Авіаційно-космічна техніка та технологія (Aug 2024)
The market and the future of gas turbine engines for super heavy transport helicopters
Abstract
The introductory part of the article provides brief information about the main activity of Element JSC – the development and production of electronic control systems for aircraft engines, in particular, the RDC-450M ECU family for turboshaft gas turbine engines AI-450M, MS-500V, TV3-117VMA-SBM-1V, and others, created by SE Ivchenko-Progres and Motor Sich JSC. Element JSC, with its partners, has been involved in Ukrainian helicopter industry for more than 25 years. In the next section, the classification of helicopters is given, and the segment of super-heavy helicopters with gas turbine engines is highlighted. The field of application of such helicopters is briefly described. It is noted that the segment of super-heavy helicopters is quite limited because the creation of such machines is a costly process, taking into account mainly their military application and the small demand in the civilian market. The world's largest developers and manufacturers of super-heavy helicopters are listed, as well as the technical characteristics of four models with gas turbine engines. It should be noted that most helicopter models are not completely new developments but have been improved over many years. The characteristic design features of super-heavy helicopters with gas-turbine engines and the arrangement of units and equipment are given. Lists the world's major designers and manufacturers of super-heavy helicopter engines and describes the technical characteristics of five models of gas turbine engines. The main structural and structural features of gas turbine engines of various manufacturers and helicopter types on which they are installed are described. A brief description of the Ukrainian D-136 (AI-136) engine is provided below. Brief information is provided about an alternative branch of the development of rotorcraft: tilt rotor transport. The program for the development and production of serial aircraft of this type – Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey – is described, and an overview of the QTS future project with a larger size is provided. In the end, it is emphasized that the Ukrainian helicopter and aircraft engine industry is in a difficult situation due to the war; however, they maintain competitiveness and are engaged in research customers to preserve their scientific and technical potential.
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