Aircraft operators look for quality, reliability – and

ENGINE MAINTENANCE • ADVERTORIAL
Aircraft operators look for quality,
reliability – and savings – in
alternative engine components
Despite demonstrated performance and cost savings, the debate about the use of alternative materials
continues. Rob Church, director, sales & marketing at BELAC, provides a review of the company’s parts –
and performance record – in a bid to help set the record straight.
I
High pressure
turbine engine
blades produced by BELAC
LLC, a Chromalloy joint
venture company with airlines.
46 | MRO YEARBOOK 2012
N 2010 BELAC won its first
military contract to supply the
US Air Force with High Pressure
Turbine (HPT) blades for aircraft
engines. It was another milestone
for the company, a manufacturer
of Parts Manufacturer Approval
(PMA) equipment for the engine
hot section. Since it was founded
in 1998, the joint venture between
Chromalloy, Lufthansa Technik and
United Airlines had seen growing
demand from aircraft operators for
its FAA-certified parts.
When BELAC began delivering
equipment in 2002 a few airlines in
the US and Europe took delivery of
the parts, which are designed and reengineered to perform at the same or
better performance levels than original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts.
Today BELAC has 38 customers — an
operator base that includes many
of the world’s largest commercial air
carriers, leading MRO shops, aircraft
brokers, and the US military.
Demand continues to increase
worldwide, particularly in growth
regions like Asia, as operators consider
alternative parts when faced with
replacing worn engine blades during
maintenance. The driver? Fuel prices
remain high and other operating
costs put pressure on operators’
business models. Aircraft engines have
high cost equipment — the highest
operational maintenance cost next to
fuel. For airlines to produce profit they
need to find ways to ensure reliability,
availability, maintainability, safety
and performance — while examining
every sourcing solution to reduce
ADVERTORIAL • ENGINE MAINTENANCE
expenses in an effort to produce profit
margins.
Similarly, military operators need to
drive the best sourcing solutions by
leveraging commercial best practices.
The alternative parts, fully FAA
regulated and certified like OEM
equipment, significantly cut costs
associated with maintenance. While
the cost of OEM engine parts typically
increases five or more per cent a year,
savings produced by installing the
alternative parts is about 35 per cent
lower than OEM catalogue prices.
BELAC blades also have significantly
higher repair yields — meaning
operators can more often repair used
blades rather than scrapping and
buying new during maintenance.
Since BELAC began shipping blades,
use of the parts has saved the aviation
industry about $200m, the company
estimates. That’s a cost saving of
up to $10 per engine flight hour
— significant even to a small fleet
operator.
Despite demonstrated performance
and cost savings, however, BELAC
continues to face headwinds from
industry observers who stoke the
debate about the use of alternative
materials. A review of the company’s
parts — and performance record —
may help set the record straight.
BELAC develops parts under a rigorous, compliant manufacturing system and battery of quality and reliability tests and
inspection processes.
CERTIFIED
AIRWORTHINESS
With more than 400 million flight
hours on nine HPT blade product lines,
BELAC is one of the few producers of
alternative components for the hot
section or gas path of the turbine
engine. To date it has installed
more than 50,000 HPT blades. To
obtain FAA approval to certify the
components, BELAC develops parts
under the same rigorous, compliant
manufacturing system and battery
of quality and reliability tests and
inspection processes employed by
and for the OEMs. Like the OEMs
and their suppliers of critical engine
components, BELAC is ISO9001:2008/
AS9100B:2009 qualified and offers
design, tooling development,
machining and inspection to
customers in a fully FAA-regulated
environment.
BELAC is ISO9001:2008/AS9100B:2009 qualified and offers design, tooling development, machining and inspection in a fully
FAA-regulated environment.
The company employs a unique re-engineering
design approach, fully utilising engineering modelling
techniques to produce turbine components.
Each manufactured part conforms to FAAapproved design data, attesting to its safety for
operation. The FAA provides rigorous oversight
during each step of the development process,
including final testing and certification.
BELAC blades are subject to the same engineering
design and manufacturing processes and FAA
scrutiny as OEM blades — and perhaps even more
stringent. When evaluations are made for BELAC
equipment, it is for one part at a time — versus
an OEM when evaluation is on the entire engine
product.
Performance data validates the parts as a reliable
alternative, with a stellar track record of safety
and reliability. The data shows superior on-wing
maintainability — and lower overhaul costs when
removed from service and inspected. There has never
been a reported removal due to problems stemming
from a BELAC part.
MRO YEARBOOK 2012 | 47
ENGINE MAINTENANCE • ADVERTORIAL
FAA OVERSIGHT
With more than 400 million flight hours on its HPT
blade product lines, BELAC is one of few producers
of alternative components for the hot section of the
turbine engine.
TOP REPAIR YIELDS
In addition to proven reliability, performance and
safety, BELAC blades provide other advantages.
BELAC blades incorporate unique diffused precious
metal / aluminide and chromide coatings that
protect against hot corrosion occurring below the
under platform and pocket areas of the blades.
During maintenance blade overhaul results
show the parts, which are manufactured with
Chromalloy advanced thermal barrier coatings,
have demonstrated higher yields upon repair
due to advanced corrosion resistance than OEM
equipment. Chromalloy pioneered turbine engine
coatings 60 years ago and today is a leading
supplier to manufacturers of commercial aviation,
marine and industrial aero-derivatives, light and
heavy industrial gas turbine engines.
In the engine hot section or gas path, barrier
coatings provide a layer of insulation to the base
metal component and underlying bond coating
surface of the turbine blades, protecting from the
extreme heat of the combustion gases during
engine operation. The resulting lower thermal
conductivity allows higher engine temperatures.
Coatings also provide the blades protective
barriers in the engine’s highly oxidising, corrosive
environment.
As a result BELAC blades average more than 93
per cent repairable vs. an industry average of 66
per cent for all HPT blades. BELAC CF6-80C2 first
stage engine blade repair yields are even higher.
Improved proprietary coatings developed uniquely
for components in this power system provide
improved corrosion resistance.
Higher repair yields mean operators can more
often choose to repair blades rather than scrap and
buy new, at additional savings.
48 | MRO YEARBOOK 2012
In its 2009 report on the industry’s use of critical PMA equipment, the FAA provided a
thorough examination of alternative materials. The agency’s Aviation Safety, Repair,
Alteration and Fabrication Study (May 22, 2009, Rev. 1) concluded FAA-certified PMA parts
are as safe as OEM parts. The FAA stated that PMA components produced under the same
development and manufacturing techniques as the OEMs are approved as the result of the
same highly rigorous testing procedures and processes as OEM equipment.
In the 274-page report the FAA determined certified PMA equipment to provide the same
airworthiness as the original equipment.
Bilateral agreements between the FAA, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and all
major airworthiness authorities provide global acceptance for PMA parts.
Further, aerospace consultant David Doll, in his paper The Airline Guide to PMA, echoed the
FAA. Doll acknowledges a hotly competitive environment for replacement parts due to the
lucrative aftermarket business, but contends the equipment — certified, flight tested and
widely available — benefits cash-strapped operators as a cost savings tool that will help
them better manage their sourcing and maintenance costs. He reviewed development and
certification under the FAA and discussed oversight provided by manufacturers and the FAA
from installation through usage. Certification for PMA parts is every bit as rigorous as the
process required for the OEMs, he noted.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Notwithstanding the performance, safety and reliability demonstrated for years by the
BELAC alternative parts, debate in the industry continues over the use of PMA parts in the
engine. The most common barriers to
acceptance continue to be concerns
about global acceptance, re marketability of the aircraft, or engine
and reduced asset value.
The leasing industry, which now
accounts for about 40 per cent of
the global aircraft fleet, is showing
signs of accepting what amounts to
years of education, demonstrated
performance, and experience gained
through the use of PMA parts.
The outdated ideas that the use
of PMA parts will make it difficult to
place aircraft whose engines contain
BELAC’s knowledgeable staff is fundamental to successful metallurgical
development in reengineered components.
non-OEM components is being
replaced with more reliable facts — that PMA parts are equivalent to OEM parts in all aspects,
including residual value. Still, the PMA community, as well as civil aviation authorities, need
to do a better job of education, as some have yet to accept the FAA and European Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA) regulatory authorities’ perspective. And, eager to maintain their
share of the lucrative aviation aftermarket market, OEMs discourage operators from using
alternative equipment by threatening limited support — including safety basics and limiting
language in licensing agreements that cover instructions for continued airworthiness
maintenance manuals.
Importantly, as the quantity of PMA parts in the engine has increased, the number of service
failures and Airworthiness Directives has not. Further, the FAA bilateral aviation agreement
with the EASA and other authorities addresses questions about usage by foreign carriers.
In the ongoing debate about acceptance of critical alternative materials in the engine,
the choice lies with the operator. Where these parts have been demonstrated to meet or
exceed the performance, reliability and durability specifications of OEM parts, that choice will
continue to define a competitive, open marketplace. The need for alternatives — and choice
— is likely to assure a place in the industry for PMA and alternative materials. ■
Rob Church is director, sales & marketing, for BELAC. He is responsible for commercial and military sales and new business development.
Previously he was Chromalloy regional sales director for the Americas, providing leadership for the company’s sales and marketing efforts.
He joined the company in 1989.