Aerospace Materials II
The advent of the B787 and A350 has revolutionized commercial aircraft construction; composite materials are now the primary structural materials. In this Newsletter we focus on recent developments in the manufacturing technologies that support this materials revolution. Technologies like Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) and Automated Tape Laying are essential to construct the large fuselage sections. The large structures require large, expensive autoclave capital equipment in the fabrication process. Therefore, there is a lot of interest in OOA (out of autoclave) composites technology; a number of companies are developing and perfecting resin systems for this technology. In June 2009 an aircraft with an OOA all-composite airframe took its maiden flight. There are also developments in resin transfer molding and thermoplastic composites.
|