Mikulin AM-37

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Mikulin AM-37
Typeliquid-cooled, V12 engine
National origin Soviet Union
Manufacturer Mikulin
First run5 January 1941
Produced1941
Number built39+
Developed from Mikulin AM-35

The Mikulin AM-37 was a Soviet aircraft piston engine designed prior to Russia's entry into World War II. An improved version of the Mikulin AM-35 V-12 engine, it was only produced in small numbers because of its unreliability.

Soviet Union 1922–1991 country in Europe and Asia

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometres north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

Aircraft machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air other than the reactions of the air against the earth’s surface

An aircraft is a machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, helicopters, airships, gliders, and hot air balloons.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Contents

Development

Design work on a development of the AM-35 with boosted supercharging and an intercooler positioned behind the supercharger began on the factory's initiative in December 1939. A batch of ten prototypes was completed in 1940 and bench-testing began on 5 January 1941. It passed its State acceptance trials the following April and was approved for production. It was tested in a variety of aircraft, but proved to be unreliable and prone to overheating. Factory No. 24 in Moscow built only twenty-nine AM-37s, as the new engine was designated, in 1941 before the German advance forced the factory to evacuate in October. Mikulin had been unable to resolve the issues with the AM-37 in the meantime and production was not resumed. [1]

Supercharger air compressor for an internal combustion engine

A supercharger is an air compressor that increases the pressure or density of air supplied to an internal combustion engine. This gives each intake cycle of the engine more oxygen, letting it burn more fuel and do more work, thus increasing power.

Intercooler specific type of mechanical device used to cool liquid or gas

An intercooler is a mechanical device used to cool a gas after compression process, Compression process increases the internal energy of the gas which in turn raises its temperature and reduces the density. In other words intercooler is a device used in compression process, typically a heat exchanger that removes waste heat in a gas compressor. They are used in many applications, including air compressors, air conditioners, refrigeration, and gas turbines, and automotive engines. Here they are widely known as an air-to-air or air-to-liquid cooler for forced induction internal combustion engines to improve their volumetric efficiency, which they do by increasing intake air density through nearly constant pressure cooling.

Moscow Capital city of Russia

Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits, 17 million within the urban area and 20 million within the metropolitan area. Moscow is one of Russia's federal cities.

Variants

AM-37A
Planned version to be tested in February 1940, but no information if it was tested or it was even completed. 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) and a weight of 850 kg (1,870 lb).
AM-37TK
TK for toorbokompressor. Planned version with a turbocharger, no further information known.
AM-37P
P for Pushechnyy or cannon. A 1940 project for a model with an autocannon mounted in the space between the cylinders, firing through a hollow reduction-gear shaft. No further information available.
Am-37u/v or AM-37UV
UV for udlinyonniy val or lengthened shaft. An engine with a lengthened shaft and remote gearing for use in the Gudkov G-1 fighter that carried the engine behind the pilot. Ordered developed in 1940 and design work started in 1941, but it was not completed.

Applications

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 aircraft

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II that was designed to meet a requirement for a high-altitude fighter issued in 1939. To minimize demand on strategic materials such as aluminum, the aircraft was mostly constructed from steel tubing and wood. Flight testing revealed a number of deficiencies, but it was ordered into production before they could be fixed. Although difficult to handle, one hundred were built before the design was modified into the MiG-3. The aircraft was issued to fighter regiments of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in 1941, but most were apparently destroyed during the opening days of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 1940 fighter aircraft

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet fighter and interceptor aircraft used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO of Zavod (Factory) No. 1 to remedy problems found during the MiG-1's development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on 20 December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2.

Mikoyan-Gurevich DIS

The Mikoyan-Gurevich DIS was a prototype Soviet escort fighter of World War II. The service designation MiG-5 was reserved for the production version of the aircraft. Competing designs in the USSR included the Grushin Gr-1, Polikarpov TIS and Tairov Ta-3.

Specifications

Data from Kotelnikov, Russian Piston Aero Engines

General characteristics

V12 engine piston engine with 12 cylinders in vee configuration

A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders each, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft. Since each cylinder bank is essentially a straight-six which is by itself in both primary and secondary balance, a V12 inherits perfect primary and secondary balance no matter which V angle is used, and therefore it needs no balance shafts. A four-stroke 12 cylinder engine has an even firing order if cylinders fire every 60° of crankshaft rotation, so a V12 with cylinder banks at 60° or 180° will have even firing intervals without using split crankpins. By using split crankpins or ignoring minor vibrations, any V angle is possible. The 180° configuration is usually referred to as a "flat-twelve engine" or a "boxer" although it is in reality a 180° V since the pistons can and normally do use shared crankpins. It may also be written as "V-12", although this is less common.

Alexander Mikulin aircraft engine designer

Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin was a Soviet Russian aircraft engine designer and chief designer in the Mikulin OKB. His achievements include the first Soviet liquid-cooled aircraft piston engine, the Mikulin AM-34, and the Mikulin AM-3 turbojet engine for the Soviet Union's first jet airliner, the Tupolev Tu-104. Mikulin also took part in the Tsar Tank project.

Components

Performance

Compression ratio the ratio of the volume of a combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its smallest capacity

The static compression ratio,, of an internal combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its smallest capacity. It is a fundamental specification for many common combustion engines.

Power-to-weight ratio is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement of actual performance of any engine or power source. It is also used as a measurement of performance of a vehicle as a whole, with the engine's power output being divided by the weight of the vehicle, to give a metric that is independent of the vehicle's size. Power-to-weight is often quoted by manufacturers at the peak value, but the actual value may vary in use and variations will affect performance.

See also

Related development

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References

Notes

  1. Kotelnikov, p. 110

Bibliography

  • Kotelnikov, Vladimir (2005). Russian Piston Aero Engines. Ramsbury, Marlborough: Crowood Press. ISBN   1-86126-702-9.