Chapter 970 This time the situation is changing
Mondock took the calculation results in his hand and took a brief look at them. He found that they were about the performance calculation results of the M53 engine after replacing the high-pressure compressor and turbine blades.
Obviously, Vesta, as a veteran Snecma engineer, has little experience in the development of dual-rotor engines, but he is still quite good at using the techniques he has learned to go back and optimize his old works. .
Of course, as a single-rotor model, the M53 cannot reproduce all the design elements of the M88-2.
So, the performance improvement is not very large.
Fortunately, cost control is very good. Compared with the currently mainly produced M53-P2, there is basically only a normal cost increase caused by inflation.
For users who want to modify Mirage 2000-9, it is quite attractive.
"Doctor, do you need to mobilize some engineers from CFM International?"
Mondoc asked again while folding a few pieces of paper in half twice and putting them into his inner pocket. Dao:
“After China has completed the core machine design work, we have to put fan research and development on the agenda as soon as possible, otherwise the new engine may not be able to catch up with the Falcon Z’s first flight.”
The vast majority of CFM engineers are not employed by GE or Snecma at the same time, so there is no such thing as a "callback."
However, some of the important management and technical leaders were sent by the two parent companies.
In terms of developing civilian turbofan engines, CFM International does have more experience.
Just on CFM56, French work is also mainly focused on the research and development of the cold end including fans.
It almost completely overlaps with SeA650.
If we can get a wave of feedback, the work progress will indeed be accelerated a lot.
However, Vesta did not nod immediately.
Although there have been some disagreements between Snecma and General Electric in the past few years, the CFM series engines, as a cash cow for both, have basically not been directly affected.
After all, it is not a listed company, and it does not involve the issue of investor confidence affecting the stock price.
However, in the long run, there is always a question mark as to whether the two parties can continue to maintain this close cooperation on the next generation of CFM56 products.
Mundock's suggestion to reverse human behavior from CFMI will undoubtedly further aggravate the level of distrust between the two parties.
If problems arise in CFM International, which is already operating stably, it will be equivalent to some blood loss at most for General Electric, which is a large company, but for Snecma, whose capital chain is extremely tight, It would be considered an amputation to say the least.
“You can try it, but don’t make it too obvious...”
In the end, after weighing the pros and cons, Vesta chose a compromise plan.
“Contact Dr. Patty Grant and ask him to arrange for an absolutely reliable technical team to come back. The scale does not need to be large, even 3-4 people will do.”
"Isn't this... too little?"
Mundok was a little confused.
An aerospace design team, even if it is just the cold end, usually requires three-digit technical personnel, not counting the non-core participants who are indirectly involved.
3-4 people does seem a bit stretched.
“That’s enough.”
Vesta stood up with support on the table and stretched his muscles a little:
“As a small engine for business jets, the overall design of the SeA series engine is not even a medium bypass ratio. In fact, it is a small engine. Bypass ratio model, and M88-3 is not M88-2, the core machine level is already somewhat different from CFM56."
"In short, what we need most now is not any specific technology, let alone. Make minor repairs based on other people's designs, but refer to CFM's R&D experience and management model, so it is enough to have a few people who have participated in project planning and management, so that they can also take turns taking advantage of vacations. To provide some support for similar reasons, too many people will be troublesome..."
...
As Vesta deploys tasks one by one, the two Rafale F2 and Falcon Z A project that had been dormant for several months became active.
Especially the former.
Almost at the same time as it confirmed the basic realization requirements for the hot-end performance of the M88-3 engine, Dassault released a specific timetable for the delivery of upgraded Rafale C fighter jets to the French Air Force, and re-released it in accordance with the F2 technical status The basic performance indicators of Rafale have been determined.
Although it is impossible to shake out the specific performance such as flight envelope, due to the huge upgrade, even if you only watch a promotional video, you can feel that it is completely different from the previous F1.
Not to mention anything else, the improvement in the three indicators of thrust-to-weight ratio, climb rate and bomb load is enough to make many users who have not yet made a final decision reconsider their model selection.
In fact, at the special request of Chang Haonan, Liu Yongquan also successfully verified the built-in permanent magnet fault-tolerant power generation technology on M88-3. The principle of this technology is to cancel the contact rolling bearings, lubrication system and mechanical actuation system on the engine support shaft, and replace them with non-contact magnetic bearings and a built-in integrated starter generator installed on the crankshaft.
This can provide additional power generation without affecting thrust. Secondly, it can also eliminate the bearing structure with the highest failure rate in the aerospace system, greatly simplifying production and maintenance operations and extending the mean time to failure. .
Of course, it is only a technical verification on the M88-3, so the mechanical structure is still retained for backup.
Nevertheless, this system can provide an additional 3.5kW of generating power for each M88-3 and SeA650 engine.
Faced with such a surprise, Dassault even considered replacing the Rafale with a radar with better performance.
But in the end, it was abandoned due to the too narrow size of the machine head in the original design.
As a result, F2 still maintains exactly the same conditions as F1 in terms of avionics system, becoming a complete mechanical upgrade.
But even so, it's definitely not good news for its main competitor...
A few days later.
UK, Cranfield University.
Professor Roger Elinor was meeting in a small conference room with two other senior technical staff from Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems.
"Professor, we have indirectly confirmed the authenticity of the news through some special channels."
The speaker was Tony Alder, a project director in the aviation department of BAE Systems. , mainly responsible for docking the development of EF2000 fighter jets with several other partners.
"In other words, the information they disclosed a few days ago was not just a propaganda strategy?"
Professor Elinor confirmed while playing with a pen.
"I'm afraid so."
Alder nodded:
"If the risk of deformation of EJ200 under large overload conditions cannot be completely solved, I am afraid that EF2000 will not be much better than the upgraded Rafale. Obvious performance advantages..."
As one of the core leaders of the project, he is certainly aware of the hidden flaws in his own products.
Currently, Typhoon mainly restricts maneuverability within a specific envelope through settings at the flight control level.
But after mass production is delivered, the problem cannot remain hidden.
Hearing this sentence, Elinor was just silent and thoughtful.
As a player who took over and wiped the butt halfway, he has actually greatly improved the structural problems of EJ200.
But his poor foundation has nothing to do with him.
Seeing that Elinor didn't answer a word, Alder also knew that this problem might not be solved in a short time, so he continued:
"In addition, we also confirmed that the Falcon Z project currently being developed by Dassault will use special power developed based on the M88 engine core machine, rather than using off-the-shelf products already on the market."
"Of course, this news was shared with us by Honeywell Group, and its reliability needs to be further verified..."
At this time, Luke Norris, who had not spoken just now, suddenly Interrupted him:
"This matter... we have actually expected it for a long time, but we don't need any verification. After all, Falcon Z's public partners include Snecma and China Aerospace Power Group. , obviously preparing to solve the power problem by ourselves."
"What I am more concerned about is whether their model will pose a threat to our business in Germany."
At this moment, Rolls-Royce has also seen the trend of larger and longer-range business jets, so it is jointly developing the upgraded BR710C and the BR725 small bypass ratio turbofan with greater thrust with the BMW Group. engine.
Expected launch users will include Bombardier and Gulfstream, the two kings in the field of business jets.
At the same time, potential users of this series also include the U.S. Air Force -
They have always hoped to replace the B52 bomber with a brand new power to replace the TF33 that has been patchy for half a century. series engines.
Although the number of B52 fleet is not large, after all, each aircraft has 8 engines, so the total number is quite considerable.
Originally, there were no competitors in this segment.
But now that a Frenchman has appeared halfway, it will be more uncomfortable if the market is robbed...
(End of this chapter)