07/23/2019

Aircraft drives are also produced on Schuler presses

With a total of ten machines, the Russian company UEC-Saturn manufactures engine blades and other parts for turbines

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On Schuler presses, the Russian company UEC-Saturn produces engines like for the Sukhoi Superjet 100.

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With an isothermal forming press from Schuler, UEC-Saturn produces titanium engine blades.

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With isothermal forming, die and workpiece have the same temperature during the forming process.

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Screw press with press force of 1.600 tons.

UEC-Saturn, part of the United Engine Corporation, has specialized in in gas turbines for aviation, shipping and power plants. The company has its roots in a Renault factory founded in 1916, which was converted to aircraft production in 1924. Since 1937, a total of almost 50,000 aircraft engines has been produced on this assembly line.

In addition to the headquarters in Rybinsk, the company has a research center in St. Petersburg, the design department is located in Perm in the Urals. At the production site in Rybinsk, about 300 kilometers north of Moscow, a total of ten Schuler presses are now being used.

From Tupolev to Superjet

In 2014, Schuler received an order from Saturn for a 1,600-ton PA 325 screw press. The machine bodies of that smaller series are monobloc-type. The most recent delivery was the PSS 480 screw press with a press force of 2,800 tons, which has been in operation at Saturn for more than a year now.

Among the developments of UEC-Saturn is the world's first supersonic airliner Tupolev Tu-144. In 2010, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified the Schuler customer for an engine designed and produced with France for the Suchoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100) regional passenger jet.

Turbine blades made of titanium

Schuler has also supplied Saturn with an isothermal press for the production of turbine blades made of titanium. The high-strength material is becoming increasingly important as a material in aircraft construction because of its light weight. In isothermal forming, die and workpiece have the same constant temperature during the entire forming process.

The press can be used for several forming processes: turbine blade production, calibration and thermosetting. In that special process, the components are heated to a temperature slightly below forming temperature and then acted upon by a constant pressure.

The isothermal presses enable the company to develop advanced technologies for the forming of engine blades that allow the production of parts with minimal machining effort. This makes UEC-Saturn competitive worldwide.

Saturn also purchased an isothermal deep-drawing press from Schuler for the production of sheet metal parts from TA6V. As the world's first series production line, it enables the isothermal hot deep-drawing of sheet metal parts in a combined operation (parts can be hot or cold formed) with a newly developed oven concept without chimney effect and a full-fledged, controllable bed cushion. If required, it can also be retrofitted with an argon gas supply for superplastic forming.

As a result, complicated components with very good dimensional accuracy can be produced in a single step. The low main forming speed keeps the flow stresses low, allowing a good distribution of material in the die and protecting it from high loads.