The Voronezh Aircraft Plant (VASO) has reached a new level of technological development by presenting a prototype of a fully composite air intake with natural laminar flow for the PD-14 engine. The development was carried out by order of ODK-Aviadvigatel as part of the scientific and technical groundwork for the promising PD-35 engine.
Traditional air intakes use an aluminum leading edge that creates an aerodynamic joint with the fairing and causes flow separation, increasing drag and fuel consumption. The new design developed at VASO is a single laid-up composite element that eliminates such a joint. According to calculations by ODK engineers, this provides fuel savings of 1–2%, equivalent to up to 500 thousand rubles per commercial flight.
VASO process engineers proposed a number of solutions: an original refinement of the design, complex tooling for molding, and a method of uniform heating of large carbon-fiber products in an autoclave. The entire cycle — from idea to finished product — was completed in less than a month.
At present, the experimental air intake is awaiting installation on an Il-76 flying laboratory for full-scale tests. Based on their results, the real effect of laminar flow will be assessed.
Plant specialists note that such developments make it possible not only to catch up with, but in some aspects to surpass, Western competitors. It is already forecast that when moving to serial production of such structures, the assembly cycle for nacelles will be cut in half, while labor intensity will be significantly reduced throughout the entire production chain.