Edited excerpts from the Wall Street Journal:
Rolls-Royce said today it is "closing in on understanding why one of its engines on a Qantas.A380 blew apart last week”, and is making fixes that will allow QF to return the jets to service.
"It is now clear this incident is specific to the Trent 900 engine," and checks are now being completed that will allow the aircraft to resume operations "in full compliance with all safety standards".
The article reported that the Trent 900 is designed to deliver between 70,000 and 80,000 pounds of thrust. While the engines on all three of the three airlines that use it are physically identical, the control computers on LH and SQ are set at 70,000 pounds, while QF’s are set at 72,000 pounds, This is due the average length of QF A380 flights being longer requiring more fuel and more thrust at TO. This difference might be a contributing factor, but the difference in thrust alone wouldn't explain the engine failure.