Trent 900 Turbofan Jet Engine Model

A highly detailed, motorised and geared model of Rolls-Royce Trent 900, the engine that powers the world's largest passenger aircraft — the Airbus A380.

 

🛠️ This CAD model was first created by Chris Shakal, adpated for 3D printing by Nejc Terbuc, tolerance optimisation and print bed organisation by Matthew Lee. 🛠️

This is an advanced build consisting of over 100 individually printed parts. All components, except for bearings and screws, can be 3D printed. Expect around 1-2 weeks of printing followed by ~8-12 hours of assembly.

A display plaque with key Trent 900 engine specifications is included as a separate .3mf file.

1. Key Features of the Model✈️ 

• Accurately represents the Trent 900’s 3-spool architecture:
  • 1-stage Fan (LPC)
  • 6-stage Intermediate-Pressure Compressor (IPC)
  • 8-stage High-Pressure Compressor (HPC)
  • Single-stage High-Pressure Turbine (HPT)
  • Single-stage Intermediate-Pressure Turbine (IPT)
  • 6-stage Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT)
• Fully motorised rotating shafts and gears
  • Limitation: unrealistic rotation of spools. (Only HP section rotates counter-clockwise)
• TPU Nose cone
  • Simulates the flexible rubber nose cone found on real Rolls-Royce engines to prevent ice formation

2. Terminology & Engine Overview 📘

• Blades – Rotating components
• Vanes – Stationary components
• Casing – The outer shell of the engine
• 3-Spool Jet Engine Sequence (Front to Back): Fan / LPC → IPC → HPC → Combustor → HPT → IPT → LPT

3. Print Organization and Material Guide 🎨

• Parts have been grouped by assembly order and function/color for intuitive building.

  Component	Material (Recommended)
  Fan Blades	PLA Silk+ Titan Grey
  Fan Blade Body	PLA Metal Iron Grey
  Vanes	PLA Grey
  Casing	PLA Silk+ Silver
  High-Temp Region	PLA Silk+ Rose Gold
  Nozzle	PLA Metal Iridium Gold
  Spinner	PLA Black & White
  Nose Cone	TPU Black
  Stand	PLA Silk+ Blue
  Inner Gears & Shaft	PETG Black

• Gears and shafts have increased wall count for strength.
• Colored and gear components are consolidated for faster batch printing.

4. Print Settings⚙️

• Use 3MF file settings to retain all print optimizations (do not export to STL)

• 

  XY Hole and Contour Compensation have been pre-applied.

• Titan Grey Silk+: Prints look similar at 30mm/s and 50mm/s. Prefer faster speeds where possible.
• Fan Blades: Slowed print speed to reduce wobble.
• Spinner: Print with finer layer height for better finish.
• All Other Parts: Standard 0.15 mm layer height (0.2 mm works fine as well).

5. Assembly Guide 🔧

• Assembly requires time, patience, and proper tools. Refer to the PDF guide by Nejc Terbuc, which is included in the files (modified slightly by myself).
• Tools Recommended:
  Screwdrivers, super glue, needle-nose pliers, pliers (support removal), blowtorch (for loose stringing), 0.8 mm drill bit (for hole cleaning), Hairdryer (for spinner fitting)
• Refer closely to the following images to build the following five parts individually, before final assembly:

1. Fan / LPC
2. IPC
3. HPC + Combustor + HPT
4. Turbine (IPT + LPT)
5. Stand

6. Additional Tips: 

• Warping – The Fan casing and blades can experience warping that will affect tolerances. Print with mouse-ears or full brim (pre-applied), increase if necessary.
• Assembly with M1 screws – Assemble the components in a way that allows the screwdriver to sit perpendicular to the screw axis. Do not use excessive force, as this may strip the screw.
• IPC and HPC sections can be joined with blue-tac — strong enough for torque transfer, while allowing disassembly.

• Spinner – Fit heated stripe using hairdryer, then glue into place (similar to 2-spool jet engine model by Chris Shakal)
• Lubricants –  Apply silicon grease to surfaces in contact with moving parts.
• Power – Use 45W laptop chargers / fast chargers to power the model to greater effect.
• Bearings – Some bearings (marked in the PDF) can be excluded to save cost, especially for static display models.
• Bill of Materials – External materials can be purchased via Aliexpress or Amazon (thanks @austinseamons). Keep in mind not all bearings are absolutely necessary, and screws can always be replaced with glue (although I highly recommend using M2.5x10 wood screws).

Final Notes🚀 

This model was refined during my internship at Rolls-Royce, and its the most faithful representation of an actual jet engine that I have found. With an accurate 3-spool stage structure, rotating shafts, and detailed internals with low tolerances, it’s an excellent tool for STEM outreach and education. It also serves as a formidable display piece in any engineering or maker space. Hope you have as much with it as I did!

— Matthew Lee