Chinese Aviation Engines

The aero engine is called the "heart" of the aircraft. The US aviation industry compares with China at this point. Simply put, it is that the United States has an engine first, and then there is an aircraft. China has a plane first and then an engine. .the Chinese themselves judge that their aero engine technology is 20 years behind the West. Such a huge gap cannot be overcome through an independent, step-by-step approach, or by importing some advanced engines to fill the model.

In order to replace the Chinese Air Force's aircraft with "China Heart", Chinese military industry has been committed to the development of advanced aviation engines. At present, the countries that can build aero engines in the world are the five countries of China, the United States, Russia, France and Britain. Although China is among them, the overall level is still very backward.

China's aircraft development was earlier than the development of aero engines, so it caused the production of fighters and engines not to match well. The quality of an aero engine has a large impact on the aircraft. We mention that the aero engine is the core of the aircraft and its quality will directly affect the performance of the aircraft. Especially for fighters, the quality of the engine directly affects the success or failure of the aircraft. More serious will threaten the safety of the pilot.

The engines of China's warplanes are the weakest link, mainly due to the service life issue. Some fo China's engine life is not more than 300 hours. So in 2013, China and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement to buy 24 Su-35 fighter jets because the AL-35F engine of the Su-35 fighters have a lifespan of 1,000 hours. The Chinese military development of aircraft engines must invest a lot, but still it is "very difficult" to master the core technologies. In such a realistic situation, China must increase its investment in the research and development of aircraft engines.

China's aviation industry has a late start and a poor foundation. The life of F119 engine in the United States can reach 12,000 hours, while the life of the domestic W10 Taihang turbofan is only 1500 hours. The main difference is in the high-temperature material tolerance in China. The costs of acquiring and owning turbine engines have escalated steadily over the yearb for both military and commercial users. Most of the causes are readily apparent. Demands for higher overall quality-meaning performance, primarily, for the military-have resulted in larger engines that produce greater thrust, run hotter, are costlier to maintain, and entail higher basic engine prices.

The service life of a piece of military equipment is the total amount of use that the equipment can expend before its capability is degraded to the point where it must be replaced or undergo a major depot-level, procurement-funded service life extension. Engine life-limited parts are those engine rotating and major static structural parts whose primary failure is likely to result in a hazardous engine effect. Guidelines are been promulgated that instruct the maintenance personnel to condition, inspect and/or replace the engine life limited part after the engine life limited part has been operated for a predetermined quantity of cycles or hours. This varies depending on design decisions made my the manufacturer.

The Time Between Overhaul (TBO) is the manufacturer recommended time period after which the engine is stripped down,checked thoroughly and required parts replaced. There are a few things that can shorten the life of a turbine engine (e.g. "hot starts"), and the "hot section" components usually have their own timelines for inspection or replacement (which may coincide with the compressors).

High cycle engines stay on wing for a lower number of service hours than long haul engines. Higher thrust settings mean higher temperatures, pressures, and stresses. A fighter engine may accumulate only 200 to 300 flying hours in a year, whereas airlines fly about ten times more hours per year than supersonic fighter aircraft. In the United States in the 1960s, the J79 engine on an F-4 aircraft had to go to the depot at 1200 hours for a zero-time overhaul.

In the West, civilian Airline engines (for example the Rolls Royce Trent series) usually have TBOs of over 15,000 hours. The record for maximum time for an engine on wing (i.e. use in aircraft before removal for overhaul) is well over 40,000 hours. The service life experience of a modern (i.e. 1980’s vintage GE CF6) turbine engine that is still in use today has an 18,000 hour design life.

In August 2016, China Aviation Development Corporation was established and the “two-machine special project” was launched. This also marks the beginning of a new phase in China's aviation development.