Chapter 699 Vector Nozzle

"Our Soviet aerospace technology is the best in the world." After looking at the entire production line and returning to the conference room, Andre said with great admiration.

The scene just now left Andre with an extremely shocking impression. Although Andre flew planes in his later life and assembled fighter planes at Shenfei, Andre had seen fighter production lines, but he had never seen an engine production line.

Although the Liming Factory affiliated with Shenfei also produces engines, they are the outdated turbojets. As for the WS-10, it has always been under development and has not been produced in large quantities.

And now, at the Salute Factory, Andre saw the engine production line, and the shock it received was so great that it was unimaginable.

Aircraft engines are the crown of the mechanical industry. The number of companies in the world that can independently develop engines can be counted on one hand, and advanced turbofan engines require a variety of industrial bases, materials, processing technologies, etc.

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When visiting the titanium alloy welding workshop, Andre saw welders wearing protective clothing that looked like space suits entering the pressurized cabin, passing through the first door of the pressurized cabin and entering the airlock, connecting the ventilating pipe to the protective clothing, and then closing the door and injecting argon into the airlock. After the airlock was filled with argon and the pressure was balanced, the welders opened the second door and entered the pressurized cabin to start working. Inside, the arc sparks flew, with a unique beauty, just like welding in space.

At the same time, we also saw equipment produced in the island country, which was used for vacuum electron beam welding. The movements of the robotic arms were just like something out of a science fiction movie.

In another workshop, he saw CNC punching and engraving molds used to cast single crystal blades. Each single crystal blade is almost as valuable as gold of the same weight. After Andrei asked, he learned that these CNC machine tools were new machine tools developed by the Soviet Union after absorbing the manufacturing experience of CNC machine tools of the island countries. Andrei was even more satisfied.

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The last place to enter is the test bench. The assembled engine needs to be tested on the test bench. Only after passing the test bench can it be transported away. The roar of the engine is extremely shocking on the test bench.

Now, Andre's ears were still buzzing, but at the same time, his face was full of smiles.

"Now, let me report to you on the development of the new AL-41 engine." An experienced chief engineer said next to Liulika.

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Although Lyulka was still in charge, he was old after all, so the chief engineer of the new AL-41 engine was handed over to his deputy, Dr. Chekin.

"Since we have just completed the development of the AL-31 engine, our new AL-41 engine is based on the design of the AL-31 engine and then obtained through a series of improvements." Dr. Che Jin said: "Our design work started at the beginning of last year, code-named 'Product 20'. We used new structural materials - ceramics and metal ceramics, improved the design, changed the cycle parameters, used high-load turbine and compressor blades, and increased the turbine inlet temperature, and finally achieved a thrust solution of 20 tons."

20 tons! In the Product 20 project, this engine needs to reach a maximum afterburner thrust of 20 tons, and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 11! At present, this is simply a fantasy number, but if you want the next generation of fighters to have a powerful thrust, this is an inevitable choice!

"At the same time, in terms of control, we will change the original hydraulic control system to digital fly-by-wire control in order to adapt to the new generation of fighter aircraft's integrated flight, fire and thrust control system. Now, we are in the detailed design stage of the engine, but we still have a technical issue that has not been determined."

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After hearing what Dr. Che Jin said, Andre couldn't help but ask: "What technical problem?" Although he didn't understand any technology, he had a lot of experience from later generations!

"It's the vector nozzle. So far, we haven't determined the specific form of the vector nozzle."

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Vector nozzle! The next generation of fighters must have strong maneuverability, and strong maneuverability is not only related to engine thrust, but also to various control surfaces.

The various directional controls of the aircraft are all achieved by the control surfaces. At high angles of attack, many control surfaces have lost their aerodynamic torque and are prone to stalling and crashing. The vector nozzle of the engine allows the engine to generate not only backward thrust, but also a part of it to other directions, such as up and down. The engine nozzle deflects up and down, and the thrust generated no longer passes through the center of gravity of the aircraft, but generates a pitch moment around the center of gravity of the aircraft. At this time, the thrust plays the same role as the aircraft control surface. Since the generation of thrust is only related to the engine, even if the angle of attack of the aircraft exceeds the stall angle of attack, the thrust can still provide torque to balance the aircraft. As long as the wings can still generate enough lift, the aircraft can continue to fly in the air. Such a fighter has the ability to maneuver after stalling. If the vector nozzle can also turn left and right, it can not only control the pitch, but also the left and right heading.

Therefore, thrust vectoring technology is also a must for the next generation of fighter jets. However, how to solve this problem is also a difficult problem.

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"The simplest solution is to put a baffle directly inside the nozzle, but this will cause the most gas loss and is not cost-effective. In addition to this simplest solution, there should be three alternative solutions, such as a rectangular nozzle or four adjustable plates that can be rotated in a matching manner. This method has a simple structure and is relatively easy to implement, but the airflow will be blocked by some parts of the square nozzle when the circle turns into a square, resulting in a partial loss of thrust. However, this form of tail nozzle structure will have a better shaping effect on the rear of the fuselage, matching our new stealth fighter, and can control pitch and yaw at the same time. The second is the overall deflection of the nozzle. This method requires the least moving parts for sealing, is light in weight, and is easy to implement with process materials. However, this requires a structure slightly larger than the maximum diameter of the engine to be formed at the rear of the engine to accommodate the hydraulic rod that provides power for the overall deflection of the nozzle. In other words, our fighter will suddenly become thicker when it reaches the rear. The third is the deflection of the tail nozzle blades, but this method has the most moving parts, and it would be a tragedy if the seal fails."

Andrei spoke and gestured with his hands, analyzing the three main methods. He spoke very clearly, and Dr. Che Jin, Liulika and others nodded continuously. They all said that General Andrei was knowledgeable and well-informed. Now they heard it, it was true!

"Then General Andrei, which way do you think is best?" asked Lyulika.

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In fact, these are all knowledge of later generations. As a pilot, Andre certainly knows how these vector nozzles are constructed! The second one is simply impossible to achieve. The first one is the structure of the binary vector nozzle used by the F-22 in later generations, and the third one is the axisymmetric vector nozzle structure used by Russia. If we talk about performance, Russia's performance should be better. One nozzle is tilted upwards, and the other nozzle is tilted downwards. It can also control rolling, which is the most amazing skill for pilots.

However, this thing also has a weakness, which is its lifespan!

In the later China, the Indians, who were eyeing the Chinese Su-27 fleet, bought the Su-30MKI to counter the Chinese Su-27 fleet. Moreover, in order to satisfy their superiority mentality, the Indians bought the latest Russian technology, such as the vector nozzle! In the eyes of the Indians, this is a killer! They also fantasized about using this thing to dogfight with Chinese pilots and then tease the Chinese pilots for fun.

After the Su-30MKI equipment was delivered to India, India suddenly discovered that this advanced technology requires a certain price. For example, in terms of lifespan, the engine nozzles of this batch of India's aircraft have a lifespan of only 50 hours!

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What does this mean? Even if the aircraft only flies for two hours each time and flies 10 times a month, it can only fly for two to three months before the tail nozzle needs to be replaced! I wonder if the Indians will learn from this loss.

Although this is related to the significant decline in Russia's economic strength in later generations, the short life of this type of vector nozzle is also an inevitable common problem. There are too many moving parts, and as long as one of them goes wrong, it will definitely cause a fire!

(The U.S. F-22's vector nozzle is said to have a lifespan of 250 hours, which is much longer than India's.)

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Now, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union had just developed the Al-31 engine, which was several years ahead of the historical progress. Of course, it was also largely related to the fact that the Soviet Union obtained the American F-15 fighter and studied the F110 engine on it for reference. However, in terms of the tail nozzle, this must be studied by ourselves.

"Among these options, I think the first one is the most suitable. It has low infrared radiation and is easy to match with the fuselage of the new generation of fighter jets. It also has small moving parts and the longest lifespan."

Andre's profound knowledge made the engine experts present nod their heads. In fact, in their hearts, they preferred the third option. However, they were not sure about this option. There were too many moving parts, which could easily cause failures. In terms of service life, it would definitely not be too long, no matter how it was improved, because it was a high temperature and high pressure environment, which was a fatal test for any material.

"Then we will take the first option as the main option and the third option as the backup option," said Liulika.