City firm to help encase Sukhoi engines right

The Koraput division of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which is involved in the making of the Sukhoi-30 MK1, is getting a helping hand from a Bangalore-based firm, Hind High Vacuum (HHV), for its specialised welding needs and ensure the robustness and good quality of the weld of the casings of the fighter’s engines.

The Rs 26 crore welding unit made by HHV is being acquired by HAL’s unit. This is part of the attempts at indigeni-sation HAL is taking up in the manufacture of SU-30MK1.

The fourth generation multi-role fighter is being put together for the IAF under licence from Russia’s Sukhoi Corporation. In the first instance, the assembly requires welding of different titanium alloy components in a protected atmosphere sans oxygen. This is to prevent the formation of any oxidation spots on the welds which could weaken under the heat and stress of the engine’s service conditions.

Incidentally, “the cost of the welding unit HHV made is around half the price quoted to HAL by a European engineering company. This gave an opportunity to HHV for building such a complex system,” said Nagarjun Sakhamuri, MD of HHV.

The high vacuum technology company which, for the past 45 years, has been helping with the indigenisation for agencies like ISRO, Atomic Energy, ADA, DRDL among others which faced a denial of technology from abroad for many years. To HAL itself, HHV has designed, made and delivered nearly 25 different pieces of complex equipment in the last three decades.

HHV embarked on the task just two years ago and is now delivering the welding facility to the Koraput Divison of the HAL where the Sukhoi engine will be put together. The effort involved designing from scratch the unit.

HHV decided to robotise the welding for almost 85 per cent of the task, reducing the risk to human welders. Inputs from Pune-based Precision Automation and Robotics India Ltd (PARI) helped the cause.

The two robots were acquired from Kuka of Japan, the software and integration in the process was done by PARI.