Where Can I Find Specifications for Decommissioned Aircraft Engines?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenge of finding specifications and blueprints for decommissioned aircraft engines, specifically turbojet and turbofan types. Participants explore the availability of historical data for stress analysis and modeling purposes, considering both civil and military engines.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses the need for detailed specifications and blueprints for a full stress analysis of an aircraft engine, acknowledging the secrecy surrounding such information.
  • Another participant suggests that the likelihood of finding digitized documents from older engines is low, given the historical context of their design.
  • A participant mentions that even scanned copies of documents would be useful, as they are part of a larger group working on the project.
  • There is a focus on specific components of the engine, such as the turbine, intake, compressor, and nozzle, with a request for aerothermal specifications and blueprints for these parts.
  • Some participants recommend contacting manufacturers directly, noting that such information is rarely published or available for free.
  • Concerns are raised about the proprietary nature of engine designs, with one participant emphasizing the significant investment companies make in developing these engines and the unlikelihood of obtaining detailed internal specifications.
  • Another participant suggests that historical engines may provide a more feasible avenue for research, asking for recommendations on significant engines from that era.
  • There is a consensus that while some general information might be accessible, detailed internal designs are likely to remain proprietary and unavailable.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that obtaining detailed specifications for decommissioned aircraft engines is challenging due to proprietary restrictions. However, there is no consensus on the feasibility of acquiring any useful data, with differing opinions on the potential for contacting manufacturers or finding historical documents.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge that many engines from the 1960s and earlier were not designed using modern CAD systems, which may limit the availability of digital files. The discussion also highlights the complexity and number of parts involved in aircraft engines, complicating the search for comprehensive specifications.

AeroStudent
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Hello,

I'm doing a full stress analysis on a complete aircraft engine. so i was looking for documents with full specifications of the engine ( blueprints,charts,data tables, ...etc. ) .

I know that most of these information are top secret whether it's a civil engine a military engine.

However I was hoping that there would be some data out there for old engines that are out of service. I've been surfing the web searching for the past week and still no luck!.

I'm looking for data on any engine (turbojet or turbofan).
 
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AeroStudent said:
However I was hoping that there would be some data out there for old engines that are out of service. I've been surfing the web searching for the past week and still no luck!.

Many engine types that are still IN service, were designed before there were computer aided design systems that could handle anything as complicated as a complete engine.

If you are hoping somebody has digitized literally thousands of sheets of drawings done by hand, and put them on the web, I think you are going to be disappointed.
 
well I'm working with a group of 10 people so even if it was a scan copy we can digitize it that's not an issue .

here is an example of what I'm looking for http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/804527.pdf

i would've used the one i linked but the copy is not clear and barley readable. no to mention it's an engine from the 1960s and only a proposal for one
 
and just to be clear, my analysis will be on the (turbine , intake , compressor , nozzle) so there aren't many parts to be drawn here.

i just need the aerothermal specifications and a blueprint for the shaft , blades, intake and propelling nozzle.
 
You'd have to contact manufacturers specifically. This is not something anyone publishes; especially not for free.
 
AeroStudent said:
i would've used the one i linked but the copy is not clear and barley readable.

I think that's about as good as you are likely to get, from hand drawings and typewritten reports that have been microfilmed.

AeroStudent said:
and just to be clear, my analysis will be on the (turbine , intake , compressor , nozzle) so there aren't many parts to be drawn here.

Do you realize how many different part numbers you are actually talking about there? Certainly more than 1,000. Maybe even more than 10,000. There are engines from that era that have had literally 100 different versions of just one stage of compressor or turbine.

From my own experience in the industry, if you wanted to do some work on something that had real historical interest (e.g. an important engine used in WWII), and you can show you have the capability of doing something of general value that can eventually be published as historical research, you might get your foot in the door. But if this is just for your own use or interest, no company is going to give away a lot of their commercial intellectual property for free.

Remember there are engine designs from the 1960s that are still flying, and still making money from the sale of spare parts for maintenance. You won't get any access to that data for free.

Even if you wanted something as "up to date" as say the original engine types for the Boeing 747, you probably wouldn't find any computer drawings, because they weren't designed using CAD. Individual parts would have been designed using computer software, but not with the geometry in any format that is a current standard.
 
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No company will be willing to give this information for free even for educational purposes, that's why i thought I'll look around for some info before even trying to contact anyone.

I know that this is not easy, as i said I have a large group of people working and we have a lot of free time so the modeling of parts is not really that big of an issue.

I wanted to work on something more modern, but i guess doing work on some historical engine and coming up with some modifications to the design as a result of the analysis we are doing is also a great idea. can you recommend any engine that was significant at that era because i really can't think of any atm.

I know even if the company decided to give information about the design they won't be willing to give away free CAD files so we are aware of the fact that all we are going to get is paper drawings and we have to do the modeling our self.
 
You don't understand. Companies spend thousands (hundreds of thousands) of manhours designing these engines so that they make better engines than the competition. It's not about the CAD, it's about the fact that those dimensions and geometries cost them millions of dollars. You're not going to get paper copies either. You might be able to beg for some GA's and some overall dimensions and technical info, but all of the internals will be proprietary and I'm 98% sure you're not going to get them.

As AlephZero said, even basic airplane engines have thousands of parts, and the engine doesn't work if they aren't designed right. The information that makes them work right are all proprietary and not likely to be shared at all. Perhaps contact some aviation mechanics places to see if they have any information available> I don't know, I really don't see how this would be possible besides you guys just designing an engine yourself.
 

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