The large fan at the front of a modern turbofan engine is responsible for the vast majority of the thrust produced.

“The vast majority of the thrust, over 80% of it, just comes from that big fan at the front of the jet.”

Ingested atmospheric dust and sand pose a significant threat to jet engines because they can obstruct cooling circuits and degrade thermal barrier coatings.

“The dirt and dust comes, it sticks on the blades, but it also goes through the whole cooling circuit, and it walks the cooling from getting through to cool the blades, and then the blades burn up.”