S.S. White Technologies is here at the Paris Air Show highlighting the flexible shafts it is providing for the CFM Leap-1C’s thrust reversers. The flexible rotary shafts transmit power to activate the Nexcelle O-Duct thrust reverser actuation system that will equip the single-aisle Comac C919. For each nacelle, S.S. White supplies a set of three shafts that synchronize the O-Duct actuators. They also prevent inadvertent deployment, according to the company.
The one-piece composite O-Duct replaces a conventional thrust reverser's two-piece D-doors and is deployed with new kinematics that transition the entire O-Duct aft to the reverse thrust position. The actuation system is electric, which was pioneered by the Airbus A380. The benefits of the O-Duct architecture are reduced weight and an elimination of the D-door’s bifurcation in the flow path, thus increasing efficiency.