THE INSTALLATION, TESTING, AND LESSONS LEARNED OF THE TF40B GAS-TURBINE TEST FACILITY

The TF40B Gas Turbine Test Facility is the only dedicated Landing Craf t, Air Cushion main propulsion engine test complex available to the U. S. Navy. This facility, located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, C arderock Division (NSWCCD) in Philadelphia, PA, began operation in Aug ust, 1992. Since then, the test engine has logged approximately 230 st arts and 350 operating hours. This paper will present the installation , testing, and lessons learned of the the TF40B test facility. The ins tallation section will discuss the modifications made to the existing test facility to accept the TF40B engine. The lest section will includ e the Foreign Object Damage (FOD) screen evaluation, both on-line and crank wash detergent fluid evaluations, cold weather fuel testing, eng ine vent line testing and Aerojet 5 oil evaluation. The lessons learne d section will include problems related to the electric starter, water brake, inlet and exhaust systems, data acquisition system, instrumenta tion control panel, and the test cell equipment arrangement.