Russian manufacturing engineers of the PD-14 engine swirlers used the most complex alloy in aviation - EP648. The secrets of the power plant components production were revealed by the Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Evgeny Kablov, who headed the Kurchatov Institute Research Center from 1996 to 2022.
According to him, there are 48 swirlers in the design of the PD-14, kerosene and air enter them from two sides. Then the contents are ignited, and the more thoroughly the components are mixed, the more completely the resulting mixture will burn. It is this indicator that determines the efficiency of the swirler.
As a result, we successfully obtained parts from the most complex alloy - EP648. It was impossible to cast such a complex part from it using traditional methods, since intermetallides were formed and cracks appeared in the product due to the high chromium content. We coped with the task thanks to the fact that we obtained parts using our approach - the method of laser fusion from powder.
Kablov added that the specialists then carried out post-processing of the obtained swirlers. In additive manufacturing, the surface of products is rougher, and this needs to be addressed.
Earlier www1.ru reported that ODK accelerated the welding of parts for PD-8 and PD-14 engines by 10 times.