At the Scientific Research Institute of Technology and Organization of Engine Production (NIID) The United Engine Corporation (part of Rostec State Corporation) has created a unique workshop with domestic 3D printing equipment. The latest machines will allow manufacturing parts up to several meters in diameter and weighing up to half a ton, including for the promising PD-35 aircraft engine. Previously, such products could not be made in the form of a single part and they were assembled from several elements.
High-tech domestic equipment has been installed in the new workshop at NIID to improve the technology of three-dimensional printing of aircraft engine parts. The dimensions of the products "grown" in the installations can reach two meters in diameter and one meter in height.
"Additive technologies have become an integral part of the production of aircraft engine parts. UEC has been using 3D printing for more than 10 years, and NIID plays an important role in improving technologies. With the help of new equipment, the Institute will develop scientific and technological competence in additive technologies. Its implementation at the corporation's enterprises will significantly increase the volume of production of parts of modern aircraft engines for civil aviation. With the help of 3D printing, we will produce the most complex parts faster and in a new quality, for example, for the PD-35 high–power engine," said Mikhail Bakradze, Deputy General Director of the UEC, head of the priority technological direction "Engine Building Technologies".
The new technological installations are significantly superior to standard 3D printing equipment in many ways. Their use makes it possible to produce parts not only of impressive size, but also of considerable weight – the maximum weight can reach 400 kg.
In particular, the ILIST-XL robotic installation is used to refine the production process of parts made of heat-resistant nickel and titanium alloys using direct laser growth technology. The unique equipment was developed and manufactured by the Institute of Laser and Welding Technologies of the St. Petersburg State Maritime Technical University.
"The Institute of Laser and Welding Technologies of the Maritime Technical University provides technical re-equipment, as well as the introduction of additive technologies at UEC enterprises. We not only produce equipment – direct laser growing plants, but also train the corporation's staff to work on them. I am sure that our cooperation will only grow in the future," said Gleb Turichin, Rector of St. Petersburg State Technical University.
For the manufacture of large–sized blanks measuring more than a meter in diameter, a hybrid complex is designed, which is equipped with two types of equipment at once - a laser installation and a five-axis milling machine.
In addition to the equipment for additive cultivation of large-sized parts of gas turbine engines, the scientific and technological complex of NIID is equipped with installations for the manufacture and repair of small-sized engine elements.
With the help of equipment manufactured in Zelenograd, the technology of repairing metal parts, for example, blades of high-pressure compressors of gas turbine engines, will be mastered. For this purpose, the technology of laser powder surfacing of alloys and metal powder compositions is used.
Also, at the new NIID site, blanks from plastic and composite materials, the melting point of which does not exceed 300 degrees Celsius, will be produced using 3D printing. The new 3D printers are designed for the manufacture of small parts – up to 40 cm in height.
In addition to the equipment for 3D printing, the scientific and technological complex of NIID is equipped with a unique inertial friction welding unit PSTI-400, which is a completely domestic development and was created according to the technical specifications of the UEC in 2021. It connects parts made of heat-resistant materials with an axial force exceeding 400 tons-forces, and allows you to reduce the weight of the structure, while improving strength characteristics and increasing the life of the aircraft engine.
The UEC Research Institute of Technology and Organization of Engine Production is working on the formation of scientific and technological groundwork for the development of promising gas turbine engines. One of the tasks of the NIID is to develop a regulatory and technological framework for the subsequent application of new technologies at UEC enterprises.
In cooperation with the Engineering Center, the leading design bureaus of the UEC and research organizations of the industry, the development, development and implementation of industrial critical and basic technologies and technological equipment for the manufacture of engine parts for civil aviation, for example, for the PD-35 high-power engine, is carried out.
