VITAL is a four-year program with a total budget of 90.9 million euros, including 50.7 million euros in funding from the European Commission. It gathers a consortium of 53 partners lead by Snecma, including all major European engine manufacturers – Rolls-Royce Plc, MTU Aero Engines, Avio, Volvo Aero, Techspace Aero, Rolls-Royce Deutschland and ITP, and the air framer Airbus.
The VITAL program, building on the results of the previous research programs EEFAE & SILENCE®, aims to achieve the technology breakthroughs required to meet the ambitious ACARE1 goals. Jean-Jacques Korsia, VITAL program coordinator at Snecma, said: " The VITAL program will only be able to meet its goals by achieving real technological breakthroughs.”
It focuses on the low-pressure parts of the engine, evaluating new engine designs including counter-rotating fans, lightened fans, highly-loaded turbines and turbines with fewer blades, as well as more specific enabling technologies. The weight reduction will enable the development of very high bypass ratio engines that reduce noise by 5dB to 8dB, while also decreasing CO2 emissions. Each component will be validated along the program by large-scale aeroacoustic and mechanical rig tests.
The VITAL program will deliver the technologies expected by our customers to help control the environmental impact of air transport.
(1) ACARE is the European Commission’s Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research, grouping all stakeholders in the European aviation industry: representatives of the EC and member-countries, industry, research centers, airports, etc. ACARE drew up the Strategic Research Agenda to address objectives for the 2020 timeframe. From the environmental standpoint, these objectives include cutting perceived noise in half, an 80% reduction in oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and a 50% reduction in carbonic gases, all at acceptable costs.