Surge - what is it? By this definition is meant the failure of the stable functioning of the aircraft engine, the violation of its gas-dynamic indicators. Engine surging is accompanied by a sharp loss of traction, popping with the emission of smoke and flame from the turbines, the occurrence of significant vibrations on board the aircraft. Often all this leads to the destruction of the engine.
What happens when the aircraft engine is surged?
Surge - what is it? This phenomenon occurs as a result of the loss of stable rotation of the turbine blades. The process has a tendency to self-growth. The resulting air turbulence knocks down the rhythm of the engine. Repeated rotation of the same heated portion of air in the turbine causes a significant increase in the temperature of the compressor of the aircraft engine.
Surge - what is it? The operation of the engine in the surge mode ultimately leads to damage and subsequent destruction. This contributes to the loss of strength by the blades and the explosions of the portions of exhaust gases as a result of excessive temperature increase.
How to eliminate surge during the flight?
What are pilots doing to eliminate surging turbocharger during aircraft movement? When a problem is identified, the aircraft engine is first switched to the “low gas” mode or completely turned off. In the latter case, the surge effect disappears on its own. It is worth noting that when a problem occurs, the temperature of the gases in the turbine rises to catastrophic rates in seconds. Therefore, timely shutdown of a damaged engine is extremely important in terms of preventing a catastrophe.
Fire engines are installed on modern aircraft engines. Its functioning helps to eliminate factors that cause surging of the engine, without the need for targeted actions on the part of the aircraft crew. Thanks to automation, the pressure in the turbine area decreases for a split second, and the fuel supply is interrupted. All this makes it possible to avoid further ignition of the motor in flight.
Engineering Solutions to Eliminate Motor Surge
The main way to combat the occurrence of surging in aviation is to install engines with coaxial shafts on aircraft. The latter are able to rotate independently in relation to each other at different speeds. Each coaxial shaft is responsible for a part of the turbine and compressor.
Among other things, engineers provide for the following:
- Adjustable rotary blades are mounted on engine turbines. This helps to improve the blowing of the blades, on which, in fact, breakdowns are formed during surge.
- Use air bypass valves that relieve excess pressure in the engine compressor. Thus, air circulation through the compressor is facilitated.
Causes
So we found out what surge in aviation is. Now let's look at the reasons that can lead to the occurrence of such an accident. Surge may be caused by:
- withdrawal of the aircraft to angles of attack beyond its control;
- tearing off or partial destruction of the turbine blades, for example due to their obsolescence, expiration date;
- getting into the turbine of the engine a foreign object (garbage, fragments of the take-off and landing cover, a flying bird);
- engineering errors in the design of the engine or its control systems;
- strong gusts of crosswind;
- a critical decrease in atmospheric pressure (may occur when the aircraft moves in the mountains in hot weather).
Finally
We figured out the presented material, surging - what is it. As you can see, there are a whole host of solutions to deal with such emergency hazards. This is primarily the manual shutdown of a damaged turbine by the crew of the aircraft, the automatic restart of the aircraft engine by special systems, the preliminary operation of all kinds of warning devices that inform pilots about the danger of engine fire. With this in mind, you should not be afraid of flying on air transport, because such accidents are currently extremely rare.