Composite materials on future commercial aircraft

The composite materials used in the Boeing 787 and A350 account for more than 50% of each aircraft (calculated by weight), which is a milestone in the application of composite materials to the main structure. However, due to insufficient material demand for these aircraft, the demand for composite materials (fibers, resins, adhesives) used to manufacture these aircraft has been suppressed. In addition, because the aviation composite material supply chain is relatively small, this change in demand can be strongly felt. Therefore, the pandemic is particularly challenging for material suppliers and manufacturers serving the aviation composites industry.

However, even before the pandemic, Boeing and Airbus sent strong signals through their supply chains, indicating that they have a strong impact on the materials and materials of next-generation aircraft, especially the next-generation single-aisle (SA) aircraft. Process (M&P) requirements. Suppose that both of these companies may announce a new single-aisle (SA) aircraft sometime between 2025 and 2030. For the two aircraft manufacturers, the new single-aisle SA (single-aisle) may use composite materials in a way not currently used in the 737 or A320. This will include composite wings, composite tails, and composite fuselages (probably unlikely). In addition, both companies predict that the new single-aisle (single-aisle) construction rate will be in the range of 60-100 per month. All this means that the materials and processes used to manufacture the 787 and A350 structures (autoclave cured prepregs) may not be sufficient to meet the single-aisle (single-aisle) rate requirements. Therefore, the entire aerospace composite material supply chain is pursuing highly automated, efficient, non-autoclave (OOA) technology to meet these needs.

The pandemic may delay the development of a new single-aisle SA (single-aisle)

Time, but it did not change the basis of Airbus or Boeing’s clean single-aisle SA (single-aisle)

This material and process requirements. In particular, Airbus said to its suppliers that it is necessary to accelerate the integration

The maturity of material technology makes it ready for the production of high-speed aircraft. This is not a trivial process. The aerospace industry is flooded with high-quality materials that have

After decades of use. It will be easy for airframe manufacturers to continue to use these materials,

Except that many of them require autoclave curing. Get out of the autoclave and use the liquid

Resin infusion, resin transfer molding (RTM), compression molding or thermoplastic composites will require

A certain degree of material identification is required, and identification is a time-consuming and expensive process. NS

However, if the ultimate return is a high-quality structure that is efficient and cost-effective, the qualification

Appraisal and demand will be acceptable.

This effort is most evident in several projects in the aerospace composites industry. The most eye-catching project is Airbus’s WOT-Wing of Tomorrow (WOT-Wing of Tomorrow)

Tomorrow) project, which is an alliance of first-level partners to develop object-oriented composite materials and process technology for the manufacture of wings for single-aisle SA (single-aisle) aircraft. WOT (Wing of Tomorrow) partner

Companions include Spirit AeroSystems (Wichita, Kansas) manufacturing the under-wing skin. GKN Aerospace Corporation (Reading, UK) manufactures beams and ribs, and Daher Corporation (Barbados

Ried im Innkreis, France) manufactures beams and ribs, FACC (Ried im Innkreis, Austria) manufactures flaps and Airbus manufactures the upper skin of the wing itself. Airbus in 2021

It was announced on September 22 that the first WOT (Wing of Tomorrow) prototype had been assembled. A total of three full-size prototype wings will be manufactured. The first one will be used to understand the system

Integration, the second one will conduct structural testing to compare with the computer model, and the third

Each will be assembled to test large-scale production and compare with industrial models.

It is worth noting that WOT (Wing of Tomorrow) is evaluating thermoplastic composite materials for making ribs. This is important because even in the 787 and A350, the ribs are made of aluminum alloy. The transition from ribs to composite materials will be an important milestone. Two Tier 1 aerospace manufacturers have developed complexes for rib manufacturing

Combined materials and craftsmanship. Demonstration of the No. 14 rib of the British GKN Aerospace Company

Used Solvay Composites (Alpharetta, Ga. USA) carbon fiber/PEKK UD prepreg unidirectional tape in the compression molding process. Daher, headquartered in France, uses similar

The process developed 5 demonstration ribs and applied Toray Advanced Composites

(Morgan Hill, California, U.S.) carbon fiber/PAEK UD prepreg unidirectional tape.

Daher also produced a 2-meter-long inner spar for WOT (Wing of Tomorrow), using a vacuum bag (VBO-Vacuum Bag Only) OOA thermosetting material. M56 350°F cured OOA epoxy resin, pre-impregnated into Hexcel AS4 carbon fiber fabric

And IM7UD carbon fiber unidirectional belt. The equipment used to make the beams uses Coriolis

The automatic fiber placement device (AFP) of the composite material (Queven, France) system, which applies the material to the punch mold.

Another significant effort to develop composite materials and processes for aerospace structures is "Clean Sky 2", an EU project that aims to use composite and non-composite materials for various aircraft components and systems Provide technology. "clean

The compelling composite-related project in “Sky 2” aims to apply thermoplastic resins to

Fuselage structure, thermoplastic welding, resin infusion wing box, 3D printing, thermal suspension

Shape and other fields.

Even if the aerospace industry focuses on the manufacture of high-speed aviation structures, some types of aircraft, business jets, and commuter jets will be manufactured in lower quantities and may benefit from more

Use composite materials effectively. This is a clean sky project called OPIICOMS

The focus of the project is a consortium led by the Israeli Aerospace Industry (IAI, Lod, Israel), including Coriolis, Technical Module Engineering (TME, Coudes, France) and Danobat (Elgoibar, Spain). OPTICOMS is a multi-part

Procedures aimed at performing a series of very detailed trade studies to assess and determine the most

Excellent wing design, material combination and OOA manufacturing process, so as to realize the automatic manufacturing of small-volume all-composite wing box. The above is based on 2021.12.3 《Composites end

Related translations in "markets: Aerospace (2022)".

Extended information: The future commercial aircraft composite materials introduced in the original text are mainly for future single-aisle SA (single-aisle) aircraft. But only the materials and craftsmanship of the wing are introduced. The material and craftsmanship of the fuselage are just a stroke. In fact, in the "Clean Sky 2" funded by the European Union, advanced, high-performance thermoplastic polyaryl ether ketone (PAEK), polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and polyether ketone ketone (PEKK) carbon fiber composite materials and We have done a lot of research and development work on the welding process. According to a report, a test piece of the fuselage barrel with a diameter of 4 meters and a length of 8 meters will be completed this year.

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