New photos of why the Boeing engine caught fire.

[stevej37]

My first job out of school was at Howmet...they made these vanes for GE., Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce and a few others.

Every vane was always x-rayed multiple times from start to finish. The weight had to be exactly the same as the others. Super tight tolerances.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/photos-boeing-777-engine-failed-122426126.html

[rfuerst911sc]

Some JB Weld and Flex tape she'll be good as new 😁 . Had to be an eye opener for all on board . Congratulations to the crew for bringing her down safely .

[stevej37]

I'm not sure what rpm these spin at on take-off.....but I bet that vane had some pent-up fury!
Prob at least a 75lb piece.

[David]

Steve, how are the made? Casting?

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by David

Steve, how are the made? Casting?

Yes - inquiring minds want to know...

[unclebilly]

Also what is the material? MA956 or some nickel alloy?

[stevej37]

Plastic injection molding.
A ceramic core and then plastic followed by the molten magnesium.

[stevej37]

That was 40 years ago...so it might be something else now.
Each segment, held 6 or 8 vanes or blades. Then they were all mounted onto a collar until full.

[David]

They look titaniumy to me

[stevej37]

They are/were stacked in rows with large to small.
Some of the large ones were too heavy to pick-up without a chain lift.

[unclebilly]

So investment casting... cool.

We used MA956 which was a turbine blade material for some of the structural components in our high temp fuel cells. It has a low thermal expansion coefficient and good strength at temp (glowing orange). It was $60/lb 20 years ago...

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by David

They look titaniumy to me

They might be...I was remembering Mag back then.

[ckcarr]

Sure. We weren't born yesterday. We all know how it really went down...

[stevej37]

I worked in the gauging dept. All the measuring tools had to be constantly checked for accuracy.

The plant is still making the same parts....It's called 'Alcoa' now. (located in a small town in W. Michigan)

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by stevej37

They might be...I was remembering Mag back then.

It really doesn't matter: The weight and balance tolerance are as you know incredible for both compressor and turbine sections regardless of the material.

Jet engines are really very simple engines with amazing materials spinning at dizzying rates for years.

[pavulon]

While a bit concerning, I thought it also a bit laughable that people were freaked out about seeing the turbine burning. They either completely take the happenings for granted or think magic occurs inside of the engine cowlings everytime they fly.

[stevej37]

The one thing I do clearly remember....
All the parts/vanes had to be constantly degreased after grinding weight off and polishing.
The parts were loaded into a basket and lowered into an open top degreaser, which looked like a giant toaster. Looking into the top of the bin..all one could see was a swirling fog. The dirty parts were lowered in and raised out in one motion with a chain-fall. They came out spotless...along with a good amount of the fog which had a weird smell about it.

Years later..after leaving the co..I was contacted about how close I had been to this machine.
Come to find out...it used a form of tetrachloride that is an extreme liver carcinogen when inhaled.

I told them that I had noticed the sweet smell of it many times...but no health problems.

They had quite a few that had signed up for a lawsuit.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

It really doesn't matter: The weight and balance tolerance are as you know incredible for both compressor and turbine sections regardless of the material.

Jet engines are really very simple engines with amazing materials spinning at dizzying rates for years.

Simple in concept and operation but not easy to manufacture.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Simple in concept and operation but not easy to manufacture.

And amazing in production of power.

[gordner]

When I was in school for aircraft maintenance, we had an axial turbojet from an F-86. When introduced, we were told, this engine had a time before disposal of 50 hours. I run turbines now that the engines are on condition, no overhauls only hot sections, with turbine blades rated for 30000 cycles of use. The changes in material sciences are staggering.