Chapter 1169: Next step, hypersonic or variable cycle?

Integrating the entire engine into the nacelle is actually a rather complicated task.

However, the WS-20 is still undergoing major component testing, so only the fan and high-pressure compressor will be installed immediately.

Even so, it took Qin Fei and Gao Fa's team several hours to complete the assembly work before the sun set that day.

In fact, for a brand new engine-pod combination, this efficiency is not low at all.

But after all, Chang Haonan was still thinking about fully automatic assembly in the morning, so his vision and requirements are naturally different now.

However, the meal must be eaten one bite at a time.

The most urgent task is to verify the integration level of the nacelle and the engine boost structure.

Generally speaking, large aircraft such as transport aircraft and passenger aircraft have four typical flight states, namely the first take-off stage, the second take-off stage, the climb stage and the high-altitude cruising stage.

Naturally, there can’t be high-end gadgets like large wind tunnels or high-altitude simulation test benches in the assembly workshop, so the engine performance under the latter two conditions can only be tested when the entire machine is ground tested in the future.

Fortunately, for today's purpose, only two stages are enough...

"Come on, let's go to the control room."

Chang Haonan looked back at the ready engine and said to Liang Shaoxiu beside him.

According to regulations, when the engine is undergoing any form of test, all persons except necessary personnel in special circumstances must be in a protected state.

When the two arrived at the control room on the third floor, several operators were already ready here.

Zhang Zhenhua stepped forward quickly and stood at attention:

"Boss Chang, please give the order!"

Although the occasion was quite serious, this sentence with a certain subjective flavor almost made Chang Haonan unable to hold back.

Fortunately, I managed to hold it back.

"Everyone, take your positions!"

After calming down, he took the microphone and solemnly announced the first test condition:

"Takeoff stage 0: altitude 0.23km, Mach number 8, angle of attack 1°, far-field incoming flow turbulence intensity ratio and turbulent viscosity ratio %..."

As instructions were input into the control computer, the bracket carrying the aircraft engine assembly quickly adjusted its attitude from completely horizontal to slightly upward.

The first stage simulates the stage where the aircraft has accelerated to the take-off speed on the runway, but in order to prevent the tail from touching the ground, it can only climb at a smaller pitch angle.

This process lasts for a very short time during takeoff, but because the aircraft has speed but no altitude at this time, it is a very high-risk area for fatal accidents.

"First test, ready to start!"

Immediately after Chang Haonan's voice fell, the test engineer slowly pushed the simulated throttle valve at hand to the bottom.

From the control room, the blades inside the nacelle slowly began to rotate, and the white spiral line on the cone in the middle of the fan also drew a pattern similar to an eagle's eye.

According to many reports, this design can reduce the probability of bird strikes or remind ground personnel that "the engine is working."

But in fact, these are the functions of the piston engine era.

For turbofan engines, it is purely a matter of corporate culture of airlines or aircraft engine manufacturers.

Therefore, Chang Haonan specially asked someone to design a style that is very different from others as the product feature of the Aviation Power Group.

The huge fan with a diameter of two meters may not feel anything at the airport, but when it is actually placed in the workshop and viewed up close, it still has a certain imposingness after it is started up.

While the sensor was collecting data, Liang Shaoxiu, who had been silent until now, came forward and said:

"Boss Chang, if there are four WS-20s, they should be able to drive a large transport aircraft like the Il-76, right?"

Chang Haonan did not answer, but just turned his head and glanced at the other person.

As an aircraft designer, and a professional large aircraft designer at that, this question is obviously a deliberate one.

So the focus must be on the latter.

Sure enough, seeing that Chang Haonan didn't respond, Liang Shaoxiu paused for a moment and continued:

"Once we are done with the Y-9, can you please suggest to your superiors that it is time to start the development of a domestically produced strategic transport aircraft..."

Well, it turns out I’m waiting here.

But this is not difficult to understand.

The Y-90 prototype temporarily equipped with PS9A has entered the final stage of assembly and is expected to complete its maiden flight before the Spring Festival in 2005.

Based on the experience of the past few years, this relatively stable model can be designed and finalized in about two years.

As for production finalization...

That is not entirely a burden on Liang Shaoxiu's shoulders.

"I guess... the Air Force should have already been discussing this."

Chang Haonan did not agree directly, but still gave a fairly optimistic response.

Even in the past, China's domestically produced large transport aircraft was officially launched in 2007.

On this timeline, although the larger number of Il-76MFs have provided China with sufficient strategic air transport capabilities, the objective conditions are still quite sufficient, so there is no reason for it to be slower than the previous life.

The only problem is that the speed of demonstration may be too fast, causing Liang Shaoxiu to not be able to keep up with the schedule, resulting in the project falling into the hands of someone else.

In fact, considering that the aviation industry has accumulated considerable experience in products of the 20-ton class, and that the WS-200 should have been fully mature by that time, it is possible that he would not even need to worry about the -ton model...

From this perspective, China's aviation industry is gradually getting back on track and is truly getting better.

Thinking of this, Chang Haonan suddenly felt a little emotional.

It has been nearly 9 years since he was reborn.

China's aviation industry has also developed step by step from being unable to produce second-generation and a half fighter jets to being able to mass-produce third-generation fighter jets, as well as mainline and large regional passenger aircraft, at a rate of about 30 aircraft per year.

At the same time, we are also developing several new models at the same time.

It is no exaggeration to say that the R&D capabilities have basically reached the level of around 2014 in the previous life.

So next step...

If nothing goes wrong, the debate on the fourth-generation fighter will begin soon.

But this process should not require Chang Haonan to interfere too much.

Moreover, as long as limited improvements are made to the WS-10, it can be upgraded to a standard fourth-generation turbofan engine.

At that time, we chose a relatively conservative solution because we took into account that China's material and technological level did not support such high performance.

Now that so many years have passed, it should not be difficult to provide the new generation of fighter jets with an engine that matches the world's best level.

At least not enough to serve as the core work of the next stage.

"Is it hypersonic or variable loop?"

Chang Haonan suddenly felt a little tangled——

He himself can certainly support the advancement of both projects.

But the resources that Huaxia can currently provide do not support...

Fortunately, the happy troubles did not last too long.

The engine quickly entered a stable operating state, and data points appeared on the computer screen in the control room.

"Report to President Chang!"

An engineer's voice interrupted Chang Haonan's thoughts:

"The fan and high-pressure compressor are in stable working condition, with no obvious temperature and dynamic abnormalities found. The total pressure at the inlet of the outer duct is 145.3KPa, the total pressure at the inlet of the inner duct is 124.7KPa, and the total pressure ratio is 41.7. The influence of the intercooling equipment on the back of the stator blade is very small..."

"Due to the influence of the incoming flow angle of attack, airflow stagnation points appeared outside the upper and lower lips of the nacelle. The airflow speed inside the lower lip was Mach 0.861 at the fastest point. The total pressure recovery coefficient of the nacelle itself was 99.62%, and the distortion index was 1.13%..."

"..."

Without the combustion chamber and turbine installed, most performance cannot be accurately measured.

But even so, the current test results undoubtedly show that Chang Haonan's choice of integrating the intercooler and the compressor design can be said to be a great success.

Moreover, the engine nacelle equipped with the WS-20 also demonstrates excellent adaptability.

Although the degree of completion of this model of engine is not high, at least there is no need to worry about the fundamental risk of technical route errors.

And this is enough for Chang Haonan at the moment.

"Prepare to adjust the test conditions!"

He ordered calmly:

"Takeoff stage 0.03: Altitude 0.28km, Mach number 15, angle of attack °..."

The second stage is the normal climbing process.

Compared with the first phase, the flight conditions are more stringent, but the risks are not as high.

In essence, the characteristics of these two stages are quite similar, so since the data of the first stage is normal, there should be no major problems in the second stage...

Sure enough, after the angle of attack and speed were increased at the same time, the only obvious change was that the peak Mach number of the lower wall increased by 0.161, thus exceeding the speed of sound. Although the rest of the total pressure recovery coefficient, boost ratio, and distortion index all deteriorated, they had almost no impact on the normal working state of the engine.

The fact that the total pressure data at the inlet of the inner and outer culverts has hardly changed is proof of this...

"Old Zhang."

Chang Haonan glanced at his watch, then waved to Zhang Zhenhua who was not far away:

"You ask the publicity department to produce a report on today's test. Do not mention specific performance indicators or models. Just emphasize our requirements for the next generation of high bypass ratio turbofan engines in terms of exhaust emissions and fuel consumption..."

"By the way, considering the recently launched fourth round of IPCC environmental assessment, we must firmly stand on the moral high ground, so that we can send enough signals and pressure to the outside world..."