The country that created the best engines will have the best aircraft - the general designer of NPO Saturn Yuri Shmotin
The design bureau of Saturn is determined by the basic design bureau of the United Engine Corporation, and operates as an engine for a promising front-line aviation complex aviation / PAK FA /, and for the promising Russian civilian aircraft MS-21. Russia will have to maintain its competencies in the field of aviation, have the most modern aircraft - civilian, military, said the general designer of NPO Saturn Yuri Shmotin in an interview with ITAR-TASS correspondent Yevgeny Nikitin.- Yuriy Nikolayevich, speaking about the future, what time period do you mean?
- The aircraft engine is the most complex and costly component in the design of the aircraft. And in engineering terms, perhaps, surpasses all other products. Therefore, working on it, it is necessary to understand how it will be in demand by the market not only next year, but also through 10, 15, and even 30 years. Everything in the world is changing rapidly and, in order to ensure a long life for an aircraft engine, it is necessary to build high potential for modernization in it. To increase its efficiency, to meet growing customer requirements, it is necessary to reduce the cost of the life cycle, increase reliability, and ensure competitiveness. The aircraft engine must ensure the victory of the military aircraft in the air, and civil aircraft - the high profit of the airline.
- What do you consider the most important event in the work of the recent KB?
- The Saturn Design Bureau is defined by the base design bureau of the United Engine Corporation, and it works both for the engine for the promising front-line aviation complex / PAK FA / and for the promising civilian MS-21 Russian aircraft. This fact has become a recognition of the high competence of the Saturn Design Bureau in the development of gas turbine engines. Over the last decade, more than ten new developments NPO Saturn received certificates for standard designs or passed state bench tests. Moreover, the work covers the full life cycle of a gas turbine engine: from the idea to its creation, the organization of support during operation.
- What, in your opinion, is the fundamental principle in the work of the KB?
- Maybe for someone it seems unusual to hear from the mouth of the general designer, but the fundamental principle in the work of the CB is to ensure profit for the enterprise. In the market conditions, this can be achieved only by using the latest design design methods, using modern materials in it, forming a scientific and technical reserve for the future. On the one hand, CB is a tool to ensure the future life of the enterprise. On the other - a tool to reduce costs and reduce the cost of manufacture of today's products. In both cases, the CB can and should also become a tool for making money. Today we are doing everything so that the designer, at the stage of the formation of a new engine, assembly or part, thinks about how much it will cost in production, how soundly the material is chosen and the equipment is used effectively. It is clear that the designer cannot work in isolation in this case. It is very important at the earliest stage of creating new types of equipment or improving parts that already belong to existing engines, to use all the necessary services of the enterprise. Joint work of designers, technologists, metallurgists, suppliers, representatives of the quality service should be aimed at making weighted decisions with the aim of implementing projects within the framework of specified budgets and deadlines. Such an approach justified itself.
- Do you mean the SaM146 engine for the Sukhoi Superjet-100 aircraft?
- Yes, according to this principle, serial production of the SaM146 engine was created on the "Saturn". In workshop No. 34, we managed to increase the efficiency of people’s work more than tenfold and to achieve the main thing - a sense of responsibility for the decisions made. Suffice it to say that in the past year the company succeeded in 40 percent. increase production. Such dynamics require serious changes in the work of the design bureau. In fact, in the same way, work was organized on the creation of a family of industrial gas turbine engines. The plans - the organization of a similar scheme of work organization and other programs.
- You said that the aircraft engine is one of the most complex, and, perhaps, the most complex engineering product. What is the difficulty?
- The aviation engine is a heat engine. In it, the higher the temperature of combustion of fuel, the higher the compression ratio in the compressor, the higher the efficiency. To increase these indicators, we need ultrastrong, ultralight, heat-resistant materials and alloys that can withstand high temperature and pressure. Suffice it to say that the temperature at the exit from the combustion chamber can exceed 2000 degrees. The turbine rotates at a speed of tens of thousands of revolutions per minute. Such temperatures and such speeds of rotation must withstand the turbine parts — disks and turbine blades. Tear off one of the blades when the engine is under the wing of an airplane in the air, and the flight may stop ... To prevent this from happening, we need modern materials, technologies that have not existed in nature and technology before, and which do not yet have a name. Now the design bureau is preparing to offer not only new modifications and improvements to the engine already mastered, but also fundamentally new solutions to the design of the gas turbine engine itself.
Forming a scientific and technical background, we primarily work on the creation of high-temperature materials. Saturn today is one of the few organizations that, apart from using existing materials on the market, is engaged in the creation of high-temperature materials that can operate at gas temperatures up to 2050 degrees Kelvin. There are several patented alloys "Saturn", which allows for their introduction to raise the temperature in front of the turbine by more than 100 degrees. This is actually a revolution in engine-building. Without new high-temperature alloys it is impossible to create a new generation of engines. And this, in turn, requires new technologies, new equipment. A new alloy is needed not by itself, but as a material for creating complex spatial details, such as a cooled turbine blade. A turbine blade is a very important detail that has a very complex three-dimensional surface, not only outside, but also from the inside in order to ensure operability. It is not by chance that the aviation engine, the “fiery engine”, is compared in the famous Aviator's anthem with the human heart.
- The aviation authorities of Europe intend to impose fines on airlines if their aircraft do not meet increasingly stringent environmental requirements. How does your design bureau solve the problem of reducing aircraft engine exhaust emissions?
- In addition to what I said about the parameters of the gas turbine engine, environmental issues is the second direction we are working on. The creation of low-emission combustion chambers is an extremely serious problem. We know that the market dictates the requirements for reducing emissions of harmful substances, not only because in fact it is right: the engines must be green and environmentally friendly. But it is also a mechanism of market competition. Today, General Electric and Siemens are commercially producing industrial engines with emissions of harmful substances 10-15 ppm. This is becoming the norm, and will be introduced as a restriction in the sale of engines. There are relevant laws that actually prohibit selling in one country or another engines that do not fit into these requirements of environmental standards. Therefore, on the one hand, we are working to ensure universal requirements in terms of ecology. On the other hand, without this, it is simply impossible in our time to stay on the market. Our key task is to study, investigate the processes occurring in the combustion chamber. For this purpose, NPO Saturn has created one of the best research and development centers, equipped with one of the most high-performance computing clusters in Russian industry, as well as equipped with test benches and research facilities for testing combustion chambers operating on gaseous and liquid fuels.
- When creating a promising aviation technology both in our country and abroad, composite materials / KM / are finding more and more widespread use. How in this regard, the situation in the CB “Saturn”?
- In terms of composites, we have long since passed from the research stage to the stage of their application, including the SaM146 engine for the Superjet. Organized a comprehensive work with our partners - the company "Snekma". The other day will be very important for the "Saturn" meeting to consider the concept of expanding the use of composite materials in the design of the engine SaM146. We singled out the work with the CM in a separate process, for which my deputy, Dmitry Karelin, is responsible and responsible. This innovative work is built not only inside the “Saturn”, we attract a wide range of participants to it. Formed comprehensive program. Large scientific forces are involved in the perimeter of this activity. Thus, a comprehensive program is being formed with the Central Institute of Aviation Motors. An agreement was signed with the All-Russian Institute of Aviation Materials. A long-term agreement is being prepared with TsAGI. Zhukovsky. Fundamentally new is that we plan to involve small enterprises in the process of creating innovative developments in this area. And most importantly - specific universities. In order to motivate, raise the initiative of specific young scientists announced the introduction for students, graduate students and doctoral students scholarships of NPO Saturn. We focus on the scientific potential not only of Rybinsk or the Yaroslavl region, we are looking much broader. In this program we will invite Perm universities, Moscow institutes - such as the MAI and MSTU. Bauman. We are currently negotiating with the Samara University. It is very important for us that students, young postgraduate students, and doctoral students should join this innovative work as early as possible. In order that, among other things, Russian science be created on these works, fundamental professors appeared. That is why “Saturn” will continue to support this direction as much as possible.
- What will it give you?
Firstly, it will allow forming scientific schools in this area not only in Yaroslavl, but also in other regions of the country. It will allow to identify the most interested, active young scientists who will form a whole scientific direction on a nationwide scale. Maybe some of these scientists will come to work in the NGO Saturn. We also pursue such goals. If we sum up this innovation, then in 2012, we brought this work to the project level. In addition to Saturn, as I have already noted, we have included many organizations and enterprises, including small ones. Ready to go further. I will be ready to involve scientists from abroad with pleasure. In principle, this is in line with the state program concerning scientific work. In order that brains, as they say, did not flow away from “Saturn” and from the country as a whole. In our company, to support innovation processes, the scientific and technical council is constantly functioning / NTS /. The horizons of his interests are beyond the scope of composite materials, and extend to the entire process of research and development R & D.
- Usually, this is quite a costly task. Are you able to extract dividends from this kind of work?
- Yes, we are very actively working on this process and are engaged in its improvement in the same way as all other processes. We fulfill specific obligations to the customer in the part of R & D. Why? Because any scientific research or development work is an investment in the future of an enterprise. And the state, investing in enterprises, invests in its future, in its marketable products. And we, in turn, will make these products. It turns out a single, mutually beneficial and interdependent process of interaction between an individual enterprise and the state.
- How do you feel about unfinished R & D?
- Unfinished R&D carried out with non-compliance with the previously announced deadlines is an increase in costs, a narrowing in the future of the potential sales market for goods. There is a great example of the Pratt & Whitney company, which teaches all engine builders. It is a successful company, a world leader. But she had a bad experience: the PW6000 engine with a thrust of about 10 tons. The project was completed with a delay from the previously announced terms. And in the end, this engine was installed on slightly more than 20 aircraft. This is what the failure to meet deadlines and obligations to the customer means. The market will be occupied by other companies.
- Whom does the Saturn Design Bureau consider as its customers?
- For designers, the customers are the enterprise, United Engine Corporation, the state, after all. But the main customer is the one who exploits airplanes with our engines. In order to ensure that the development work is carried out on time, we radically change the planning system in the service of the general designer. We do this not independently, but together with the service of the director of production. Before making decisions in the framework of R & D, we check the implementation of research and development work, and prepare technological processes for manufacturing. We completed the R & D on a 8 MW marine engine. The car turned out to be unique, with a number of innovative solutions. In particular, it allows you to automatically switch from gaseous fuel to liquid. In Russia, these engines do not exist. In the field of research we investigate the use of alternative fuels. All this raises the rating of the Saturn Design Bureau with foreign customers as well. For the first time the aircraft engine AL-55, created on the "Saturn", has become an export product of our country. So, we fulfilled the requirement of India to increase the resource of the gas turbine engine AL-55. I believe that at the end of this year our partners, our customers from India can really talk about the beginning of its licensed production. This engine will be in demand by the Indian Air Force. This is one of the most interesting works for us. We are working to expand the scope of such an engine.
- You have previously mentioned the engine for a promising aviation complex of front-line aviation. I understand that the topic is quite sensitive in terms of technical solutions and the designers are reluctant to comment on this. One careless word can tell a lot to a specialist who doesn’t want to report a new product. But still, say a few words about the participation of "Saturn" in this project.
- Within the framework of new projects, Saturn is actively working to create a second-stage engine for the PAK FA. Although we represent the civilian engines division for the UEC, the Saturn does not stop cooperating with the Yakovlev Design Bureau. "A.M. Lyulka" work on the engine. From 2006 to the present, a serious scientific and technical reserve has been created in the design bureau on the second stage engine for the PAK FA. This allowed this year to reach an agreement with the leadership of the division of combat engines that Saturn will be responsible for the high-pressure compressor and the high-pressure turbine. These nodes are actually the heart of the aircraft engine. It was possible to achieve such a decision due to the fact that a demonstrator of engine assemblies, which fully complies with the declared characteristics, has already been created. We experimentally confirmed it. I can say honestly and calmly that today all critical decisions that need to be verified experimentally for this engine have been verified. And the engine will take place at the set time with proper organization of labor.
- The question may not be to the general designer, but to the head of the enterprise. Do not want, do not answer. How do you make money?
- I will say about my unit that OCD and research works are developing dynamically. We are changing, improving, we get a positive result. But we work in the structure of a large enterprise, which is part of a serious corporation. And for each enterprise the main indicator of its effectiveness is its cost. What creates enterprise value? The cost of the enterprise, as well as the money it earns, are provided with serial products. Therefore, despite the fact that research and development work is very important for us, this is the main direction for the design bureau, we cannot but treat with great responsibility the issues of support for mass production. Only high-quality and on-time serial products delivered, only prompt and competent response to a request from service, command respect from our customers. Having a serious prestige that we have gained on serial production, we are convinced that the new R & D and new OKRy will also be in favor of Saturn. That is why it is extremely important for designers to work effectively to maintain mass production. And in this direction, we are also improving.
- What is done in this regard?
- Made, maybe not as much as we wanted. But the results speak for themselves. In the 2012 year, we have become more efficient in maintaining the production in 2,5 times, compared to what was previously. What I mean? More than 2 times, the number of deviations caused in production due to insufficient design study decreased, requests for deviations due to imperfect technological processes decreased more than 3 times. Problems disappeared at the level of interaction between different services: designers, technologists, suppliers, economists. We have ceased to waste time on processes that increase the cost of the product, as was recently mentioned during the military-industrial conference from the rostrum in the Government House. We began to trust our people more, a priori understanding that we work with talented, intelligent, literate people, who are able to make the right decisions. I like one saying: "we hire smart people to tell us what we should do, and not to tell them what they should do." If we do not follow this principle, we will not get such a cumulative effect from collective labor.
We gave specialists a certain freedom in making decisions and made sure that in 95 percent. cases decisions are made by people correctly. In order for these decisions to be made and go into action, you do not need to stand at the office of the chief and wait for his signature on the implementation of a decision. Solutions were implemented without this higher signature of the head. But every Friday we meet in a production unit called Plato / from the French word "playground", where people work together /, we hear the leaders of this interdisciplinary working group about the work performed. Saturn’s leadership helps people do their basic production work. This is what we talked about earlier with respect to the state and the company. And here, at the enterprise, between the manager and the production worker. You can talk about this a lot, but you better talk on this topic with the managing director.
- Thank you, if such an opportunity presents itself, I will try to do it. And in conclusion, I want to ask you, in general, how do you see Saturn in 10 – 15 years?
- A multidisciplinary company that has a sustainable business in the field of military, civilian, land engines. In each of the market segments, an enterprise creates a product that is the best in this segment and seeks to expand this segment. Regarding engine building as a whole ... My teacher Valery Georgievich Avgustinovich published the book “The Battle for Speed. The Great War of Aviation Monitors” not so long ago. It clearly traces the idea that the country in which the best engines are built will have the best airplanes. Russia must retain the competence in the field of aviation, have the most modern aircraft - civilian, combat. Today, it is necessary to develop technologies that will be used in the future, both to create new aircraft engines, and in other industries that are necessary for the state and are interesting for young engineers.
- I can’t throw a single word out of this statement.
- Thank you.
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