IRKUT Corporation, part of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), delivered a test metal cylindrical fuselage section of MC-21 aircraft to Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI). The section will go through destructive and survivability testing. The section was manufactured by Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAP) ¨C¡¡the branch of IRKUT Corporation, in accordance with the working design documentation elaborated by the engineers of Yakovlev design bureau (part of IRKUT Corporation) and the specialists of IAP.
A number of advanced technologies have been used during production of the section. These technologies will be used in test and serial aircraft production. The section was delivered to Zhukovsky by An-124 Ruslan aircraft. Due to large dimensions of the section it was transported with some elements removed. The specialists of IAP and TsAGI will assembly the section and carry out the pressure leakage testing and pressurization. Afterwards scientists and specialists of TsAGI will start the destructive and survivability testing. The section will be mounted on a test rig designed for simulating the strain on all flight stages and recording many parameters characterizing the behavior of the section and its elements.
The purpose of these tests is experimental verification of the implemented design effectiveness and technology solutions ensuring the designed service life of the MC-21 airframe type. The testing of the fuselage section is just a part of major efforts made in the network of this project. At present IAP is manufacturing a lot of test specimen including several types of fuselage panels, lateral and longitudinal joints, compartments for bird strike tests, etc. The enterprise is going to launch the production of four test aircraft in the nearest future:¡¡three of them will be used for flight testing and one more ¨C for static testing.
The president of IRKUT Corporation, Oleg Demchenko, noted: ¡°The development of MC-21 aircraft has entered the manufacturing and testing stage¡±.
CEO of TsAGI, Boris Aleshin, said: ¡°The studies of this section will be carried out by specialists of Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute over the next two years. The airframe of MC-21 will perform about 100 thousand simulated flights during this period of time. TsAGI has unique test equipment, which allows to verify the implemented design and technology solutions¡±.
The creation of MC-21 new generation airliner - the major prospective project of the Russian civil aviation industry is included in the Federal Target Program ¡°The development of the Russian civil aviation technique for the period until 2015¡±. IRKUT Corporation, a part of United Aircraft Corporation is the prime contractor of the MC-21 project.
TsAGI is the main test area within the MC-21 project. Aerodynamics models of MC-21 have been tested here from 2009 till now, since 2010 ¨C elementary and structurally-similar patterns of units and details have been tested as well.
During the mentioned tests:
- Aerodynamic design of the wing of high aspect ratio with higher values of aerodynamic control in cruising flight was developed and experimentally verified;
- A complete series of experimental studies on models MC-21 aircraft, including tests at high angles of attack, and in a tailspin were made;
- Experimentally demonstrated the ability to install the wing close-engine ultra-bypass ratio (type PD-14, PW1400G) with minimal losses to the interference of engine and airframe;
- Developed single-slotted wing high lift system and experimentally confirmed its high aerodynamic performance during takeoff and landing.
Within the MC-21 program, tests are also being held in Aviatest organization in Riga (Latvia). The MC-21 test aft fuselage section manufactured by ZAO Aviastar-SP was delivered there in January of the current year.
