Composites in a commercial air

Aerospace composites have contributed to the efficiency of the airframe and aircraft structures over the past 15 years. There are very few truly revolutionary technologies, such as jet engine and a permanent improvement is the sum of many small steps. The current generation of commercial aircraft, aerospace composites offer weight savings of the order of 1% Operating Weight. The competitive environment in commercial aviation drives us to seek additional opportunitiesReduced direct operating costs (DOC). The biggest contribution is first, followed by fuel costs.

It would be nice if we search our policies and technology in the largest sector of the concentrate could "cake". It is unlikely that this approach as an improvement large enough to DOC, we need to take to improve in all areas. The implication for the structures in order to reduce weight by reducing the total cost of operating the aircraft.

One possibility isIncreasing the use of aerospace composites. power generation (A320 and A340) are usually about 15% by weight of composite structure. If the main wing box was to be assembled, this percentage should increase to 40%. However, to realize the potential weight saving has a number of huge technical and economic challenges. The solutions to these challenges are on the current state of the art.

For BAE, Airbus Composite Wing Program of studies on the runeffective way to produce a carbon fiber composite wing box. The importance of reliability and maintainability of the structure is recognized in the service.

Since the cost of developing technologically advanced large aircraft will continue to increase, the need for a product that meets customer needs and sell successfully on the market is becoming increasingly critical. The substantial investment required to establish a composite wing box for the nextGeneration of large civil airliner requires that the goods reach the customer must consent, and if possible exceed the expectations once it becomes operational.

Thin laminated composite structures typically on removable storage media is where most non-metallic parts are present. The industry has introduced advanced composites with care to ensure the functionality of these new materials, so most of the carbon components used in civil aircraft from the aircraft, removableStructures. Move the aerodynamic surfaces, domes, panels, doors and bonnet are typical examples of composite components and in-service experience has shown that the advantages and disadvantages for both materials. For example, composite materials eliminate problems that affected the corrosion Metallics (good design and manufacturing must be carbon, aluminum are used, interfaces), but are vulnerable to erosion at the edges exposed while the honeycomb structure, orThe material is usually more complicated repair Monolithics.

For specific structure wing leading and trailing edges contain a lot of light composite parts because of their position, vulnerable to the impact of service vehicles and other hazards while on the ground. (This also applies to less metal box and a wing that is protected from these "bumper '). When damaged, it is generally accepted that these components are more expensive to repair, the equivalentmetal parts. Damage assessment, treatment, purification and treatment of related transactions are patches of time, and is of the utmost importance to an operator that this kind of work within the scheduled maintenance downtime can be completed. Furthermore, you are required to improve the standardization and interchangeability of repair materials, and this in turn leads to more risk of downtime, storage of materials, if necessary, is expensive and often must be purchased in largeQuantity.