PAPER NUMBER

Copyright 1959 by ASME

AN

ASME
PUBLICATION

A Transport Aft-Turbofan 59-GTP-20

B. E. SELLS - W. R. DODGE
Jet Engine Department
General Electric Company
Cincinnati 15, Ohio

This paper presents the technical status of a new type aft-turbofan aircraft
powerplant, designated as the General Electric CJ805-21. The successful
development to date of this aft-fan engine has amply demonstrated the
feasibility of a major increase in power rating and a significant improvement in altitude cruise fuel economy by converting the CJ805-3 commercial turbojet to an aft-turbofan engine. The advanced technology, perform-

80c PER COPY

40 C TO ASME MEMBERS

ance capabilities, development and maintenance factors emphasize the

importance of the CJ805-21.

The Society shall not be responsible for statements or

opinions advanced in papers or in discussion at meetings of the Society or of its Divisions or Sections, or
printed in its publications.

Discussion is printed only if the paper is published in an ASME journal.

Released for general publication upon presentation

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

29 West 39th Street, New York 18, N. Y.

For presentation at the Gas Turbine Power Conference and Exhibit, Cincinnati,
Ohio, March 8 11, 1959, of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
-

Written discussion on this paper will be accepted up to April 13, 1959.

Copies will be available until January 1, 1960.

Printed in U.S.A.

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A Transport Aft-Turbofan
Paper for the 1959 Annual Gas Turbine Power
Division Conference. March 8-11, 1959

Paper Prepared By

W. R. Dodge*

B. E. Sells*

NOMENCLATURE

The following nomenclature is used in the paper:

P

= pressure, psi

T = temperature, F
V p = airplane velocity, ft/sec
Vi = jet velocity, ft/sec
F = Froude or propulsion efficiency
F. = net thrust, pound seconds
total air flow, lb/sec

Wa

= gravitational constant, ft/sect

B = Waf /Wag , by-pass ratio, dimensionless

M p = Mach number, ratio of local velocity to velocity of sound, dimensionless
Waf

Wag =

fan air flow, lb/sec

gas generator air flow, lb/sec

SFC = specific fuel consumption, lb fuel/lb thrust/hour

*Aircraft Gas Turbine Division, General Electric Company,

Evendale, Ohio

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This paper presents the technical status of a new

type aft-turbofan aircraft powerplant, designated as
the General Electric CJ805-21. It is under contract with
American Airlines to power a fleet of Convair CV 600
medium range commercial transports. The advanced
technology, performance capabilities, development and
maintenance features emphasize the importance of the
CJ805-21.
Historically, development of aircraft gas turbines
was stimulated because of the tactical military advantage for higher flight speeds and altitudes not possible
with piston-engine aircraft. The poor fuel economy
was then justifiable for military purposes, but early
applications were limited to short and medium range
operation. Turbojet powerplants of the earlier operational models were not economically feasible for commercial operation because of the inferior fuel economy
and inadequate take-off thrust as compared to piston
engines. By 1950, it was clear that the development of
turbojets was proceeding to the point of economic
feasibility for commercial and military transports. Developments were aimed at higher pressure ratios, better
component efficiencies, increased power ratings, and
greatly improved power to weight ratios. These developments made turbojets attractive for commercial
aircraft.
The conventional turbojet without afterburner
achieves its optimum capabilities as a powerplant at
supersonic speeds. The turbojet has a clear margin over
the propeller-piston engine combination at flight speeds
in excess of 0.5 Mach number. The turboprop is a serious competitor to the turbojet at 0.7 Mach number.
However, neither the turbojet nor turboprop are operating at optimum powerplant performance in the range
from Mach number 0.6 to 1.2. A powerplant possessing
the desirable qualities of the propeller and jet, and
without their limitations, would have superior performance capabilities at high subsonic flight speeds.
The various types and configurations of this powerplant have become known as "turbofans". Schematic
cross sections of the turbojet, turboprop, and turbofan
are shown in Figure 1.

FIG. I SCHEMATIC OF A TURBOJET, TURBOPROP AND TURBOFAN

1.50

1.25

wx

The relative merits of the turbojet, turboprop, and

turbofan can be compared at in-flight cruise with a
modified form of the Breguet range equation as shown
in Figure 2. The assumptions are (a) similar missions
at the same flight speed, (b) equivalent states-of-the-art
for each of the powerplants and (c) equivalent statesof-the-art for the air frames. The merit indeir is defined as a dimensionless ratio of Breguet miles at cruising speed to an arbitrary cruise distance in miles. The
comparison is made for a series of flight speeds with
an arbitrary index of unity at Mach number 0.7 where
the turbojet and turboprop characteristics overlap.

1.00

0.75

0.50
.6

1.0
.8
.9
FLIGHT MACH NO.
FIG. 2 - CRUISE RANGE COMPARISON
(MEDIUM RANGE TRANSPORT)

.7

2
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II

The method of comparing powerplant types used in

Figure 2 conceals significant elements of the powerplants which contribute to their performance capabilities. The turbojet, turboprop, and turbofan gas generators operate on a modified Brayton cycle. Cycle
thermal efficiency constantly improves as the pressure
ratio and turbine inlet temperature are increased. As
cycle efficiency improves, the gas generator turbine exhaust total pressure and temperature increase. In the
case of the turboprop or turbofan, more energy is available to the power turbine driving the propeller or fan.
For the turbojet, more energy is available at the jet
nozzle which develops velocity and thrust. Thus, an
improvement in thermal efficiency is accompanied by
increased power availability for the turboprop and
turbofan, and thrust for the turbojet (as shown in
Figure 3) for each pound of air passing through the
gas generator. Therefore, the air flow requirement of
the gas generator to develop a fixed level of thrust
or shaft horsepower decreases as the cycle pressure
ratio and turbine inlet temperature are increased.
The over-all system propulsive efficiency, or Froude
efficiency, is another important factor in powerplant
selection for aircraft application. It is usually expressed
in terms of jet and airplane velocity and is the ratio
of work output to input. Remembering to account for
work done taking air aboard the airplane, the resulting
expression is: ( 1 )
I+ 2
r
Vi / V D
with the restriction that V i > Vp . This expression indicates that high propulsive efficiency is associated with
the jet velocity approximating airplane velocity. Another useful expression can be obtained from Equation
1, remembering that the net propulsive thrust is proportional to (V 1 - Vp ). The propulsive efficiency can
then be expressed in pounds of net thrust per pound
of air, as follows: (2)

100
w

U)
9

80

2000F

s 7 0
cn
co

1600 F

I 60
CC

50
w
cr)

a.

1200F

40

30

SEA LEVEL STATIC

100 % RAM RECOVERY
I
I
I

6
8
10
14
12
COMPRESSOR PRESSURE RATIO

16

FIG. 3 EFFECT OF TURBINE TEMPERATURE AND

PRESSURE RATIO ON TURBOJET
SPECIFIC THRUST.

quiring a high pressure ratio to develop adequate shaft

horsepower for the propeller, has the inherent desire
to satisfy both high thermal and high propulsive efficiencies. The weakness of the turboprop is the precipitous decline of propeller efficiency at the higher
subsonic flight speeds since the propeller has reached
its optimum performance at flight speeds of Mach
number 0.5 or less. In addition, to fly at higher altitudes for lower fuel consumption requires large diameter propellers which introduce weight and groundclearance problems.
The turbofan is not actually a new concept. The
theoretical advantages and conceptual designs were established almost a quarter of a century ago. As a result
of these early disclosures, a patent was issued to Sir
Frank Whittle in 1947 for such a device. It was after
1950, however, that both aerodynamic and metallurgical developments advanced to the point where the
successful design of a truly competitive and efficient
turbofan powerplant could be evolved.
Whittle's original concept was of a multi-stage aftfan in which the exhaust gas and energy from a turbojet with centrifugal compressor was expanded through
a free-wheeling turbine driving a low pressure, high
mass flow compressor. This is only one of a number of
possible configurations. The fan may be front-mounted
and may be either single or multiple-shaft design.
There have been at least six configurations of turbofans built in the United States, and probably five in
England. Four are currently offered to the airframe
industry.
As was shown in Figure 2, the turbofan is ideally
suited for the region where the turboprop suffers declining performance and the turbojet has not achieved
a high level of performance. In reality, the turbofan is

- (Thrust/Lb.) xg (Fn /Wa ) x g

g
+2
Vp V p

T= 2400 F
90

+2

The expressions, in the case of the turboprop, require

converting the propeller horsepower to thrust and adding the net thrust from the power turbine exhaust.
Thus, it is clear that the requirement for high propulsive efficiency is a relatively large flow of low velocity
air through the propulsive device, which develops a
low net thrust per pound of air.
Installed engine performance, in terms of range, is
proportional to the product of thermal efficiency and
propulsive efficiency. The pure turbojet with a pressure
ratio in the range of 10 - 15 has good thermal efficiency. However, its propulsive efficiency tends to be
low at subsonic speeds because of the high jet velocity. These characteristics optimize the performance at
slightly supersonic flight speeds. The turboprop, re3

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a sort of ducted propeller. The environment provided

for the fan blading permits it to operate efficiently over
a wide range of subsonic and supersonic flight speeds.
Since the turbofan "propeller efficiency" can be designed to have a relatively constant high efficiency, the
split between fan thrust and jet thrust can be regulated,
for a given design, to optimize performance at the desired flight condition.
The General Electric aft-fan has several unique technical and economic advantages. An assembled CJ805-21
engine is shown in Figure 4 and a cutaway is shown in
Figure 5. This aft-fan engine is the commercially available General Electric CJ805-3 turbojet with the rear
bearing support frame and exhaust system of the turbojet replaced by the aft-fan as a single added component.
The ease of modifying this existing production turbojet to a turbofan is a very significant benefit. Another
factor in selecting this aft-fan configuration is the continuity of experience retained for the majority of engine parts. Thousands of hours of experience in both
factory and flight test are preserved in the basic CJ805-3
turbojet. The end product reflects the savings in engine
development and tooling costs, minimum additional
special assembly tools, and shorter delivery schedule
than possible for a completely new powerplant.
The life span of a commercial turbine-engine is expected to be 10 - 15 years. Commercial engines must
have the potential for reasonable growth during their
life span without requiring significant change to installation details of the airplane. Adding the aft-fan to the
CJ805-3 turbojet has increased its rating from a thrust
class of 10,000 pounds to a thrust class of 15,000
pounds. Take-off thrust has been increased more than
40% with the same fuel flow; the thrust to weight
ratio of the aft-fan engine has increased over 8% from
the turbojet; and cruise altitude fuel consumption has
improved 10 - 15%. A comparison of the CJ805-3
turbojet and CJ805-21 turbofan thrust and fuel consumption is shown in Figure 6.

V
THRUST CLASS. 15,000 POUNDS
WEIGHT 3800 POUNDS
GAS GENERATOR FRAME SIZE . 32 INCHES
FAN FRAME SIZE' 53 INCHES
OVERALL LENGTH 144 INCHES

FIG. 5 CUTAWAY OF THE GENERAL ELECTRIC

FIG. 4 GENERAL ELECTRIC CJ 805 21

CJ 805 - 21 AFTTURBOFAN

AFT TURBOFAN

4
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1.00
U_

CONDITIONS'
SEA LEVEL STATIC
100%R.PM.

CJ805 3 TURBOJET
0

.95

0
.tE

INSTALLE
SFC

.90

I.w
0
CO

CC

CJ 805-21 AFT TURBOFAN

..................

.85

.e
._____

LL

FLIGHT CONDIT ON
MACH NUMBER 0.8
ALTITUDE 35,000 FT.
100 % RAM RECOVERY
NACELLE LOSSES NOT INCLUDED.
I
1
1

.80

CLI

U
U_
(1)

.75

.6

.7

.8
.9
II
1.2
1.0
THRUST RAT 10
(THRUST/TURBOJET MAX. CONTINUOS THRUST)
FIG. 6 - PERFORMANCE COMPARISON

* FAN ENERGY EXTRACTED/GAS GENERATOR

EXHAUST ENERGY.

The use of an existing developed gas generator does

not necessarily restrict the designer as to the performance or operating characteristics of the aft-fan engine
since the amount of energy extracted from the turbojet
exhaust is variable. Once the energy division between
fan and turbine exhaust is selected, there is still the
option of arranging air flow and pressure ratio in the
fan compressor to accommodate the best over-all performance requirements. The CJ805-21 fan compressor
has a pressure ratio of approximately 1.6 at sea level
static conditions. Its design air flow is 250 pounds per
second which gives a by-pass ratio (Waf /Wa g ) of more
than 1 5 Figures 7 and 8 indicate the relationship of
by-pass ratio and fuel consumption at sea level static
and at Mach number 0.8 at 35,000 feet altitude. As
indicated, a very large by-pass ratio is desirable for
take-off, but would adversely affect the fuel economy
at cruising altitude. It is of interest to note that although altitude operation is at reduced rpm, the aerodynamic rotor speed, fan pressure ratios and by-pass
ratios are approximately the same as at sea level takeoff conditions.

FIG.7-AFT FAN CYCLE OPTIMIZATION.

0.25

CONDITIONS:
MACH 0.8, 35,010 FT.
90 % R.P.M.
030 *

INSTALLED
SFC

DESIGN
POINT

035*

0 0.4e

025

A significant requirement to achieve the CJ805-21

aft-fan performance was the development of the fan
compressor. A single-stage compressor with a pressure
ratio capability of 1.6 to 1 is a rather ambitious undertaking. However, a single-stage, free-floating aft-fan
compressor has compensating design advantages. The
fan air is completely independent of the air entering
the gas generator; the blade hub to tip radius ratio is
large; and the fan tip speed can be established to suit
its own aerodynamic requirements rather than compromised by any gas generator requirements. Better
optimization of the blade aerodynamic design from

DESIGN POINT

ENGINE
SFC

035 *
040
I.4
1.8
2.2
BY PASS RATIO
*FAN ENERGY EXTRACTED/GAS GENERATOR
EXHAUST ENERGY
I 0

FIG.8 - AFT FAN CYCLE OPTIMIZATION.

5
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The front frame, shown by a detailed cutaway in

Figure 10, replaces the CJ805-3 turbojet bearing support frame. It is a sheet metal structure which contains
the outboard turbine roller bearing support for the
turbojet and the thrust bearing for the aft-fan rotor.
The gas generator exhaust ducting and fan turbine
stator are carried in the inner annulus. The fan compressor inlet ducting is also an integral part of the
frame. The eight struts which pass through both passages are continuously anti-iced in the fan inlet duct.
Strut anti-icing is accomplished by bleeding 0.2% of
gas generator exhaust gas through the leading and
trailing edges of the struts. The center portions of the
struts are heated by the turbojet turbine rotor cooling
air which is ducted through the struts and exhausted
overboard. The forward axial seal which separates the
fan compressor inlet stream and hot turbine gases is
located over the turbine nozzle diaphragm. The rear
mount of the CJ805-21 turbofan is at the top of the
fan frame. As is usual in bearing support frames, the
frame design is limited by deflections to maintain rotor
position and clearances rather than maximum allowable working stresses.

hub to tip is achieved since the hub and tip speeds

are not far different. Blade loadings are essentially the
same at both stations. In addition, the development of
the single-stage compressor is not plagued with the
normal development problems associated with multistage compressors. Design parameters were chosen so
that this compressor would have adequate tolerance to
inlet distortion. Experimental testing has demonstrated
that the fan and gas generator compressors have adequate stall margin and tolerance to inlet distortion.
Inlet distortion effect on fan compressor performance
is shown in Figure 9.
I.
TIP RADIAL DISTORTION
13% DISTORTION
NO EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE

2.
CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTORTION
(SIMULATED PYLON)
10% CIRCUMFERENTIAL
DISTORTION I/REV

The fan aft frame is also of sheet metal construction

similar to the front frame as shown in Figure 11. It
incorporates the fan compressor stators or outlet guide
vanes, the aft bearing support for the fan rotor, and
the separate exhaust ducts for fan turbine and compressor. The aft axial seal which separates the two
exhaust streams is carried on the inner band of the
outlet guide vanes. A stationary replaceable fan blade
tip shroud is located forward of the outlet guide vanes.

NO EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE
3.

HUB RADIAL AND

CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTORTION

10 % HUB RADIAL + 10%

CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTORTION I/REV
LOSS 3 I/2% FAN FLOW , 2 I/2%
FAN PRESSURE RATIO
,

OVERALL EFFECT 2.7% IN Fr,

AND S.F.C.
4.
HUB RADIAL AND
CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTORTION
(SIMULATED PYLON AND GEAR BOX)
10 % HUB RADIAL + 10%
CIRCUMFERENTIAL DISTORTION 2/REV
NO ADDITIONAL LOSS IN
PERFORMANCE FROM (3) ABOVE.

FIG. 9 - EFFECT OF INLET DISTORTION ON FAN

COMPRESSOR PERFORMANCE.

The mechanical arrangement of the CJ805-21 aftfan component has four major sub-assemblies. They
are (a) front frame, (b) aft-frame, (c) turbine rotor
and (d) thrust reverser. These assemblies are so designed that they can be assembled to the gas generator
by either horizontal or vertical assembly. The aft-fan
component may be assembled to the gas generator as
a complete package or as a sequence of sub-assemblies.
This assembly flexibility enhances flight line maintenance, inspection, and field overhaul.

FIG. 10 - CUTAWAY OF CJ 805 -21 FAN

FRONT FRAME

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to the turbine disk is located at a point where, under

extreme gyro loads, the deflection of the rotor and
bluckets would be small. This minimizes the amount
of wear on the stationary axial seals separating the
hot and cold gas streams. The dovetail attachment of
the disk and blucket is conventional. Rotation of the
aft-fan rotor is opposite that of the turbojet which
decreases the gyroscopic effect of the rotors on the
airframe with a very small increase in the engine bearing support load.
The combination compressor blade and turbine
bucket or "blucket" is shown in Figure 13. The blucket
consists of the dovetail attachment, turbine bucket,
compressor blade, and a transition section between the
bucket and blade. The transition section serves as a
shroud for the bucket and connects the blade platform
to the bucket by means of a web. The forward and aft
faces of the transition section form the labyrinth seal
teeth for the axial seals which separate the fan and
turbine streams. The platforms separating the turbine
and compressor blading at the transition section are
interlocked to minimize vibratory stresses. The centrifugal stresses and temperatures at full speed are also
shown on Figure 13.
In order to properly evaluate the relatively unconventional blucket design, laboratory tests were accomplished to determine the mechanical integrity under
most severe operating conditions. These tests explored
the stress distribution in the dog-leg connection between airfoils and the blade ends, vibratory fatigue,
and thermal cyclic fatigue. Evaluation with the Goodman diagram for the actual material using the experimentally obtained stresses from both the laboratory
and engine tests has shown the blucket has many times

FIG. II CJ 805 -21 AFT FAN FRAME

ASSEMBLY

The rear outer flange of the CJ805-21 aft frame has

provisions for attaching a thrust reverser. The reverser
is being developed as an integral part of the powerplant with reverse thrust capability of 35% take-off
thrust. Noise measurements, so far, have shown the
non-suppressed CJ805-21 turbofan is as quiet as the
CJ805-3 turbojet with suppressor and no provisions
are made for a noise suppressor on this engine.
The aft-fan turbine rotor (Figure 12) is built up
as a complete assembly and balanced before incorporation into the engine assembly. The rotor consists of
two conical stub shafts, turbine disk, and the blades
or "bluckets" as they have been named. The rotor assembly was designed to meet both the military requirements of life and maneuver loads, and the longer life
required in the commercial application. The forward
stub shaft incorporates the thrust bearing to absorb
the differential thrust of the fan turbine and compressor. The thrust bearing and its related seals are
identical to the thrust bearing parts of the turbojet.
The rear stub shaft incorporates the outboard bearing
which is identical to the turbine outboard bearing of
the turbojet. Thus, the experience gained in developing the bearings and seals for the gas generator has
been incorporated into the aft-fan component.
The aft-fan turbine disk material is A-286. A central
hole is incorporated in this disk to enable assembly of
the fan rotor to the engine without disturbing either
the aft-fan front frame or the engine-to-airframe
mounts. The two pound weight penalty paid for incorporating this hole in the disk is considered to be
adequately repaid by the maintenance and assembly
flexibility. The attachment of the conical stub shafts

FIG. 12 - FRONT VIEW OF CJ 805 2I

FAN ROTOR ASSEMBLY

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Six engines, including two prototype models, are

now in the factory test program. In addition to fifty
hour pre-flight tests, two engines have completed unofficial one-hundred and fifty hour model tests. All
engines, including those just introduced to test, average more than one-hundred hours of factory test.
The successful development to date of the CJ805 21
aft-fan has demonstrated the feasibility of a
major increase in power rating by converting the
CJ805-3 turbojet to an aft-turbofan. Improvement in
take-off thrust of more than 40% has further extended
the capabilities of the jet-type engine in comparison
to the propeller-type. This advantage of increased
power rating is even more attractive with an 8%
improvement in thrust-to-weight ratio. These advantages of increased power rating and power per pound
of engine weight are of direct benefit to increase payload and take-off weight of the airplane. Fuel economy
at cruising altitude, due both to better over-all engine
performance and the capability of flying at higher
altitudes, is a direct benefit in the form of decreased
operating cost per payload ton-mile. The thousands
of hours of factory and flight test experience with the
basic CJ805-3 turbojet are reflected in the over-all
performance and mechanical integrity of the new aftfan engine. The new, advanced technology and development of the CJ805-21 aft-fan are further extending
the capabilities of aircraft gas turbine applications to
transport airplanes.

FAN MADE

MIDPLATFORM
TURBINE BUCKET

DOVETAIL

44,500 PM
950S

FIG. 13 - CJ805 -21 COMBINATION BLADE AND BUCKET " BLUCKET "

the required engine operating life. Vibratory stress

levels measured during engine operation are about onefourth the allowable design level.
The laboratory investigation for thermal cyclic fatigue was dropped after 5000 cycles which simulated
more than 10,000 hours of installed operation. The
tests were run with vibratory and centrifugal stresses,
temperature levels, and temperature differentials substantially more severe than those measured during
engine operation. The blucket showed no evidence
of distress at the conclusion of the test.
The integrity of the CJ805-21 turbofan engine was
amply demonstrated with the first engine. After approximately thirty hours of factory test, the performance objectives had been accomplished and an unofficial
fifty hour preliminary flight rating test was in progress.
A test equipment failure permitted a quick-disconnect
clamp on the inlet bellmouth to drop into the fan inlet.
The clamp lodged in the fan inlet in a manner which
caused a bolt in the clamp end to whip each of the
rotating fan blades. The fan rotor was removed from
the engine, eight bluckets replaced, remaining bluckets
benched, and the rotor returned for further testing.
The fifty hour test was completed without further incident. It was quite surprising that no perceptible change
in the fan performance resulted from the departure in
blade aerodynamic design intent due to the rework.

8
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