UEC-Saturn has come up with a way to speed up certification for the Russian PD-8 aircraft engine, which will be installed on the import-substituted SJ-100 passenger aircraft. The SJ-100 aircraft model with PD-8 engines passed all the necessary tests of the stage at the Zhukovsky Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). But now, some of the other full-scale tests will be replaced by a computer modeling stage on a digital twin of the engine.
UEC explains that computer modeling allows for virtual testing of both individual components of the power plant and the system as a whole. For example, it can check how the engine will react to a bird or other object inside, or how it will cope with icing and other adverse atmospheric conditions. These and other checks are faster than similar bench tests and will speed up engine certification without negatively affecting its safety.
The PD-8 engine is being created in an unprecedentedly short time, and we are using the most modern technologies in its certification. The meaning of digital certification is not to replace real certification tests of the engine, but to reduce their volume and not waste additional resources on this. First, the new engine is run-in using digital twins and virtual tests. And only then, when everything is honed, comes the turn of full-scale tests. The validation basis for certification is formed taking into account the results of computer modeling. In the future, this will also significantly reduce the amount of bench testing when creating new modifications of the PD-8 engine
UEC-Saturn is actively developing digital technologies to accelerate work and control its quality. In particular, it is planned to introduce AI to check for defects in polished aircraft engine blades. In addition, this Rybinsk enterprise has already become the first among engine manufacturers in Russia where augmented reality technologies are used in the assembly of gas turbine engines. Workers assemble aircraft engines in augmented reality glasses.
Read materials on the topic:
"The plane landed, the crew is alive": Superjet-100 arrived in Zhukovsky for certification tests
Engine and avionics ready for the new Russian SJ-100 aircraft