: Afterburning turbofan
  • Length: 4.8 m (16 ft)
  • Diameter: <1 m (3 ft 3 in)
  • Dry weight:

Components

  • Compressor: 3-stage fan, 6-stage high-pressure compressor
  • Combustors: Annular combustor
  • Turbine: single-stage high-pressure turbine, single-stage low-pressure turbine

Performance

See also

References
  1. "外部評価報告書「将来戦闘機用エンジンの研究」" [External Evaluation Report "Research on Future Fighter Engines"] (PDF) (in Japanese). Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. "外部評価報告書「戦闘機用エンジンシステムの研究」" [External Evaluation Report "Research on Engine Systems for Fighter Aircraft"] (PDF) (in Japanese). Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency.
  3. "将来の戦闘機に関する研究開発ビジョン" [Research and Development Vision for the Future Fighter] (PDF). Ministry of Defense (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  4. "ついに完成した世界最高水準の国産戦闘機用エンジン「XF9-1」- 日本のミリタリーテクノロジー 開発者インタビュー【前編】" [XF9-1, the world's best standards fighter engine, has been completed - Japan's Military Technology, Interview with the Developer (Part 1/2)]. BLOGOS (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  5. "戦闘機用エンジンシステムの研究試作（プロトタイプエンジン）の納入について" [Delivery of Research Prototypes of Fighter Engine Systems (Prototype engine)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  6. "「5.4.3.2.1…加速！」最大推力試験当日に奇跡は起きた - 国産戦闘機用エンジン「XF9-1」開発者インタビュー【後編】" [5.4.3.2.1...accelerate! On the day of the maximum thrust test, the miracle happened. - Japan's Military Technology, Interview with the Developer (Part 2/2)]. BLOGOS (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  7. Matsumoto Yuta, Suzuki Kazuhiro, Kimura Tatehiko, Nakamura Noriyuki (2020). "XF9-1エンジンの概要" [Overview of XF9-1 Engine] (PDF). Journal of IHI technologies. IHI (in Japanese). 60: 11.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. "航空装備研究所の最近の試験" [Recent tests at Air Systems Research Center (ASRC)] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Defense. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  9. Matsumoto Yuta, Suzuki Kazuhiro, Kimura Tatehiko, Nakamura Noriyuki (2020). "XF9-1エンジンの概要" [Overview of XF9-1 Engine] (PDF). Journal of IHI technologies. IHI (in Japanese). 60: 13–14.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "外部評価報告書「推力偏向ノズルの研究」" [External Evaluation Report "Research on a Thrust Vectoring Nozzle"] (PDF) (in Japanese). Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency.
  11. "将来の戦闘機用を目指したジェットエンジンの主要部分（コアエンジン）を納入" [Delivery of the main part of a jet engine (core engine) for future fighter aircraft.]. IHI (in Japanese). 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  12. "将来の戦闘機用を目指したジェットエンジンのプロトタイプ(XF9-1)を納入" [Delivery of the jet engine prototype (XF9-1) for future fighter aircraft]. IHI (in Japanese). 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
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