HAL/Turbomeca Shakti
The HAL/Turbomeca Shakti (called the Ardiden 1H by Turbomeca) is a turboshaft helicopter engine of the late 2000s jointly developed by India and France.
History
HAL and Turbomeca have had a long history of joint industrial helicopter development in India, going back to the 1960s. In 1961, Turbomeca granted a manufacturing license for the Artouste turboshaft engine to equip the Indian Chetak and Cheetah helicopters. The development of the Shakti/Ardiden 1H project was initiated in 1999 by the two companies to power the HAL Dhruv helicopter. However, several factors including the US embargo following India's 1998 nuclear tests forced the project to run behind schedule. Hence, early models of the Dhruv used the less powerful Turbomeca TM 333-2B2 engine as a contingency. The first test flight of the Dhruv with the new Shakti engine took place on 16 August 2007.[1] By late 2007, HAL started fitting the Shakti engines for Dhruvs produced from then.
The Ardiden 1H series engines have a radial air intake and a two-stage centrifugal compressor driven by a single stage axial gas generator turbine. Airflow is directed through a reverse flow annular combustion chamber, through the gas generator turbine and then through and a two-stage axial free power turbine. Output power is transmitted to a front-mounted reduction gearbox by a shaft concentrically mounted within the gas generator rotor assembly. The accessory gearbox, also mounted at the front end, is driven by the gas generator. Control is by means of a dual-channel digital engine electronic control unit (DECU).
Variants
- Ardiden 1H
- Certified by EASA in December 2007.[2]
- Ardiden 1H1 (Shakti)
- Certified by EASA in March 2009.[2]
- powering the HAL Dhruv, LCH
- Ardiden 3G
- powering the Ka-62
Applications
Specifications
Data from EASA Type Data Certificate Sheet.[2]
General characteristics
- Type: Turboshaft
- Length: 1,250 mm (49 in)
- Diameter:
- Dry weight: 205 kg (452 lb)
Components
- Compressor: Two centrifugal compressor stages, coupled to a single-stage high-pressure turbine.
Performance
See also
- Related lists
References
External links