GE Aviation’s next-gen GE9X high-bypass turbofan engine is poised to be the most fuel-efficient jet engine ever produced by the company. Designed to power Boeing’s new 777X long-range, wide-body airliner, the GE9X builds on GE Aviation’s previous GE90, but will incorporate a larger fan, higher bypass and compression ratios, and components made from advanced manufacturing processes, such as fan blades produced using direct metal deposition (DMD).
GE Aviation, the Evendale, Ohio-based subsidiary of General Electric has been working with DM3D Technology, LLC. of Auburn Hills, Michigan and Windsor, Connecticut-based Barnes Aerospace to develop DM3D’s proprietary DMD technology for a ramp-up to full-scale production of 3D-printed GE9X fan blades in 2020.
