Chapter 1171 Hypersonic Wind Tunnel
Even some aviation enthusiasts have heard about China's launch of the WS-20 project.
Naturally, it cannot be hidden from these well-informed colleagues.
However, the industry's performance expectations for this model are basically the same as those for the PS90A, and it will serve as a domestic alternative to the latter.
However, this is not entirely because they underestimated China's aero engine level.
But the WS-10 itself is too confusing.
Although the domestically produced J-10A and J-11B have not yet been officially unveiled at air shows or other public occasions, these two models, especially the latter, have encountered several old rivals around China many times.
Judging from the feedback from pilots and intelligence collected from various channels, the performance of the WS-10 should be slightly stronger than the original AL31F and the early F110GE100, roughly reaching the level of a third-generation and a half high thrust.
And considering China's relatively weak material and process levels, it may be that a certain performance is gained by trading longevity.
It should be said that this series of speculations are not wrong.
It can even be said to be very precise.
But the problem lies behind.
Based on the above analysis, naturally, everyone puts this model on par with 117S, or F110GE129, and regards it as the ultimate modification of the third-generation turbofan engine.
It should be a state where the potential has been almost exhausted.
However, in fact, the WS-10 is a youth version of the fourth-generation turbofan engine.
It is at a stage where its potential has not yet been tapped.
As a result, it is natural that something went wrong with the performance of the WS-20/AE1500.
The performance was comparable to that of the PS90A, which was still acceptable in the 90s.
But in 2005, it is already at a level that is not up to par.
Basically, it can only be produced in China and Russia like C909/Tu-214, or sold to some users who are unable to purchase the latest Airbus or Boeing aircraft due to Western sanctions.
What's more, the mutual recognition agreement on airworthiness reached between China and Europe a few years ago does not include trunk aircraft. Even if their new turbofan can reach the average level of V2500 or CFM56-7, it is difficult to easily surpass it.
Therefore, in Panos Watson's opinion at this moment, the Chinese side is simply borrowing the British talent for stirring up trouble and is preparing to cause trouble for the CAEP8 emission standards that are about to be formulated.
However, Tim Bodie has a slightly different opinion.
"Mr. Supervisor."
After all, they were discussing work matters, so he changed his address:
"Do you think that China might want to use this opportunity to formulate new emission standards to increase its voice in the entire aviation industry?"
"I mean, they start by proposing a goal that is impossible for anyone to achieve, but we can't openly question the correctness of reducing emissions..."
Although the CAEP standards are formulated by the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection, like most other international organizations, their actual operation is controlled by a few countries.
When the CAEP2/4 standards were formulated, China was still at a difficult level in terms of both aviation technology and shipping market, so it naturally had no chance to have a say.
But in the second half of the 90s, especially after entering the 21st century, China's technological progress and technical cooperation in the fields of regional aircraft and helicopters, as well as the terrifying market size that has begun to realize its potential, have gradually given them the basis for competing for the right to speak.
Not to mention, companies like Finmeccanica, Eurocopter, Airbus, Dassault... and even Rolls-Royce itself, find it difficult to completely ignore the opinions raised by China.
Not to mention that judging from this report, they have firmly occupied the moral high ground on climate issues.
"But this will only bring the entire negotiation to a standstill... and it won't do them any good, will it?"
Although he said this, there were some subtle changes in Watson's eyes.
It was obvious that he had come up with some new ideas.
For example, cooperating with the Chinese would cause extra trouble for the other two competitors.
Just not ready to say it in person.
Bodi is a great fit as the person who offers advice (and takes the blame if things go wrong):
"Perhaps you're right, but what I mean is...why let the situation become a stalemate?"
Watson smiled like an old fox:
"Go on."
"Since we have already guessed this in advance and have already had actual cooperation with the Chinese..."
Hearing this, Watson's smile became even brighter.
However, the second half of Bodie's sentence completely deviated from Watson's estimate:
"Then why not talk to the Chinese, use their voice in ICAO as a bargaining chip, and get some additional investment from there?"
"..."
The sudden change made Watson's brain unable to react for a while:
"What?"
Bodie shrugged.
"We can just do a nominal joint research and development... maybe we can outsource some parts to them like we did with the Trent 900, or we can follow Airbus' example and assemble the products sold to the Chinese market, or even the entire Greater China market, in China..."
Every company, and even the same company at different times, has a different positioning of "Greater China".
For example, for Rolls-Royce, it refers to the whole of China, including both sides of the Taiwan Straits, Hong Kong and Macao, plus Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
Watson's expression was a little tense:
"But you just said that you didn't come to ask me for money this time?"
But Bodi looked as if it was a matter of course:
"I'm not asking you for money. I'm just asking you for permission so I can go abroad to make money..."
……
As time went by, the report gradually caused ripples in the industry.
However, most people only regarded it as a cooperation with Zheng Guogang's attack on the United States at the IPCC meeting, and did not really treat it as a particularly serious matter in the aviation field.
As for Chang Haonan himself, he does not have the time and the temporary ability to pay attention to these minor reactions occurring within other people's companies.
Instead, I have focused my main energy these days on a report.
After the component-level testing of the WS-20 entered the second phase, he quickly determined his next work focus.
Considering that the future WS-10G can basically meet the basic needs of the fourth-generation fighter jets, the variable cycle engine does not seem to have a suitable installation target in the short term.
On the other hand, with the PLA's (except the Army) new generation of combat platforms being finalized and deployed one after another, the main shortcoming restricting the improvement of the army's combat effectiveness has become the lack of sufficiently advanced weapons and ammunition.
The hypersonic project can just solve this urgent problem.
Not only do hypersonic weapons, as the final result, have powerful deterrent capabilities, but the results achieved during the research process can also benefit other types of weapons and equipment, and even other fields.
But compared to Chang Haonan’s past research, hypersonics is an almost completely different field.
It is difficult to simply apply existing design and calculation theories.
So before any real research project, he first needed a supporting device.
Hypersonic wind tunnel!
And this can be said to be the area that Chang Haonan is most familiar with.
none of them!
You know, before his rebirth, he was a technician of the JF22 wind tunnel.
Although at that time he was just an ordinary engineer who did not participate in the core design.
But the overall situation and technical difficulties of the hypersonic wind tunnel are very familiar to me...
“Aerothermochemical reactions occur around hypersonic vehicles, showing nonlinear, multi-physics, and multi-scale characteristics…
When the temperature is around 2000K, the relaxation time of oxygen molecules is about one thousandth of a second, while at 6000K, it is about 0.1 microseconds. Calculated based on the flight speed of 6000m/s, the equilibrium length to reach the first relaxation time is 6 meters. That is to say, for a 6-meter-long aircraft, the shock wave at the head has different shock wave temperatures, and there is always a certain area of gas around the aircraft that is in a non-equilibrium state..."
To express his seriousness, he wrote on a piece of paper without using a computer or printer:
"Reliable hypersonic ground tests must meet three key requirements. The first is to reproduce the total temperature of the airflow under given hypersonic flight conditions. For example, under flight conditions of 30 km altitude and Mach number 7, the total temperature of the wind tunnel test gas should be 2700 K, at which time the oxygen in the stagnation area of the aircraft model has begun to dissociate. For a flight with a Mach number of 10, the total temperature of the airflow exceeds 4500 K, and the nitrogen molecules begin to dissociate...
Therefore, any existing wind tunnel is not sufficient to support hypersonic research with a Mach number of more than 6. We should consider building a new wind tunnel using detonation drive technology at the Fucheng base to support the development of hypersonic aircraft in our atmosphere! "
