CFM International announced today that progress is accelerating for the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) technology demonstration program, with more than 250 tests completed and new research partnerships formed as technologies continue to mature on the way to full-scale Open Fan tests. The latest program updates were shared at Farnborough International Airshow.

“The work happening today on test rigs and with research partners around the world represents an unprecedented level of new technology development in CFM’s history."

Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International

“The work happening today on test rigs and with research partners around the world represents an unprecedented level of new technology development in CFM’s history,” said Gaël Méheust, president and CEO of CFM International. “As CFM celebrates its 50th anniversary, we are acting on our clear ambition to make air transport more sustainable. With the RISE program, CFM will, once again, change the way that people fly.”

CFM RISE program activity is moving from component-level evaluations to more module-level tests.

For example, CFM parent company Safran Aircraft Engines’ agreement with French aerospace research agency ONERA to conduct wind tunnel tests is demonstrating the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of Open Fan designs. More than 200 hours of wind tunnel testing have been completed at Onera Aerospace Lab using a 1:5 scale model of an Open Fan, including a version of the model mounted on a demonstrator plane wing section for testing with Airbus. A high-speed, low-pressure turbine (LPT) test campaign with advanced turbine blades also ran.

“We have made significant progress in our testing plan, which confirms the benefits of the Open Fan propulsive system for the next generation of single-aisle aircraft,” said Pierre Cottenceau, executive vice president of engineering and research & technology for Safran Aircraft Engines. “We successfully completed key tests on fan acoustics, aerodynamics, and blade ingestion, and the high-speed, low-pressure turbine, while advancing hybrid electric tests for our suite of pioneering technologies.”

Additionally, CFM parent company GE Aerospace was recently awarded a contract with U.S. aerospace agency NASA to advance next-generation compressor, combustor, and high-pressure turbine (HPT) technologies through an engine compact core demonstration.

After conducting its first test run of next-generation HPT blades and nozzles using a demonstrator engine, GE Aerospace has started a second HPT airfoil endurance campaign. This shows how durability is a key early focus of the RISE program. Tests of next-generation compressor and combustion technologies have also started, looking to advance material capabilities and understanding of how new engine designs impact CO2, as well as non-CO2 emissions.

“To change the future of flight and make it more sustainable, we have to change the aircraft engine,” said Mohamed Ali, senior vice president of engineering for GE Aerospace. “Around the world, our engineers are rising to this challenge, developing revolutionary technologies to drive the efficiency gains needed. The Open Fan architecture is the most promising engine technology to help the industry reduce flight emissions, designed to meet or exceed customer expectations for durability and to deliver a step change in fuel efficiency using conventional or alternative jet fuels.”

GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines now have more than 2,000 engineers globally supporting development of RISE program technologies and continue to hire.

The RISE program, first unveiled in 2021, is one of the aviation industry’s most comprehensive technology demonstration programs. Through the RISE program, CFM is advancing a suite of pioneering technologies, including advanced engine architectures like Open Fan, compact core, and hybrid electric systems to be compatible with 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). To test airframer integration of the Open Fan architecture, plans were previously announced with Airbus for an Open Fan flight technology demonstration.

The CFM RISE program goals include reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 20 percent as compared to the most efficient commercial aircraft engines in service today. SAF can reduce fuel lifecycle emissions up to 80%. Technologies are also being validated to meet the most stringent non-CO2 and noise emission requirements.