At the IV Congress of Young Scientists on Thursday, November 28, Mikhail Bakradze, the Deputy General Director of JSC United Engine Corporation, UEC, discussed the key advantages of using polymer blades in the most recent, highly anticipated high-power aircraft engine, the PD-35.. The material from which the PD-35 fan blades will be fabricated is considered an innovation in the field of polymer composite materials (PCM) by UEC.
“An example of today’s breakthrough in the field of polymer materials for our engine building is the creation of the polymer blade of the PD-35 fan. Without this technology, it would be impossible to create a high-thrust engine, because this is a key position. The next stage of development of this technology will already be thermoplastic polymers, and this is a huge layer of work that we need to overcome – to create a production technology,” the site “Aviation of Russia” quotes him as saying at the plenary session of the congress, which took place in the federal territory “Sirius” in Sochi.
The use of a composite blade instead of a hollow titanium blade enables a 30% reduction in fan weight. This reduction in weight will be noticeable in the form of a tangible reduction in the overall weight of the power plant, particularly on a large engine such as the PD-35.
New materials are essential for the transition to new engine designs, as per Mikhail Bakradze. The fourth-generation PS-90A engine was developed at the end of the 20th century as a result of the development of a multi-component alloy consisting of approximately 20 technical components, he stated. UEC has already developed and is currently in the process of developing engines and engine components that are compatible with the fifth generation. The deputy director of UEC said in his speech that the transition to sixth-generation engines will be guaranteed in the near future due to the development of polymers and composites with even higher characteristics.
“It would be impossible to achieve a fundamentally new level of development of technologies and materials in our engine industry without an advanced scientific and technical reserve. Therefore, the next generations of engines should certainly be more non-metallic. By 2035, the share of such materials in an aircraft engine should be approximately 30 percent against today’s current 10,” Bakradze said.
Bakradze stated that the proportion of such materials in an aircraft engine should be approximately 30% by 2035, as opposed to the current 10%. Concurrently, he stressed that the experimental design work alone in the development of a new engine can take anywhere from seven to ten years, despite the availability of technical and scientific reserves.
The composite blades of the PD-35 fan were displayed to experts and visitors at the Airshow China air show in November 2024 in Zhuhai, China. These blades had previously been proven to have the desired properties. In early November, Altitude Addicts reported that the PD-35 demonstrator engine had successfully completed the first phase of testing on a new open stand. It repeatedly achieved takeoff mode with a thrust of 35 tons during the experiments. The parameters and characteristics that were obtained exceeded the anticipated values, which substantiated the accuracy of the designers’ selected technical solutions.
Upon the completion of development in 2020, the United Engine Corporation, in collaboration with specialized research institutes, produced the initial prototypes of composite fan blades for the PD-35 engine. The PD-35 fan blade demonstrator underwent its initial stage of testing in Perm on June 27, 2020, as part of the PD-14 engine.
At the International Engine Building Forum, UEC also presented for the first time the working and nozzle blades of the low-pressure turbine of the PD-35 technology demonstrator engine, manufactured using additive technologies. 3D printing enables to produce parts of the most accurate shape that can withstand heavy loads. It is additive technologies and composites that open up new opportunities in the creation of future technologies and are among the critical ones for the creation of modern aircraft engines such as PD-35.
In October this year,
Altitude Addicts reported that the composite production facility of the “Ilyushin” branch – VASO has achieved a groundbreaking accomplishment by manufacturing the first-ever experimental, completely composite air intake for an aircraft engine. This was meant for the PD-14 and PD-35 Engines.
The potential impact of this innovation is substantial. Specialists from “UEC-Aviadvigatel” and TsAGI predict that the laminated composite structure, with its laminar airflow over the surface, could reduce the loss of effective thrust in the aircraft by up to 1%. This improvement, though seemingly small, can lead to significant fuel savings and enhanced performance over time.
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