Curtiss-Wright awarded contract from Rolls-Royce to provide laser peening on Trent engine fan blades

Curtiss-Wright Corporation announced today that its Surface Technologies segment has been awarded a contract from Rolls-Royce to establish and operate a laser peening production cell inside of Rolls-Royce's wide chord fan blade (WCFB) manufacturing facility in Singapore. The laser peening cell is currently fully operational and processing fan blades for certain Trent aero engines.

Curtiss-Wright's laser peening technology is based on a Neodymium glass laser technology, which was originally developed in conjunction with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It has the ability to impart deep compressive stresses on the surface of metal parts, which can then be used to minimize the maintenance/inspection interval of these critical components. Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies operates laser peening facilities in Livermore, CA; Earby, UK; Frederickson, WA and Palmdale, CA and also has mobile laser peening systems with the capability to go on-site anywhere in the world.

"We are very pleased to be providing Rolls-Royce with our state-of-the-art laser peening technology for their most advanced commercial engine designs," said Martin R. Benante, Chairman and CEO of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. "This award is a significant milestone in continuing to expand our proprietary laser peening technology globally. A number of industry leaders, such as Boeing and Siemens, have also recognized the benefits of this unique and highly technical offering."

The Trent aero engine family provides world class performance and reliability to a wide array of the most advanced commercial airplanes today, including the Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and Airbus A380.