Chapter 436: Someone wants to buy our passenger plane?
The elders sitting below are all professionals who have been involved in the obscure field of bearings for more than ten years or more. After listening to Chang Haonan's introduction to the research plan, although he felt that the latter's goal was a bit too high. High, but I still approve of the plan itself.
In addition to the clear and logical theoretical analysis and the official identity of the chief designer of the Taihang engine, a considerable part of the reason for this is that even if several people have not used it, they have at least seen TORCH Multiphysics, which was developed by him. software.
If someone else brazenly said here that they wanted to use numerical calculations to establish a dynamic model of a flexible asymmetric rotor system with complex structural support for nonlinearity under large external overload conditions, they would probably only receive a few laughs.
But Chang Haonan is different.
Although on the surface, his main achievements so far are concentrated in fluid mechanics, structural mechanics and control theory, if we really summarize his results, the common ground is actually in the field of computational mathematics.
The mathematics community may still have disagreements on whether this thing can be regarded as fundamentalist "mathematical research", but engineering people don't pay attention to this, as long as it is easy to use.
Chang Haonan could naturally tell that the people sitting below didn't quite believe in his claim to increase the bearing life by ten times.
Actually, the ten times figure was still a conservative estimate made by him because he was worried about scaring these people, but now it seems that it is still not conservative enough.
But it doesn't matter, the results will speak for themselves.
People who lived in the late 1990s really knew nothing about the power of advanced optimization algorithms.
Of course, to ultimately achieve this goal, it is certainly not enough to simply improve the way bearings are designed.
In fact, after determining the bearing structure, he still needs newer, or more adaptable materials and processes.
At present, the bearing steel used in China is mainly ordinary bearing steel GCr15 and a small amount of molybdenum series steel M50. This is no different from developed countries. Naturally, the latter is the main source of expensive aero engines.
However, although the room temperature hardness of M50 steel can reach HRC62 and has good hot hardness, and can work continuously and normally at up to 316°C, its fracture toughness is very poor, and its d.n value is difficult to exceed 2.4×106mm.r/min. , reflected in the insufficient anti-flaking ability of the bearing surface, which can easily cause irreversible damage under certain extreme working conditions.
This is also the reason why most aerospace bearings eventually reach their end of life.
How to improve the idea? It's easy to say. Any graduate student who is engaged in metal materials can explain it clearly -
Reduce the carbon content, increase the nickel content, maybe increase the nitrogen content, and then surface harden...
But just having an idea is not enough. You also need to determine how much carbon to reduce, how much nickel to add, how to harden, what process to use, and what coating material is...
This is why the raw material everyone uses is M50, but the aircraft engine bearings made by Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and General Motors have longer service life and better stability.
All these details can only be determined based on the specific parameters and requirements of the bearing after the detailed design plan is released.
As to how to determine…
In the past, it could only rely on trial and error, highly dependent on the experience of materials engineers, and of course luck, and the investment required was naturally extremely staggering.
But now, Chang Haonan can give them at least some guidance in the direction.
Efficiency is naturally different.
“There's a long way to go…”
Chang Haonan closed the notebook filled with research plans in front of him, looked at the backs of several other people getting up and leaving the conference room, and muttered to himself.
As a person who has lived a new life, Chang Haonan naturally sees problems with the China Aviation Industry in the late 1990s, but for people who are living in the present, the changes that have occurred in the past year or so can be used as miracles. to describe.
Hao Jing, Yan Liang.
The fourth prototype of M60 and the second prototype in full condition is parked on the tarmac.
A group of people in suits and ties were gathered around the right engine of the plane.
Different from the usual yellow or metallic colors of other prototypes, this aircraft was painted with a blue and white paint scheme for the first time today.
Those with sharp eyes will also notice that a trapezoidal flag symbol with red, blue and white intervals is painted on the vertical tail of the aircraft.
Flag of Thailand.
Obviously, this painting is very targeted. "Mr. Jonjit, this is our latest regional airliner, the MA60-100, which is also the basic model of the entire series. It can accommodate 60 passengers in normal layout."
A staff member from Huaxia Aviation Technology translated into Thai the words introduced by Gao Quan, general manager of Haojing Aircraft Company.
"Like several other regional airliners of this level, the M60 currently uses the PW127J series turboprop engine produced by Pratt & Whitney. There is no difference in performance and working mode, but in terms of supporting propellers, we use The self-developed 6-blade composite propeller with higher propulsion efficiency and safety, combined with the new wing with a large aspect ratio, can save an additional 8% in fuel consumption.”
When he heard this, the Thai manager named Jonjit's eyes lit up.
In fact, his trip was to seek a batch of new light regional jets for Bangkok Airways.
Although Bangkok Airways is named after the capital of Thailand, which sounds very powerful, it is actually just an ultrsmall airline that has been established for more than ten years. So far, it only has eight Schott 330 aircraft that are over 20 years old. passenger aircraft and 14 slightly newer ATR72-200 passenger aircraft.
Originally, according to the plan, they were going to purchase a batch of Airbus A320s to upgrade their fleet, but the decision was made in mid-August 1997. Even a fool could feel that the economic situation in Southeast Asia was not quite right, so the management acted decisively. There has been a wave of consumption downgrades, turning the four mainline airliners in the original purchase plan into six regional airliners with 50-60 seats.
Logically speaking, there are not many choices for aircraft of this level. Considering that Bombardier's latest 8-400 is still a piece of cake, even the prototype has not yet rolled off the production line, and the 8-300 is already nearly ten years old. If the aircraft is an old model from 2008, the only remaining option should be to continue purchasing the new generation ATR72, which is the ATR72-500 aircraft.
However, the importance of advertising is reflected at this time -
The excellent performance of the MA60 at the Paris Air Show gave Bangkok Airways' management a moment of hesitation.
Huaxia Aviation Industry is basically not very transparent in the field of civil aircraft, but AgustaWestland is an Italian company after all, so it is still somewhat convincing.
Moreover, during the air show, China was promoting overwhelmingly that they had reached mutual recognition of the airworthiness of regional aircraft with the European Union. Later, news came out that they had reached a similar agreement with the United States.
These two things played a decisive role in improving the confidence of foreign users.
More importantly, although the price of MA60 is only slightly lower than that of ATR72, considering that China and Thailand are neighboring countries, after-sales service is definitely cheaper and more convenient than ATR.
As a result, Bangkok Airways' board of directors finally decided by one vote to give this new model a chance.
For China, this purchasing intention from Thailand is a complete surprise.
Although Chang Haonan has reached mutual recognition agreements with Europe and the United States on the airworthiness of regional aircraft through some saucy maneuvers, even he himself actually has the idea of fighting for the future.
Passenger aircraft still need a bit of word-of-mouth accumulation.
At least in the first two or three years, domestic airlines were still the main operators.
Chang Haonan has even thought about integrating several airlines that are relatively suitable for operating short-distance regional aircraft, such as Beijiang Airlines and Qian Airlines, into United Airlines in the airline integration plan that will be submitted soon, even if it is a loss. We will continue to operate MA60.
As a result, domestic users have not yet arrived, and the first ones to come to our door are foreign customers.
It's no wonder that general manager Gao Quan has put down many things and still has to personally take charge of the reception.
6 aircraft are just small shrimps for Boeing and Airbus, but for China Aviation Industry, it is a complete milestone.
“Can I go inside the cabin and have a look?”
Jongjit raised his head and glanced at the fuselage.
The Chinese people specially painted this prototype with their company's livery, which is undoubtedly a sign of sincerity.
“Of course, come this way, the ramp truck will be here soon.”
Gao Quan was obviously prepared. He picked up the walkie-talkie and said a few words, and a ramp car slowly drove over from a short distance away.
Due to the limitations of the original structure, the cabin doors on both sides of the M60 are set at the tail, making it shorter than the other two regional turboprop airliners. Even passengers with a height of about 1.7 meters need to bend down. Go in.
It can be regarded as a minor disadvantage.
However, the environment inside the cabin made Jonjit quickly forget about the slight discomfort just now.
(End of this chapter)
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