Polymer Composite Materials Application in the Jet Nozzle Outer Contour

Metallurgy and Material Science


Аuthors

Leznov S. N.*, Reznikova M. I.**, Strelchenko V. E.***

Lyulka Desing Bureau, 13, Kasatkina str., Moscow, 129301, Russia

*e-mail: serj.leznov@mail.ru
**e-mail: reznikova1399@mail.ru
***e-mail: vladislav.strelchencko@yandex.ru

Abstract

The outside contour of jet nozzle consists of leaves that cover the engine rear end, which outruns the fuselage. The outside contour is required to arrange the nozzle parts cooling, and minimize losses on the jet nozzle while the external flow-around.
The purpose of the article consists in creating the samples-demonstrators of the jet nozzle external contour parts. These will demonstrate the possibility of high-temperature polymer composite materials application as a part of the aviation engine, as well as reveal such merits of the parts from the polymer composite materials as weight and production preparation time reduction for their further implementation in the structure.
At the first stage of this work, the search for polymeric binding agent capable to operate at the temperatures above 300°C and selection of reinforcing fabrics based on the tests of elementary samples were performed. The highest figures were obtained for the PHT450 prepreg based on the FNI350 TU 20.14.43-002-73047899-2020 phthalonitrile binding agent and carbon fabrics of twill-weave (based on the UMATEX fibers). The tests were being conducted both at normal conditions and at high temperatures (400°C) to assess the PCM features degradation under the action of temperature.
Several options of the parts from the PCM embodiment with various fixing options were suggested at the design stage. As the results of strength computations, the PCM parts and metal fixture elements refinement was performed. Simulation of the metal fixture elements, as well as jet nozzle outside contour layout was performed in the NX software package. The strength calculations of the PCM parts together with metal fixture elements were performed with the ANSYS Workbench 2021 R1 software package. The PCM parts layer-by-layer simulation was accomplished with the ACP (Ansys Composite PrepPost) module. The material anisotropy and orientation of layer packing were accounted for while the computations performing.
On the test bench, the prepared PCM parts of the external contour were installed on the gas turbine engine and tested as a part of the product. The total operating time amounted to more than 5 hours.
The performed tests demonstrated the possibility of the PCM parts application in the gas turbine engine and allowed defining the structural alterations required for their further elaboration and full-fledged application.
At the moment, based on the tests results the work on the structure optimization, namely thermal protection introduction, weight reduction (layers packing and thickness, as well as new honeycomb filler introduction);  the honeycomb with dispersion-filled binder, ensuring special characteristics, introduction into the external contour structure has begun.
The advantages of the selected structure are the possibility of quick producing PCM part prototypes of the outside contour, the low cost tooling and fastness of its production. 
The scientific-technical backlog allowed demonstrating the possibility of the PCM parts employing and the prospects of further PCM application in thermally loaded engine units where earlier the titanium alloys were employed.

Keywords:

high-temperature polymer composite materials, aviation engine building, external outline, jet nozzle, phthalonitrile binder

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