Jō AsakuraAlthough it’s not the original MiG-35 with the various structural, aerodynamic & avionics upgrades that was presented for the MMRCA tender, it’s more than “just a KUB”. Ironically, it was the Indian Navy’s order(s) of brand new MiG-29K/KUBs that not only brought down the unit cost for the subsequent RuNavy’s purchase but here by transplanting Zhuk-M by the AE (hopefully the FGA-35) along with other avionics upgrades, they’ve declared this the ‘MiG-35’.
Targeting pod placard, c/o Kopyo21:
Me thinks the installation under the port intake could be a NAVFLIR, as OLS-K has been canned.
I guess the purchase is a nice financial stimulus for ‘MiG’ and Phazotron under OAK’s umbrella and makes sense for the RuAF in the context of relatively cheap and capable attritional replacements and for the many ‘ Fulcrums’ getting ‘long in the tooth’.
Good news on ‘Skat’, but I was under the impression their X-47B class UCAV development would be a jv with Sukhoi. Maybe MiG will now be lead developer, or does it have the portent of a competitive tender (?).
Jō AsakuraI take it by “Laser Direct Manufacturing” they mean selective laser melting, or SLM (as opposed to the multi-staged selective laser sintering, or SLS). SLS components are not as strong as cast or CNC milled parts, btw.
Even assuming it’s SLM, it’s still not a single-staged process as the component needs to undergo a heat cycle to facilitate the removal of scaffolds.
A titanium bulkhead is no big deal, unless you’re in the ‘biggest is best’ camp. Components that are more technically challenging and intricate like CFM International’s efforts are more impressive:
Jō AsakuraMore pics and ‘t&g’ footage, I won’t apologise if it’s a repost ’cause I never tire of seeing this stunner:
Jō Asakura“What can he do?”
-“He can do everything!!”
[ATTACH=CONFIG]216780[/ATTACH]
MP for President 😎
Jō Asakurayou mention two FACTS, I’ll respond in kind
– FACT, we don’t know what military computers are capable of, not unless you work for some covert program, in which case you can’t talk about it
– FACT, computers are getting smarter every day, and are quickly nearing human levels of intelligence, will soon surpass us, and in many fields have long done soso in the end we can discuss this as much as we like, the reality is that technology will eventually overtake us all, and much sooner than we would believe possible, in ways we cannot even imagine 😉
Your *facts* are plain wrong, as exemplified by Hartson & Norwood’s ‘Turing’ test and eloquently explained by Sir Roger Penrose from 0:38 mins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XYf1GJBhg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
You’re making the assumption that ever greater computational power and associated software will result in intelligence and hence understanding and awareness which is not true (at least outside ‘Hollywood’), for the current and foreseeable future.
Quantum computers may go some way to address the issue (and this is the subject of heated debate) but they’re a long way off. This NASA-Google collaboration doesn’t pretend to be anything more than an uber powerful number cruncher:
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514846/google-and-nasa-launch-quantum-computing-ai-lab/
Jō AsakuraWhy can’t You simply take this thing what it is: a testbed, a flying lab and one that most likely – in my stupidity – uses a best suitable engine given the thrust-requeirements,
Which is what I said it was, until you tried to vindicate the integration of the AB.
By the way: if it was a Russian design some the same guys would surely cry out lout “Oh look, what an innovative design solution, it even has an AB, it surely is a stealthy super-maneuverability UCAV !
Deino
Not at all. If that thing was Russky I’d have said:
“what a load of crap! Is it a suicide/one way UCAV? otherwise as is it’s design appears contradictory and hence inefficient in sub, trans & supersonic regimes. Should’ve just hacked NG’s computers and copied that magnificent achievement that is the X-47B”.
So we’re agreed, it’s not even a prototype.
Jō AsakuraYeah, If it’s anything like the highly swept wing of the above model, then maybe they envisage it being supersonic capable? But then the aerofoil appears much thicker than NG’s X-47B and will be susceptible to much higher wave drag- which in turn will murder range.
The X-47B has a “high subsonic” speed and it’s LE/wing is a transonic cruise planform.
Jō AsakuraLooks like it’s some sort of remote/autonomous flight control system & handling testbed, because the non-afterburning engine and exhaust installation is far too crude (to put it mildly).
Jō AsakuraSummertime @ LII, what joy:
Jō AsakuraHere @ 02:19 you can see the tech developed primarily for the PMC fan blade (3D multi-layered, solid-woven variable thickness tissue scaffolds) utilised in a wing structure for the MS-21. Also, ZAO ‘Aerocomposite’ (ЗАО “Аэрокомпозит”) demonstrates their latest heated vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding (H-VARTM) fabrication technology @ 04:20:
http://www.vesti.ru/only_video.html?vid=506711
H-VARTM overcomes the structural integrity ‘void’ and ‘dry spot’ problems of VARTM whereby the temperature is stabilized and maintained for a predetermined time prior to introducing a resin into the infusion system. The H-VARTM process can be used to improve the fibre volume fraction and/or the dimensional thickness quality & stability of a composite. This process has been adapted from use on flat composite panels to the manufacture of complex shaped composite parts (like the wing structure @ 02:19). [1][2]
RosAtom’s EM anechoic chamber. Although the outer wall section is constructed of ferrite tiles, for HF absorption it employs 2 layers of different sized, pyramidal RAM made of specially modified polystyrene foam [3], from 02:45:
http://www.vesti.ru/only_video.html?vid=507227
http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/248/2480334.html [1]
http://aerocomposit.ru/exp.html [2]
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?121995-Pak-Fa-News-Thread-part-22&p=2019705#post2019705 [3]
Jō Asakura‘Foxhound‘ and it’s specific role will be relevant for decades to come, the BM armed with RVV-BD is like an airborne S-400.
Can you imagine in around a decade if they fit a GaN AESA?! It’ll be like an AWACS!!
Something else that’s a month old…but nice:
Jō AsakuraMr. Freddy, you are right.
Binder for preparing prepegs: ‘cross-linked’ thermoplastic polyimide resin and nanostructured epoxy resin for thermosets:
Обогащенная термопластичным полиимидом фаза может быть непрерывной, с образованием взаимопроникающих сеток.
The thermoplastic polyimide enriched phase can be continuous, with the formation of interpenetrating networks.
http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/241/2415891.html
http://www.unichimtek.ru/
I liked the bit about the utilisation in space & missile, aviation, shipbuilding etc.
Jō AsakuraBut when you do, you do it in such spectacular fashion. I remember this one time at band-camp, you said a cylinder was a stealthily shaped object …. screaming it to the heavens, hurling your usual insults and providing sources of real-life RCS tests.
Unfortunately you completely botched the unit of measure in your source and failed to even comprehend the supporting text proving that a cylinder has one of the worst RCS profiles of all simple objects.
Damn, I’ll be talked about in the third person again 😎
ActionJacksonMan sweety, You forgot to mention my greatest howler- ‘superconducting fan blades’. Who’d have thought then that the solution could be as simple as polystyrene foam! I don’t mind making the occasional mistakes, they merely heighten ‘the thrill of the chase’ in the pursuit of the truth.
You never did get back to me on the 1PP8M10-6/8 series frequency specific (X to lower Ku band) polymer films with cobalt-ferrite nanostructures exhibiting absorption averaging ~22.25dB over 8.6 to 13.1 GHz. I guess there was nothing to correct. Nor the MWNT loading vs. -dB chart and the subsequent revisions to your beam-aspect PO analysis. If you see the pic above of those 2 guys lifting that PS-90 cowling, and note even if the the focus of your analysis is only half as thick as that (not to mention the T-50’s cowlings), then you gotta admit the beam RAS thickness puts the T-50 in safe territory.
Speaking of which, I missed a glaringly obvious fact in the post above. In the pics showing the VA-RTM fabrication of the PS-90A2 cowling, they’re utilising ‘Rusar-C’ preform which is a thermoplastic of the 4th generation of aromatic amides (polyamide), albeit MWNT/aramid modified. Most probably they are using something like VS-2561S (ВС-2561С) epoxy resin as the thermal stability requirements of the materials for the cowling are relatively low.
The appearance of VIAM’s epoxy on the ‘light blade’ patent is just generic blah blah, and it may be within temperature & rpm parameters for a civilian fan blade like the LEAP-X, but certainly not for the demanding environment of a fighter engine.
Although the Russkies claim development of an epoxy resin with a heat resistance of up to 300°C for polymer matrix composites tested with thermoplastic Rusar fillers [1] it is the thermoplastic resins that can deliver the thermal properties (400°C) and high modulus for the ‘Type 30’s’ blade (and the T-50’s cowlings).
The in-development thermoplastic resins are the missing link, everything else is more or less in place.
Ah, what the hell!! Let’s bury the hatchet.
AJ, here’s a patent that foretells of Boeing’s engine compressor stealth solutions in their upcoming 6G fighter, you can post it up in the relevant thread:
See, I too can be perfectly amenable :).
http://www.c-s-p.org/flyers/978-1-4438-3341-7-sample.pdf [1] English
Jō AsakuraYeah, I was reading about that earlier. Thanks for the link, Freddy. In all likelihood they’re currently using epoxy based resins for binding the fabric layers of the thermoplastic ‘mineral composite’ (минералокомпозита) preform, until the new high temperature thermoplastic resins come on stream [1]:
минералокомпозита: В термопласты часто вводятся различные добавки- минеральные порошкообразные наполнители, короткорезаные волокна и др..
Mineralcomposite: in thermoplastics different additives and mineral powder fillers are often applied, of short fibres etc.
Crucially the base/shoulder is distinct from the rest of the structure by being a solid-state ‘mineral composite’ (i.e. thermoplastic) and would facilitate a BLISK. Again this blade is only a forerunner, its patent is very coy, ambiguous on details. The final version’s patent has not yet been published despite being granted in 2009, no doubt the definitive materials are still to be certified. Nothing of this description is mentioned in the other highly detailed laminate, solid state thermoset blade patent of the same year.
Three advanced thermoplastic resin binders for PMCs are nearing development completion with operating temperatures from 200°C-400°C [1]. These will most certainly be PPS, PEEK or PEI derivative carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic resins. Using the above detailed 3D scaffold tech is an absolute certainty, the US will employ similar tech & materials for their 6G fighter engines – notice no S-ducks on their artist’s renditions?
But let Homer have his fleeting moment of glee over my small error in one sentence of ‘jumping the gun’, in the kindergarden that may negate the entire post, in the real World, it does not- far from it. Even if I only had an 80% strike rate, that’s still 79% more than him. It’s useless to wade into the MMC debate with him as you very well know. He thinks because something is located next to an CMC, also makes it a CMC. By his reasoning Medvedev’s pants are also CMC! Though granted, it might explain why the PM walks funny.
Should I break it to him he was wrong about the nickel-super alloy ZhS-32 for the BLING as well? NPO Saturn alloyed a new version of it with 10% Rhenium to achieve an operating temperature of 1,200°C sometime in the mid-2000s (not 1970), they’ll be discussing it @ a symposium in August (2013).
Some guy, I forget his name worked on it……..aah, yes I remember now…….. Yuriy Schmotin:
http://www.minpromtorg.gov.ru/ministry/fcp/employer/avia/12 [1]
Jō AsakuraFurther to this recent statement by NPO Saturn’s General Designer, Yury Shmotin:
Сегодня много говорится о применении композиционных материалов. В новом двигателе для ПАК ФА применяются композиты, которые построены не только на полимерной матрице для холодной части, а также детали, созданные на высокотемпературных композициях.
Today many talk about the application of composite materials. In the new engine for the PAK-FA composites will be utilised, which are based not only on polymer matrices for the ‘cold section’, as well as elements created from high-temperature composites…
I was frankly (pleasantly) surprised at the revelation of PMC composites in the ‘Type 30’s’ ‘cold section’ (as opposed to MMC), assuming there was no reporting error or misquote. The fan blades cannot be regular thermoset carbon fibre laminate as they would simply disintegrate due to the centrifugal and shear forces associated with a fighter engine’s LP compressor rpm, also they cannot be BLISKed. I did some digging around and the following is what I found.
The FGUP TsIAM (ФГУП ЦИАМ) PMC blade presented to PM Medvedev in February is not actually theirs, they were used in their consultative capacity for testing & validation , as of early 2012 it had completed 5/6 stage programme. The blade is actually the development of OAO NIAT (ОАО НИАТ) in cooperation with a private Russian engineering firm and was initiated and funded under the Russian Ministry of Industry & Trade’s (Минпромторг России) “Development of Russian civil aviation for 2002-2010” programme [1].
The ‘civil’ description of the programme can be largely ignored if one appreciates the true nature and remit of the Ministry and it’s raison d’etre [2]. Here is the patent for the blade in the Medvedev pic. (Note in the jpg the Minister for Industry & Trade, Mr. Manturov, is standing in the background to the PM’s left):
http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/238/2384749.html
http://www.ciam.ru/file/Image/4_01.jpg
Although it is depicted as a contender for civil aircraft thru 2025 in the TsIAM placard, the above laminated, epoxy resin-based development is quite old and the private Russian company’s early incarnation was presented @ MAKS 2007. Imho, this blade represented a proof-of-concept for RTM technology, as depicted below left (click to enlarge). The pics also show the same private Russian engineering company fabricating the single-structure PMC shroud (also designed by OAO NIAT) for the production PS-90A2 engine using organic plastic Rusar-C [10] and VA-RTM.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]216031[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]216032[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]216033[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]216034[/ATTACH]
Bearing in mind a development under the auspices and central funding of the said Ministry is a very big deal [1], then OAO NIAT’s other, most recently completed development under the 2002-10 programme is very interesting indeed. It’s using the same blade fabrication technology as the Snecma/GE LEAP-X, namely preforms are fabricated using an automated 3D weaving process. The 3D woven architecture provides a structure that is highly damage tolerant and able to withstand significant in-plane, shear and thru thickness loads (crucial for a fighter engine application). This highly automated process is more reliable and cost effective than a ‘traditional’ comparable laminated composite blade.
The programme to develop design and manufacturing methods of 3D, multi-layered, solid-woven variable thickness tissue scaffolds for turbofan blades was officially sanctioned and initiated by the Russian government in October 2001. The R&D effort was actively undertaken by Moscow State University between 2006-08, with NIAT joining the programme in 2007 [3].
In April 2008 a scientific-technical presentation was made to OKBs Sukhoi, Tupolev and Yakovlev. IPRs were signed off throughout 2009 and 6 patents for the fan blade, production methods, software etc. were granted the same year [3]. None, apart for the ‘beta’ blade known as ‘the light, composite fan blade primarily for the LP compressor’ (Композитная облегченная лопатка преимущественно для вентиляторов), have to date been published online.
Samples of the project’s composite fabrications & technology were exhibited at MAKS 2009, along with participation at the ‘International Salon of Innovations and Investments’ exhibitions in 2008 and 2009. The project also won the silver medal at the National Innovation Awards 2009. The technology was declared ready for production in 2010 [3] and may have already been utilised by at least one other company’s nanomodified PCM fan blade, that is closely affiliated with the MIC [4].
Here is an example of the 3D preform, multiplanar shell fabric technology’s utilisation in aircraft primary structures by OAO NPP ‘Technologiya’ (ОАО «ОНПП «Технология»), click image to enlarge:
http://www.rt-chemcomposite.ru/produktsiya/689/
Here is the ‘beta’ blade patent:
http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/238/2384750.html
And here the 3D CAD mathematical software model and blade schematic from IPR documentation:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]216036[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]216035[/ATTACH]
Importantly, the base/shoulder is made from a thermoplastic mineral composite which would facilitate a BLISK. The metal plate on the leading edge is replaced by an integral fibre glass layer, to reduce blade erosion and impact damage. The main blade carcass also appears to be CFRP thermoplastic composite (PPS or PEEK resin). Nowhere in the ‘beta’ patent or other associated docs are thermoset epoxy resins or binders mentioned (unlike the ‘Medvedev blade’ patent).
Apart from being the enabling material for a BLISK, CNT modified thermoplastic composites are somewhat of a ‘holy grail’ because making suitably strong fan blades from thermoset CFRP for smaller engines is more difficult than making strong composite fan blades for large engines. It’s the size of each large blade and the amount of material it requires that makes the latter stronger.
NIR ‘Hardness’ (шифр НИР «Жесткость»)[1][9] is an advanced CF polymer matrix composite due for development completion this year, it has an operating temperature up to 400°С. Only a high modulus, temperature resistant thermoplastic resin could attain 400°С.
Given that OAO VNIIALMAZ’s (OAO “ВНИИАЛМАЗ”) has long established LFW BLISK machines [5] (and notwithstanding utilisation of 5 axis CNC milling machine tools is widespread in Russian industry), VNIIALMAZ’s FSW robotic device is purpose built for a non-titanium/metal alloy BLISK [6]. Their 2011 Company Audit states:
‘in co-operation with OAO ‘RT Stankoinstrument’ (ОАО “РТ-Станкоинструмент”[7]) we’ve established a scientific-technical research effort for the friction stir welding of dissimilar materials & structures and the fabrication of components from non-metal composite materials’.
http://vniialmaz.ru/30.html?PHPSESSID=231gb3vct3sila1s0l7g56spq2
There are, of course, other methods such as polymer laser welding.
As for stealth- you’re gonna love this bit. The blade has a hollow centre by design which will be infused with polystyrene foam (the same stuff you get surrounding your brand-new LCD TV when you unpack it). However, by infusing the polystyrene (Pst) with MWNTs it would take on the highly effective broad X-band absorption characteristics [8] (as per table [9]).
They would have no problem nanomodifying the preform composite of the outer shell as they’ve done with the MWNT ‘Rusar-C’ preform for some time [10]. The entire blade would be a de facto RAS, no exotic nanoparticles required- how elegantly simple and high-tech at the same time!
So, in the context of Shmotin’s revelations, where would this leave NPP ‘Motor’s’ MMC development? especially given NIAT’s fan blade pre-dates it by 3 years, the MMC is probably a complicated and expensive fall-back option, which given the stature of the T-50 programme, would make sense to mitigate risk.
Either way, one thing’s for sure- the 3 stage LP compressor of the ‘Type 30’ won’t be *conventional* in any sense of the word.
http://www.minpromtorg.gov.ru/ministry/fcp/employer/avia/12 [1]
http://www.minpromtorg.gov.ru/eng [2] English
********************************* [3]
http://mempct.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=20 [4]
http://vniialmaz.ru/technology/9.html [5]
http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/242/2424884.html [6]
http://www.rt-stanko.rostechn.ru/eng/index3.html#2 [7]. English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkEcz3Ksv8g&feature=player_embedded [7]
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnt/2011/648324/ [8]
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?121995-Pak-Fa-News-Thread-part-22&p=1997277#post1997277 [9]
http://npptermoteks.ru/?page=1# [10]
http://pptp.ru/en/about English
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