Boeing 737 MAX LEAP-1B engine begins ground testing

CFM ran the engine for the first time on June 13, three days ahead of schedule. The LEAP-1B engine, installed in a test cell at Snecma (Safran) facilities in Villaroche, France, successfully completed a series of break-in runs before reaching full take-off thrust. 

"CFM has a proven history of delivering the most reliable, high-performing engines in the single-aisle market," said Keith Leverkuhn, vice president and general manager, 737 MAX program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "The start of testing on the LEAP-1B engine for the 737 MAX demonstrates that we are on track to deliver the most fuel-efficient single-aisle airplane family in the industry in 2017." 

The engine will be on test for the next several weeks, during which time CFM will verify its mechanical operation, operability (stall margin), engine starts and further validate the advanced technologies incorporated in the engine, including the woven carbon fiber composite fan, the Twin-Annular, Pre-Mixing Swirler (TAPS) combustor, ceramic matrix composite shrouds in the high-pressure turbine and the titanium aluminide blades in the low-pressure turbine. The LEAP-1B is specifically optimized for the 737 MAX with a smaller, highly efficient core and benefits from these new technologies. 

"We are really excited to have this engine on test. Now that we are running at full power, we can really see what it is capable of," said Cédric Goubet, executive vice president for CFM. "All of the testing we have done to date has validated the technology choices we made. The LEAP-1B engine will deliver everything we have promised and more."