AVIATION
Russian fifth-generation combat aircraft to be built of materials tested on Berkut
MOSCOW. May 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The first fifth-generation fighters will be made of composites tested on the SU-47 experimental aircraft (formerly S-37 Berkut), a competent source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
"The first fifth-generation fighters are to be built of further developed and upgraded composite materials of the type used in the SU-47 experimental aircraft," he said.
The source said that, for example, the composites that the wing panels of the SU-47 are made of have been tested thoroughly, and the designer of the future fighter knows they will work well.
However, he went on, the technology of the production of the SU-47's wing panels has been poorly automated and still requires much manual labor.
"The production technology should be upgraded. The serial production of the fighter has to involve new materials, and the automation level of the production technology should be much higher for lower labor intensity and production cost," the source said.
He also said that the Russian Aircraft Materials Institute (VIAM) was working on new materials for the fifth-generation aircraft engine.
"VIAM does this in close cooperation with the Central Aircraft Engine Production Institute that has inspired the creation of the engine. For example, it is necessary to make a high-curvature wide-chord working blade. The problem is not only to produce the blade, but also to tailor the material it is made of. The whole production process is to be automated," the source said
NotÃcia 2
AVIATION
Russian R&D institute starts working out new composite materials for 5th generation fighter
MOSCOW. April 30,2003 (Interfax-AVN) - The All-Russian R&D Institute of Aircraft Materials (VIAM) has started designing composite materials for the fifth-generation fighter, a competent source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
"The future composite materials most have advanced strength and rigidity specifications, as well as advanced heat stability. These parameters must be better by about 30 to 40 percent," the source said.
According to experts, composite materials will amount to about 30 percent of the total weight of fifth-generation planes and aircraft engines. Specific weight of new composite materials is four to six times as low as that of steels and 1.5 times as low as that of alumunium alloys, the source said.
"The composite materials being designed for the fifth- generation aircraft engine withstand the temperature of 400 degrees for a long time. The blades and entire screw as well as first blades of the compressor can be made of these materials," he said.
VIAM has received the largest order for designing new composite materials from the Sukhoi military aircraft corporation that is responsible for designing the fifth-generation fighter, the source noted.
In addition, one of the major agreements that have been concluded deals with certification of the TU-334 passenger plane.
VIAM is also working with the Aviadvigatel JSO based in Perm to improve the PS-90A aircraft engine and create its PS-90A2 variety with advanced noise specifications.
"New materials must provide for the aircraft engines' compliance with noise requirements of Chapter Four of ICAO Annex 16 and for creating the research and technical backlog to ensure compliance with Chapter Five of this annex that is yet to take effect," the source stressed.
NotÃcia 3
http://www.nmsu. edu/~ucomm/ Releases/ .../composi5. html
The composites Sarychev and Shalaev are investigating are similar in structure to films that were being developed for use on stealth aircraft by the Soviet Union when Sarychev was a researcher at the Russian Academy of Science. The difference is mainly a matter of scale.
“The work began in the 1980s and rapidly progressed until the crash of the Soviet Union,†Sarychev said. “The material was almost ready for aircraft when the Cold War ended and interest faded. It would have required building a new airplane, and there was no money.â€
The goal of that research was to develop an aircraft skin that would absorb microwave radiation. After Sarychev came to the United States and began collaborating with Shalaev, the two became interested in the optical applications of percolation composites.
“It is quite different in the microwave range, but the main idea is the same,†Sarychev said. “Before, we worked on material that would absorb microwave radiation from far away. Then we started to look inside the material.â€
Sarychev has been a visiting professor of physics at NMSU twice and is now a college professor of physics. He has a Ph.D. from the Moscow Physical-Technical Institute and a Doctor of Science -- a degree that is higher than the Ph.D. and goes only to the country’s top researchers -- from the Institute of High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
![[004]](./images/smilies/004.gif "Fogo!")
![8-]](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif "Cool"){kind=icon}
![[100]](./images/smilies/100.gif){kind=small}
![[091]](./images/smilies/091.gif){kind=small}