AES100 civilian turboshaft engine awarded model certificate of conformity

Recently, the 1000 kW civil turboshaft engine AES100 independently developed by China Aero Engine Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "AVIC") was awarded the Type Certificate by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in Beijing, marking that China has the ability to independently develop advanced civil turboshaft engines in accordance with international airworthiness standards.

Aircraft engines are the "heart" of airplanes and high-end equipment that embodies advanced technology, while turboshaft engines are mainly installed in various types of helicopters. For a long time, domestic helicopters have relied heavily on imported civilian turboshaft engines.

The AES100 engine is China's first advanced civil turboshaft engine that is independently developed in strict accordance with international airworthiness standards and has complete independent intellectual property rights. Its design power is 1100 kW, with a first flip period of 3000 hours. It uses advanced materials and functional components, and has advantages such as high efficiency, low fuel consumption, long service life, and high safety. It can meet the power requirements of dual engine 5-6 ton helicopters and single engine 3-4 ton helicopters.

The extremely high technical specifications mean that the AES100 engine needs to integrate tens of thousands of components in a limited space to operate safely and reliably for a long time in harsh environments such as high temperature, high pressure, high speed, and high load, "said Li Fanqi, the chief designer of the AES100 engine and the full-time chief engineer of AVIC.

The whole aircraft containment test is a key subject for verifying the safety of aviation engines. It is the first of its kind in the engineering development of turboshaft engines in China and also the most difficult, risky, and costly whole aircraft airworthiness test among thousands of AES100 engine airworthiness tests.

Li Fanqi said that in order to ensure the success of the test, the development team tackled the problem 5 years in advance, innovatively designed the test plan, held multiple technical seminars, and ensured that the engine could withstand the impact force of multiple power turbine blades simultaneously shedding and a single blade of up to 4.8 tons. The complete machine containment test was successfully completed in one go, fully verifying the safety of the engine.

In the process of model development, AVIC has also established a "small core, large collaboration, specialization, and openness" scientific research system, gathering the research and development forces of more than 800 units from 27 provinces and cities across the country, breaking through dozens of key core technologies such as high-efficiency compressors, low fuel consumption and long life structural layouts, and full authority digital control systems.

It is reported that the AES100 engine can work safely and stably under complex conditions such as icing, rainstorm and strong electromagnetic environment. The equipped helicopter can perform patrol, rescue, sightseeing, business flight and other tasks below 6000 meters, which will strongly promote the development of low altitude economy.

The AES100 engine will undergo further improvements and modifications, which can lead to the development of 900 kW turboprop engines, 1000 kg thrust turbofan engines, and 1000 kW ground light gas turbines for use in small and medium-sized turboprop aircraft, jet business jets, and ground mobile power stations.