The Department of Aircraft Construction and Operation of Aviation Equipment at Irkutsk National Research Technical University (IRNITU) has launched a series of defenses of final qualifying works in the field of "Aircraft and Helicopter Construction." One of the first to defend with an "excellent" grade was Valentina Martynova, who presented an innovative approach to the production of the fairing for the Mi-8 helicopter rotor blade.
The idea for the project arose during an internship at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (U-UAZ), where the student studied under a targeted contract. The traditional method of manufacturing the fairing — stamping on a drop hammer using lead-zinc tooling — is associated with a number of serious drawbacks: the release of toxic lead vapors, the need for manual finishing, low tool wear resistance, and unstable quality of finished products.
In her work, Valentina Martynova proposed replacing the outdated technology with elastoforming using steel tooling. According to her calculations, this approach not only eliminates harmful emissions and improves production accuracy, but also ensures significant tool durability.
Particular attention in the project is paid to economic efficiency: with an annual production program of 1200 parts, the use of expensive but reliable steel tooling quickly pays for itself by reducing maintenance costs, scrap, and remanufacturing.
