[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 22, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3659-3660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01125]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee Engine Endurance Testing
Requirements--New Task
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of new task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking
Advisory Committee (ARAC).
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SUMMARY: The FAA assigned ARAC a new task to review existing engine
endurance test requirements, assess its suitability for all engines,
and consider an alternate endurance test and associated methods of
compliance. The current regulations may not adequately address the
technological advances found in modern engines, as related to the
current engine endurance test. This notice informs the public of the
new ARAC activity and solicits membership for the Engine Harmonization
Working Group (EHWG).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dorina Mihail, Rulemaking and Policy
Branch, ANE-111, Engine and Propeller Directorate, FAA, 12 New England
Executive Park, Burlington, Massachusetts, 01803, telephone (781) 238-
7153, facsimile (781) 238-7199; email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ARAC Task Acceptance
ARAC accepted the task and assigned the task to the EHWG, under the
Transport Airplane and Engine (TAE) Subcommittee. The working group
will serve as staff to ARAC and assist ARAC by providing advice and
recommendations of the assigned tasks. ARAC must review and approve the
working group's recommendation report before it will forward it to the
FAA.
Background
The FAA established ARAC to provide advice and recommendations to
the FAA Administrator, through the Associate Administrator for Aviation
Safety, on the FAA's rulemaking activities. This includes obtaining
advice and recommendations on the FAA's commitments to harmonize Title
14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) with appropriate foreign
authorities' regulations. ARAC's objectives are to improve the
development of the FAA's regulations by providing information, advice,
and recommendations related to aviation issues.
The EHWG will provide advice and recommendations to ARAC on
existing and alternate endurance tests and associated methods of
compliance.
The engine endurance test is an accelerated severity test intended
to demonstrate a minimum level of engine operability and durability
within the approved engine ratings and operating limitations. The test
running conditions cover the declared engine rating and operating
limitations, but are not intended to simulate the expected in-service
operation. To run the test at simultaneous speed and temperature
limits, applicants may need to modify the test engine configuration and
the required test sequence.
The current practice and accepted methods of compliance allow
modifications to the test engine configuration and test sequence,
provided certain conditions are met. Specifically, that the engine, as
modified, still represents the durability and operating characteristics
of the intended type design and complies with Sec. 33.87 requirements.
However, experience with past engine certifications shows that for some
engines, those modifications are substantial enough that the engine is
not conforming to its type design, thus affecting the test outcome.
These difficulties occur because the required test in Sec. 33.87 has
not been updated to account for technological advances in gas turbine
engines and in-service operational characteristics.
The endurance test requirements originated with the reciprocating
engine and were later revised for single-shaft turbine engines with
mechanical controls. The test running conditions were designed to match
the engine design and operational characteristics during that time and
have remained the same for the past 60 years. Today's engines have
evolved by up to 10 times increased compression ratio and 40 times
increased airflow. They incorporate advanced technologies that include
three-shaft designs, high-bypass turbofans, sophisticated full
authority digital electronic controls, and complex turbine cooling.
Other technological advances provide in-service engine health
monitoring, thus improving engine reliability and increased mean time
on wing. Modern engine technologies allow up to 50% lower specific-fuel
consumption and significant emissions and noise improvements.
Certification experience shows that, due to the complexity of
modern engines, the modifications needed to run the required endurance
test are substantial, greatly affecting the engine operating cycle and
causing reduced airflow, less cooling, or increased temperatures. To
compensate for these undesirable effects, applicants make additional
engine modifications, such as modifying cooling circuits, grinding
blade tips, or adding thermal barrier coating to blades. As a result of
these modifications, it becomes increasingly difficult to show that the
test engine conforms to the type design. The objective of the ARAC task
is to evaluate whether the requirements for engine endurance testing
should be revised by adding requirements for an alternate test.
[[Page 3660]]
The Task
The EHWG is to review and assess the standards and advisory
material for 14 CFR 33.87, engine endurance test requirements as
follows:
1. Develop an alternate endurance test that would allow an engine
to be tested in the configuration representative of its type design,
and
a. Maintain compliance with the intent, as well as the basic
elements currently in Sec. 33.87, including the ratings, operating
limitations, and engine configuration.
b. The alternate test is to be equivalent to the test currently in
Sec. 33.87 with regards to demonstrating engine operability and
durability, and is validated with engine data. The engine data must
include experience, certification, and additional component and engine
tests.
2. Develop and document recommended:
a. Methods of compliance, and
b. Rule changes, if considered necessary.
3. Review the current foreign requirements for engine endurance
test and determine the need for harmonizing any new methodologies.
4. Provide initial qualitative and quantitative estimates of costs
and benefits for any new methodologies.
5. Develop a report containing the recommendations for rulemaking
or guidance material, or both, and explain the rationale and safety
benefits for each proposed change.
6. The working group may be reinstated to assist the ARAC by
responding to the FAA's questions or concerns after the recommendation
report has been submitted.
The final ARAC recommendation report should include a summary of
the overall work scope, conclusions, and rationale for all
recommendations related to the above tasks. It should document both
majority and minority positions on the findings, and the rationale for
each position and reasons for any disagreement. Any disagreements
should be documented, including the rationale for each position and the
reasons for the disagreement.
Schedule
The recommendation report must be submitted to the FAA for review
and acceptance no later than December 31, 2015.
Working Group Activity
The EHWG must comply with the procedures adopted by the ARAC. As
part of the procedures, the working group must:
1. Conduct a review and analysis of the assigned tasks, including
any related materials or documents.
2. Draft and submit a work plan for completion of the task,
including the rationale supporting such a plan for TAE Subcommittee
consideration.
3. Provide a status report at each TAE Subcommittee public meeting.
4. Draft and submit the recommendation report based on the review
and analysis of the assigned tasks and any related materials or
documents.
5. Present the recommendation at a TAE Subcommittee public meeting.
6. The TAE Subcommittee Chair will provide a status report at each
ARAC public meeting and present the final recommendation to ARAC for
review and approval. ARAC will forward the recommendation to the FAA.
Participation in the Working Group
The EHWG will be composed of technical experts having an interest
in the assigned task. A working group member does not need to be a
member representative of the ARAC. The FAA would like a wide range of
members on the working group to ensure all aspects of the tasks are
considered in development of the recommendations. However, the June 18,
2010 memorandum, ``Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions,'' states
that a member must not be a federally registered lobbyist who is
subject to the registration and reporting requirements of the Lobbying
Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) as amended, 2 U.S.C 1603, 1604, and 1605,
at the time of appointment or reappointment to an advisory committee,
and has not served in such a role for a two-year period prior to
appointment. Therefore, the FAA will not select any person that is a
registered lobbyist. For further information see the Office of
Management and Budget final guidance on appointment of lobbyists to
federal boards and commissions (76 FR 61756, October 5, 2011).
If you have expertise in the subject matter and wish to become a
member of the working group, write to the person listed under the
caption FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT expressing that desire.
Describe your interest in the task and state the expertise you would
bring to the working group. The FAA must receive all requests by
February 11, 2014. The ARAC and the FAA will review the requests and
advise you if they approve or disapprove your request.
If you are chosen as a member on the working group, you must
represent your aviation community segment and actively participate in
the working group by attending all meetings and providing written
comments when requested to do so. You must devote the resources
necessary to support the working group in meeting any assigned
deadlines. You must keep your management, and those you may represent,
advised of the working group activities and decisions to ensure that
the proposed technical solutions do not conflict with the position of
those you represent when the proposed recommendations are presented to
the subcommittee and ARAC for approval. Once the working group has
begun deliberations, they will not add or substitute members without
the approval of the TAE Subcommittee Chair, FAA Representatives,
including the Designated Federal Officer, and the working group.
The Secretary of Transportation determined that the ARAC formation
and use is necessary, and in the public interest, in connection with
the performance of duties imposed on the FAA by law.
ARAC meetings are open to the public. Meetings held by the EHWG
will not be open to the public, except to individuals selected to
participate based on interest and expertise. We will make no public
announcement of working group meetings.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 8, 2014.
Lirio Liu,
Designated Federal Officer, Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee.
[FR Doc. 2014-01125 Filed 1-21-14; 8:45 am]
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