Editing Turbofan (section)

=== Fan blades ===
Fan blades have been growing as jet engines have been getting bigger: each fan blade carries the equivalent of nine [[double-decker bus]]es and swallows air the equivalent volume of a [[squash court]] every second.<!--<ref name=MRO28sep2017/>-->
Advances in [[computational fluid dynamics]] (CFD) modelling have permitted complex, 3D curved shapes with very wide [[Chord (aeronautics)|chord]], keeping the fan capabilities while minimizing the blade count to lower costs.<!--<ref name=MRO28sep2017/>-->
Coincidentally, the [[bypass ratio]] grew to achieve higher [[propulsive efficiency]] and the fan diameter increased.<ref name=MRO28sep2017/>

Rolls-Royce pioneered the hollow, [[titanium]] wide-chord fan blade in the 1980s for aerodynamic efficiency and [[foreign object damage]] resistance in the [[RB211]] then for the [[Rolls-Royce Trent|Trent]].<!--<ref name=MRO28sep2017/>-->
[[GE Aviation]] introduced [[carbon fiber composite]] fan blades on the [[GE90]] in 1995, manufactured since 2017 with a [[carbon-fiber tape|carbon-fiber tape-layer]] process.<!--<ref name=MRO28sep2017/>-->
GE partner [[Safran]] developed a [[3D weaving|3D woven]] technology with [[Albany Engineered Composites|Albany Composites]] for the [[CFM56]] and [[CFM LEAP]] engines.<ref name=MRO28sep2017>{{cite news |url= http://www.mro-network.com/engines-engine-systems/understanding-complexities-bigger-fan-blades |title= Understanding Complexities Of Bigger Fan Blades |author= Ben Hargreaves |date= Sep 28, 2017 |work= Aviation Week Network}}</ref>