The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a high bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc.

In July 2006, the

Trent XWB was selected to power exclusively the Airbus A350. The first engine was run on 14 June
2010, it first flew on an A380 testbed on 18 February 2012, it was certified in early 2013, and it first
flew on an A350 on 14 June 2013.

Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB is one of the most efficient widebody engines, exclusive to the Airbus A350
family. Airbus currently offers two major variants of the Airbus A350 family, the shorter A350-900
and the stretched A350-1000. Two Trent XWB-84 (84,200 lbf / 374.5 kN) turbofans power the -900
variant. Rolls-Royce introduced a more powerful version, the XWB-97 (97,000 lbf / 431.5 kN), to
power A350-1000 and A350F.

The Trent XWB-97 is not just an upgraded version of the XWB-84 and requires greater development,
testing, and proving. While the -97 has many attributes similar to -84, some advanced technologies it
employs to produce comparatively extra thrust and optimum aircraft performance are also very
different. Rolls-Royce significantly improved the XWB-97’s design, systems, and functionalities to
make it capable of handling a greater payload and range than the A350-900.

As with all other members of the RR Trent family, the Trent XWB incorporates a three-shaft
architecture, while other engines in the same thrust category incorporate a two-spool architecture.
Trent XWB keeps the characteristic three-shaft layout of the Rolls-Royce Trent, with a 3.00 m (118 in)
fan, an IP and HP spool. The 84,200–97,000 lbf (375–431 kN) engine has a 9.6:1 Bypass ratio and a
50:1 Pressure ratio.

Airbus plans to use the XWB-97 engine on the A350F to offer greater payload and range than
competitors. From the operator’s perspective, the XWB-97 is deliberately designed to have very little
visible difference so that the pilots’ flying experience is the same.
 References:

[1] Dr. O. Memon, “How Rolls-Royce Is Optimizing The Trent XWB

Engine For The A350F”, Simple Flying, https://simpleflying.com/rolls-
royce-trent-xwb-engine-optimization-airbus-a350f/, [ Accessed
August 16, 2023 ]

[2] Ashwini, “Trent XWB: High Bypass Turbofan”, Scribd,

https://www.scribd.com/document/468037670/trent, [ Accessed
August 16, 2023 ]