GE Aviation is stepping up production of a raw material used at plants in Newark and elsewhere.
By 2020, GE Aviation is projected to have more than 750 U.S. employees dedicated to its CMC industry.
CMC stands for Composite Matrix Materials.
In the past 10 years, GE Aviation has spent more than $1.5 billion to bring advanced CMC technology to market. This includes:
– A CMC laboratory at its headquarters in Evendale, Ohio to develop CMC production designs.
– A low-rate production facility in Newark for CMC raw material and components. A GE Aviation spokesman said the site employs 225.
– A full-rate production facility in Asheville (NC) to mass-produce CMCs, including the static turbine shrouds flying in CFM LEAP jet engines.
See story and video below on the Newark site:
(Video) GE plans $27 million investment and up to 70 new jobs at Newark plant
GE Aviation is now constructing a production raw material facility in Huntsville, AL
Once fully operational, Huntsville will produce up to 20 metric tons of CMC material a year. GE Aviation is investing more than $200 million to construct two factories on 100 acres in Huntsville. One plant will mass produce silicon carbide ceramic fiber, the first high volume production operation in the United States.
Supported by funding ($21.9 million) from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab Title III Office, this plant will dramatically increase U.S. capability to produce SiC ceramic fiber capable of withstanding temperatures of 2,400 degrees.
The adjacent GE factory on the same campus will use the SiC ceramic fiber.
“We continue to make great progress,” Huntsville site leader Jon Lyford said. “The engineering and construction teams are on track to start placing process equipment by October. The CMC prepreg facility commissioning will be complete in the summer of 2018.
The CMC fiber facility commissioning remains targeted for the spring of 2019.”The GE Aviation Huntsville team has 24 employees but is growing rapidly.
Once fully operational, the Huntsville facilities will employ up to 300 people.The only other large-scale SiC ceramic fiber factory is operated by NGS Advanced Fibers Co. in Toyama, Japan.
Formed in 2012, NGS is a joint company of Nippon Carbon, GE and Safran of France. The US SiC fiber plant will license fiber-producing technology from NGS Advanced Fibers Co.
The only other large-scale SiC ceramic fiber factory is operated by NGS Advanced Fibers Co. in Toyama, Japan. Formed in 2012, NGS is a joint company of Nippon Carbon, GE and Safran of France.
GE Aviation is a large part of the industrial giant with revenues that are nearly as large as those of DuPont Co.
