PD-14 - the main engine of Russia

on december 15 2020 the mc21-310 airliner took off from the airfield of the irkutsk aircraft plant at first glance nothing special no stunts extremes and records but this particular flight can be considered crucial because for the first time an airliner was raced into the sky by fiery hearts the very existence of which for a long time was considered an unattainable goal hello theater sky here and today we will get acquainted with the first completely new russian civil aircraft engine in several decades find out what solutions and technologies it has incorporated into itself and how it pulls forward not only the aircraft but the entire industry i present to you the pd-14 [Music] despite the fact that the pd-14 started flying recently its history is quite long and full of adventures in the late 2000s the ssj100 airliner entered the home stretch before the start of deliveries a completely new modern regional jet ambitious but without extremes however progress is necessary and having created the super jet the aviators decided to make a medium hole jet and enter the market with the largest volumes which has long been ruled by the boeing 737 and airbus a320 moreover they had to fight for this market with their new generation and the max and neo are goliaths the main trump cars of which were the latest aircraft engines the future mc21 airliner was supposed to be a huge leap forward and the engine issue was one of the most important the bar is clear the power plant must be at least at the level of competitors otherwise no matter what the plane is no one will need it the first and most obvious decision was to install the same engines as the competitors and it was accepted the mc21 is offered with a pratt whitney motor one of the leaders however at the dawn of the program in 2008 the newly formed united engine corporation uec proposed another road that the aviators decided to take to create another engine a russian one in the beginning this decision seemed like a gamble the engine that had to be created had no right to be inferior to counterparts and the counterparts the most advanced motors in the world are the results of decades of evolution within the walls of huge corporations there are only a few of them in the world it seemed that the russian engine building industry which had been in a semi-comatose state for a long time simply wouldn't catch up with them while the world giants of the industry had to take three steps the uec would have to take ten but the project nevertheless was launched considering that the engines are intended primarily for the mc21 family which includes several airliners of different dimensions the thrust of the engines for them ranged from approximately 123 to 153 kilonewtons the promising engine in russian perspective with a thrust of 137 kilonewtons or 14 tons force was supposed to become the base one and this is how the name pd14 appeared and now a cold shower i will not be telling the success stories of a team of lively adventurers just as i will not be throwing loud phrases about an incredibly breakthrough of an unparalleled mega device from one side of which desperate competitors panicked and closed the creators of the pd14 soberly assessed the opportunities problems and risks yes the accumulated potential is very large but the lag in a number of technologies is large too and it needs to be fixed moreover in a short time the best is the enemy of good no one will wait 20 years for an epic and ahead of its time museum exhibit that never made it to the series as unnecessary so the task was clear the pd-14 has to be a modern efficient environmentally friendly and competitive engine no more and no less you can't lag behind but you can't chase incredible innovations and wow effects either i repeat the uec needs to take 10 steps and any unnecessary risks could kill the project in the bud even with a conservative approach the pd14 is supposed to be one of the top engines in its class and a very serious challenge we're not talking about modifying something that already exists but about a completely new engine that incorporates both the best solutions available and a lot of completely new technologies that have not been previously used at all russian engineers have not had tasks of this scale since the 1980s once the program was initiated the entire industry got involved the uec aviate vegetal became the head design bureau related work was deployed throughout the country including both university labs and giant aviation centers such as tsagi vyam and tsiam all aspects were worked out from aerodynamics and computer modeling to mechanization and materials at the same time production workers got down to business the components of the new engines are being manufactured at many sites and the main one among them the place where the finished engines will be born is the uec betty motors plant all of them faced a serious modernization the corporation was reformed the reconstruction of facilities began centers of competence new production facilities and laboratories were created personnel was retrained and the latest equipment was purchased thousands of machine tools robots and entire platforms the pd-14 managed to push the whole russian aviation engine's industry forward even before it lifted the plane for which it was created nevertheless despite the complexity of the tasks set the work was carried out actively and quickly already in 2012 the first prototype for ground tests was assembled and in subsequent years it was joined by more and more prototype brothers in 2015 the engine saw the sky from under the wing of the ill-76 flying lab the main stage of testing was carried out on it which ended in 2018 with a certificate from the russian aviation authorities after that the pd-14 went under the very wing it was created for the airliner in the basic configuration with the pd-14 engine received the mc21-310 index and finally in december 2020 took to the skies at the initial stage of testing pilots behaved more carefully with the engine but rather quickly they began to push it to the limit and the pd-14 showed itself quite decently without limiting them in any way the mc21-310 conducts dozens of tests participates in demonstration flights and flies over long distances including outside of russia the dubai air show was the airliner's first overseas tour and there were no particular issues with the engine's operation but the tests continued too and at times with curious stages recently there was a test for the reliability of the power plant in flat conditions in clouds of volcanic ash previously no one was particularly interested in such situations but a volcano erupted in iceland which closed the airspace over half of europe and while the whole world was trying to pronounce the name ayafyatla yokut the aviation authorities thought about flight safety the test became a non-trivial task at the stands the aviators drove through the engine real ash of kamchatka volcanoes checking its ability to function in such conditions and this work was new not only for russia new requirements and such tests had not been carried out on a large scale before and so let's figure out what this whole industrial dance revolves around the pd14 is a classic modern turbojet engine the airflow in it moves along two circuits in the core the air is compressed ignited rotates the turbine and is thrown out through the nozzle creating thrust the bypass duct starts with a large fan which we can see from the outside the fan spins forcing air through the circuit creating additional thrust and increasing engine efficiency now in more detail let's start describing the engine from the inside out the core is the heart of the engine its hot part it is thanks to it that the jet engines are called fiery hearts for they are fiery in the literal sense the pd-14 is a fifth generation engine not to be confused with the famous fifth generation of fighters no one expects these engines to have stealth super sun and cruise super maneuverability and all that one of the main parameters characterizing the generations of jet engines is the temperature of gas coming to the turbine from the combustion chamber efficiency depends on it to a decent extent the early engines that appeared at the end of the second world war could heat up to 900 degrees celsius and over time by the fifth generation this bar actually doubled meanwhile the ability to work in this mode for a long time also grew the first engines were terribly unreliable dirty and noisy and their resource was often at the level of you can fly a little modern engines must run for a very long time be economical and environmentally friendly a balance must be struck between in fact opposite parameters no one needs a super powerful but disposable engine just like a super reliable mechanism that is unable to lift an aircraft into the air in the front part there is a compressor the task of which is to compress the air passing through it it is driven forward by stages rotating disc structures of complex shapes with blades along the circumference kind of unusual fans there are as many as 11 of them 3 low pressure and 8 high pressure stages and as it moves through the engine the number of their blades increases and the volume through which the air passes decreases like a gorge through which a river flows cozy descriptions should not deceive you this is a roaring machine with discs spinning at breakneck speeds inside which air in a split second turns from a cool breeze into hot gas the pressure of which jumps 40 times following the compressor is the main hero of this fire show a low emission combustion chamber where fuel is injected into the gas and ignited heating it to almost 2000 degrees the chamber by itself is a work of art the design with a very clever flow configuration which includes 48 nozzles is so complex to build that additive manufacturing is used for this work yes some of the parts are printed from metal by 3d printers this is not just a desire to simplify production and not attribute to industrial fashion otherwise it is simply impossible to make such a mechanism with the required parameters of compactness reliability and efficiency in the turbine the process is in a sense the reverse to the process in the compressor now hot and compressed air is bursting to the mechanism rushing first into two high pressure stages and then into six low pressure stages now the gas rotates the turbine and part of its energy is transmitted through it to the shaft which rotates the fan and the compressor blades which in turn compress and drive the gas here such is the circulation of energies in the engine the hot gas that passed through the turbine roars out of the nozzle creating jet thrust [Music] the main challenge for engine builders in the core are structural elements in direct contact with the working area primarily the blades they must be able to withstand enormous loads without melting or collapsing there are several solutions to this problem specially created high temperature alloys from which the casings are made i will not describe the composition it has half of the periodic table inside of these casings there are special channels through which air passes cooling them from the inside as a desert there's a special ceramic coating that takes the first blow of heat something like ceramic tiles that protects spaceships when entering the earth's atmosphere these solutions in various combinations allow the blades to work normally each blade and there are hundreds of them here so we examine the core of our fiery heart now it's time to step back a little and look at the bypass duct everything is simpler here there is no combustion chamber there is no turbine there is only one fan but it's a big one the description of the bypass stream of the pd14 raises a number of questions and often becomes the cause of criticism of the engine as a whole three features raise questions the fan of the engine is titanium it has a diameter of 1900 millimeters 190 centimeters behind the fan is the main part of the engine the bypass ratio of which is 8.5 this means that in the pd-14 eight and a half times more air is driven to the bypass duct than through the core for modern turbo fans an important parameter that engine builders like to point out and then there's a question fans of the competing 5th generation engines are composite and more big with the larger bypass ratios ranging from the impressive 11 to a wild 12.5 so what's up these parameters cannot be considered in isolation from the rest both in the engine itself and in conjunction with the aircraft the mc21 introduces a number of requirements for the pd-14 which was created for it a large fan and a high bypass ratio are good but they increase the size and weight of the motor as well as air resistance besides a huge bypass ratio is achieved through the use of special solutions and components that complicated the engines and created a number of problems that gave both manufacturers and operators a lot of headache during the initial stage of operation uec in the struggle for the optimal design decided not to complicate things and the performance is still very high for example in the engines of the 4th generation in this class the bypass ratio is at the level of five to six and the second question the fan of the pd-14 is composed of a group of white cord hollow titanium blades in the russian engine building this technology has not been massively used before and is being mastered right now unlike the conventional metal blades that can be seen on most aircraft engines the new blades are lighter larger have a complex aerodynamic shape and do not require additional reinforcing elements yes they are still a little heavier than composite ones but here again the question of balance is raised composite blades are quite complex and expensive to manufacture and the weight advantage becomes decisive as their size increases for example it is pointless to put composite fans on small motors you get the same thing for a bigger price and conversely on large engines composite fans are practically the only option the metal here will be too heavy the 75 inch pd14 fan is an adjacent point at which composites and metals are approximately equal the engineers evaluated pros and cons and chose hollow titanium as a more optimal option that can be mastered within the required time frame in addition the russian metal industry is rich in both titanium itself and experience in working with it including the creation of components for aircraft systems and it is easier and cheaper to purchase from your own it would be strange not to take advantage of such a bonus one more reason after mastering the pd14 the small pd8 will be created which certainly requires a titanium fan and the already master technology greatly simplifies the work the composite blades of large size for russia are a fairly new technology for competitors in this regard it is easier but you shouldn't think that they are not engaged in them prototypes are being created tested and will be installed on engines first of all on the promising large pd35 and with the development of this technology within the framework of certain modernizations the solution may well spread among others to the pd14 if it is really necessary how did this affect the engine the pd-14 surpasses its predecessors in specific fuel consumption by 12 to 16 and in emissions by about 30 percent further more interesting conservatism in the design and the lesser bypass ratio gave both pros and cons moreover with nuances the pd-14 probably has a higher specific fuel consumption but due to the better aerodynamics of the aircraft it can maintain the required flight speed with less thrust which reduces consumption so in cruising mode it is close to colleagues in class slightly falling behind them at low speeds for example on the ground on takeoffs and landings in addition if oil becomes cheaper the slightly higher fuel consumption won't matter this is quite realistic given the trend of decreasing demand for fossil fuels and the engines are created for decades to come at the same time conservatism gives advantages proven solutions better reliability cheaper elements and production the engine itself will be cheaper both in purchase and in operation this should keep the pd14 considering all the parameters at the level of counterparts and all this had to be calculated in advance along with a million other parameters even before the engine itself was created this is what you call experience and competence now we're gonna look at the labyrinth of devices cables pipes pumps and sensors wrapped around the engine usually this isn't talked about much because go figure what all this means but without all this conglomeration any aircraft engine is just a beautiful art installation for a part of this system automation uec star is responsible star is not really a name as it might seem but an abbreviation or fuel supply and automatic regulation systems unlike the engine bodies their brains have their own generations for example early motors were driven by hydraulics which were only helped by electronics the fourth generation acquired more complex systems such as fedex which were fully responsible for the operation of the engine and the mechanic was already in secondary roles the fifth generation uses serious computers with complex software functionality that controls all processes there are practically no mechanics here in addition new materials and technologies are actively used here lighter alloys high temperature mechanisms additive manufacturing and immediately with them bionic design a new area that allows you to design parts with excellent characteristics and in some places unusual appearance soon the engine units will look like they were painted by alien's father h.r geiger but it should be cool at work so far the engines don't look like alien artifacts but progress is evident for example here's the electronic regulator of the ps90 engine which can be seen under the wings of many russian aircraft next to it is the brother the pd-14 regulator a little lighter and much more compact with wider functionality this is felt even more clearly in the example of regulator pumps that supply fuel in the engine if this thing does not impress you let me tell you one figure the ps90a hydromechanical regulator consists of 6489 parts a similar unit at the pd14 is built on the basis of electronic regulators there are only about 1200 parts several times less this makes the regulator most simple compact light and reliable the fuel unit has a resource of 20 000 hours and the rest of the unit's 40 000 such figures have never been reached by russian engine builders before to achieve these indicators stringent tests are carried out absolutely all components are tested moreover not only for normal operation but also in rather harsh conditions they are shaken on vibration stands flooded frozen and on the contrary overheated the electronic unit was actually burned on the stand while the engineers heartlessly watched how the decaying computer behaves and whether it transmits inadequate commands to the engine curiously the element base of the engine is almost entirely russian the motives are purely practical firstly no one wants to breed competitors so critical technologies do not leave the walls of manufacturers secondly it can be difficult to work with large suppliers if the volumes of contracts are small they are not taken seriously domestic companies one way or another managed to organize production of the element base and with the localization of supplies trade wars and the crisis of logistics and electronics driving entire industries into a coma bypasses the engine builders finally we can look at the engine as it appears to ordinary passengers the pd14 nacelle covering the mechanisms and providing aerodynamic flow is made of composite materials and is also created in the division of uec aviedvigatel for all the external simplicity the structure is very complex especially considering the aerodynamic component airflow and interaction with the pylon and the wing an error here can seriously impair the performance of the airframe naturally the engine is equipped with a thrust reverser this is a special mechanism that at the moment of landing turns the airflow around and slows down the aircraft these mechanisms are diverse and on the pd14 a sliding version is installed when a part of the cell fairing is displaced slightly backward inside the blades blocking the flow move out and the air rushes forward on the pd-14 the mechanism is lightweight made of composites and is powered by electronic drives this has not been done in russia before another external element of the engine is the chevrons the sawtooth end of the circuit ensures smooth mixing of airflows which reduces the level of noise resulting from it quite a fashionable solution the pd-14 previously assumed the installation of chevrons on both circuits and they were even tested but over time the outer one was removed from the second circuit the engine was originally designed in a way to minimize noise and this turned out to be enough to meet modern and future requirements an external chevron was not needed and no one wanted to install a complex structure just for beauty on the nozzle however the chevron remained and now flies the pd14 is being created for the mc21 airliner but thanks to the gigantic volume of developed technologies and the overclocking of the entire industry there is no doubt that it will not be alone for long the basic pd14 develops a thrust of up to 137 kilonewtons and will be installed on the basic mc21 the heavier version of the airliner will receive the forced pd-14m engine with a thrust of 153 kilonewtons in addition the use of proven technologies and solutions makes it possible to create other engines first of which will be the smaller pd8 with a thrust of 77.5 kilonewtons for the updated super jet and of course the pd35 with a thrust of 343 kilonewtons which is being created for heavy aircraft primarily wide body airliners magnum opus of the uec nothing like this has ever been created either in russia or the ussr the pd35 program is actively developing large-scale research is underway and some units are already being tested plus perimoters being the largest developer and manufacturer of power plants for the energy industry having created the pd14 could not say no to the idea of making its ground version it became the pd-14 gp1 and 2 industrial power plants for power stations and gas transmission units with a capacity of 12 and 16 megawatts in two versions which will be eight percent more economical than their predecessors and much better in terms of ecology and they are very much awaited the forecast demand for these power plants until 2031 is about 210 units the re-equipment and modernization of production started together with the pd-14 program continues to this day and its scale is very serious even now many sites continue to receive equipment so it shouldn't come as a surprise that in the workshops continuously operating machines stand next to huge boxes with their not yet unpacked relatives for example in berm a competence center is being created for the production of engine shafts the very parts holding the entire circuit and the requirements for quality and accuracy are very high here the plans to increase the output are very serious while now 300 of them are being made per year after the full launch of the entire line 1500 units will be coming from here annually the same thing is happening with advanced production facilities which in fact are created from scratch the same 3d printing from local solutions for some parts is growing into full-fledged centers of additive manufacturing and such a picture can be seen at many objects of the uec and rostec throughout russia a multi-fault increase in production volumes over the next few years here are quite normal and realistic plans another subtle factor that is no less important than any other is after sales support nobody will want even the best plane in the world if after every minor breakdown it will spend weeks in repair waiting for a spare part the creators of the mc21 and pd14 understand this perfectly well and given that the advantage of the new engine is the low cost of the life cycle this factor becomes critically important so the service infrastructure is being created right now as part of the uec repair sites and training centers are being created starting directly with pairing motors and further in the required regions large-scale work is underway to organize logistics pools of replacement engines spare parts and all other support elements the basic infrastructure should be ready by the time the first pd-14 under the wing of the mc21-310 arrives to the first operator further plans are variable and will be implemented depending on demand by the end of 2021 bearing motors assembled almost the entire testing batch of engines the earliest of which were sent to the test sites and the new ones are already flying on the mc21 with the launch of serial production the output will increase the potential is quite large here a lot depends on the engine builders and on the aircraft themselves the rates of their production and deliveries let's hope that everything goes that it should and soon we will see hundreds of representatives of the family of fiery hots whose father was the pd-14 and sofirari once said i don't sell cars i sell engines the cars i throw in for free since something has to hold the engine in i don't think the mc21 will be given away for free but its most important part is the engines ready for the great and glorious era of travel in the skies of this blue ball many thanks to the guys at the united engine corporation for their help in creating this story and you aviation fans fly good planes with good engines and if you want to watch the videos early see some exclusive behind the scenes content or just support the channel consider joining our patreon community fast flights and soft landings to you [Music] you

Channel: Skyships Eng

Views: 59,965

Keywords: pd-14, pd-14 engine, russian engine, mc-21, mc-21-310, russian turbofan, uec, uec corporation, pd 14 engine news, pd-14 documentary, pd-14 test, pe-14 performance, aviation engine, turbofan engine, jet engine

Id: j7pXo7kShCA

Length: 30min 26sec (1826 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 17 2021