RuAviation

Ulyanovsk AeroComposite and Novocherkassk South-Russian State Polytechnic University named after N.I. Platov are ready to conclude an agreement on supplying an automatised portrait. N.I. Platov South Russian State Polytechnic University are ready to conclude an agreement on delivery of an automated portal for laying out of dry carbon tape for manufacturing of wing panels of MS-21 aircraft. Anatoly Gaidansky, First Deputy General Director of PJSC Yakovlev – General Director of AeroComposite JSC, told about it in the video of the United Aircraft Corporation.

“The main development is this automatic head, which allows laying out the strip and welding it with a laser. Plus – it has its own software, its own maths that allows it all to work, and a human-machine interface. The main thing is that it allows us to implement the technological processes that are written in the design documentation: automatic laying out of dry carbon tape, from which we make our product, these are first of all panels, wing spars and panels for the centre wing. Its functional content is exactly the same as what we had on imported equipment,” Gaidansky said.

When manufacturing the composite wing of the MC-21 aircraft at the AeroComposite plant in Ulyanovsk, robotic units for dry automated lay-up of carbon fibre of the Spanish company MTorres are used. French Coriolis Composites supplied equipment for dry lay-up of wing spars. The dry carbon fibre tape is heated with a laser, bonded to the previous layer and formed layer by layer to form the future airliner part. A bobbin with a tape length of 3000 to 3500 metres ensures continuous lay-up.

Anatoly Gaidansky noted that the main characteristics, speed and quality of the lay-out fully satisfies the enterprises. “In many respects, this design is new. Here, as you can see, all the bobbins with composite material are on the head, which reduces the length of the tape-pulling mechanism, reduces the “traumatisation” of the tape during its work”, – explained the General Director of AeroComposite.

The employer of the equipment is South Russian State Polytechnic University named after N.I. Platov. N.I. Platov, located in Novocherkassk, Rostov region. The prototype of the robot is in commercial operation in the Moscow laboratory of “AeroComposite”.

According to Anatoly Gaidanskiy, the domestic technology has been fully worked out, the results of high quality, speed and reliability of the system have been obtained. The next goal is to scale this solution for serial production of composite wing structures of MS-21 and increase the volume of aircraft production.

“The guys are very competent, they work well, we are satisfied. We have been working with them for a very long time on the first lay-out processes. I must say that they spent a tremendous amount of time, and now we are contracting with them not for a robot, but for a large portal that will allow us to lay out large wing panels. This is all for the serial production of the MS-21 aircraft,” he added.

He noted that there are no global risks with composite materials and equipment for the production of the MC-21 wing. “The main composite material – coal fibre is produced by Rosatom. The binder is also produced in our companies, it is completely Russian know-how on a turnkey basis,” Anatoly Gaidansky concluded.