The certification static tests of the SJ-100 aircraft, which are being conducted by the Fatigue and Static Strength Department of the Siberian Aviation Research Institute S.A. Chaplygin on behalf of Yakovlev JSC, will be completed in the first half of 2025. S.A. Chaplygin, will be completed in the first half of 2025, RBC reports with reference to the deputy director for scientific work of the institute Dmitry Smirnov.
The SJ-100 airframe, which was specially manufactured for the static tests at the Yakovlev Production Centre in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, was delivered to Novosibirsk in January 2023. The tests are due to structural changes in the wing and fuselage of the aircraft, as well as the installation of a domestic PD-8 engine and a redesigned landing gear. Certification static tests of the fuselage, wings, mechanics, main and front landing gear attachments, horizontal tail and engine pylon are underway in Novosibirsk.
Initially, the airframe tests were expected to be completed in November-December 2023. The institute explains that the tests themselves take a little time, the necessary complex is completed by 30-40%, but the preparation takes weeks and months. For example, to install the SJ-100 in the SibNIA hangar, the mezzanines had to be demolished and the aircraft had to be placed diagonally. This pushed back the deadlines.
The Institute’s specialists carried out preparatory work on the construction and installation of the stand, calculating load distributions, counterbalancing schemes, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, automatic loading and force control systems, strain gauges and displacement measurement systems were designed and built.
“We have carried out tests on the suspension struts, which are completely new and assembled in-house. Our engine pylon is also installed here. Everything that has been tested is working successfully, everything has been done correctly, the structure is withstanding the specified loads. We still have major cases of loading the airframe, fuselage and wings of the aircraft,” said Dmitry Smirnov.
Another non-flying prototype of the SJ-100 is undergoing resource tests in Zhukovsky, near Moscow. TsAGI is providing scientific support for the work on aerodynamics, strength and durability. In 2023, 36 thousand flight cycles will be tested.
At the end of December 2023, the UAC press service reported that SibNIA and TsAGI had completed certification life and static tests of the modified airframe of the SJ-100 aircraft.
On 26 December, Rosaviatsia issued the approval of the main change to the type certificate, allowing the transition to production of the SJ-100 in accordance with the serial design documentation.
