Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
      • 2022 class
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
December 09, 2011 01:00 AM

Composite applications take off in airliners

David Vink
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    STUTTGART, GERMANY (Dec. 9, 11:45 a.m. ET) — In August, Airbus delivered the A350 XWB (Extra Wide Body) aircraft wing box and keel beam from its Nantes plant to St Nazaire in France for assembly in the airliner's first fuselage central section. Final assembly activity for the complete plane started in Toulouse in November.

    Hexcel supplies HexPly M21E/IMA carbon fiber and prepregs to the Nantes plant for the centre wing box and keel beam. Hexcel carbon fibers are used in all A350 XWB primary structures, the US materials company says.

    The Hexcel carbon fiber and prepregs are also used by GKN Aerospace in the UK, which uses automated fiber placement (AFP) to make the airliner's rear wing spars. In addition, GKN Aerospace supplies the wing trailing edges and landing flaps - the inboard flaps go direct to Airbus, while the outboard flaps are supplied via Fokker.

    Airbus says the 36 square meter center wing box is the largest monobloque composite panel made of carbon fiber reinforced epoxide resin (CFRP) that is produced in Nantes. The A350 XWB wing cover, made at the Airbus plant in Illescas, Spain, is the largest civil aviation CFRP part.

    Composites account for 53 percent of materials in the A350 XWB, aluminum for 19 percent and steel for 14 percent, said Klaus Edelmann, team leader research and technology at Airbus in Bremen, Germany.

    In a presentation at the AVK composites conference in Stuttgart in September, Edelmann showed stamp formed clips made in carbon fiber fabric-reinforced PPS thermoplastic sheet by Premium Aerotec. The clips are for the A350 XWB upper shell and hold the aircraft's frame to the “stringer”, over which a CFRP skin is applied at Premium Aerotec's plant in Nordenham, Germany.

    Edelmann said a “unique folding process over three axes” forms a single complex clip, the first 2,000 of which were delivered at the end of 2008. The clips will substitute many of the 3.5 million small aluminum parts produced by Premium Aerotec annually for Airbus aircraft.

    The patented stamp forming process cuts part weight by 40-50 percent, Edelmann said. Partners in the project include the IFW composites institute and Faserinstitut Bremen, along with industrial groups Flow, Frimo, TenCate, Toho Tenax and Xperion.

    Premium Aerotec delivered the 13 meters long, four-paneled fuselage segment (barrel) in CFRP for the A350 XWB in November. It will later use a vacuum assisted process (VAP), developed within the Next Generation of Integrated Composite Aerostructures (Nexicos) project, to produce fuselages with integrated stringers in only one infiltration stage.

    The first Boeing 747-8 Freighter aircraft was delivered in October to Cargolux in Belgium. Hexcel supplies HexTow IM7 carbon fiber and HexPly prepregs for the GEnx-2B engine's fan blades. It also supplies HexWeb honeycomb and engineered core components in the engine nacelle (housing) and thrust reverser, as well as various secondary structures and interior parts.

    In another engine-related project, the IWK materials and plastics processing institute at HSR university in Rapperswil, Switzerland, developed a CFRP composite annulus filler for Rolls-Royce engines as part of an integrated technology demonstrator (ITD) project. These parts fill the space between individual turbine blades and are normally made of aluminum. The CFRP solution saves weight and avoids damage to engine fan blades caused by aluminum fillers that are broken in bird strikes.

    ITD was developed within the CAGE3 Sustainable and Green Engine project, part of the EU's Clean Sky joint technology initiative, in which Austrian aircraft composite parts producer FACC also participated.

    FACC supplies via Goodrich the “translating sleeve” cladding and its doors for the A350 XWB Rolls Royce Trent engines, and similar components for the Boeing 787. FACC composite parts on the A350 XWB include passenger baggage storage.

    A special resin infusion under flexible tooling (rlFT) process developed by FACC produces a center hinge fitting that attaches spoilers to the wing. This will be fitted onto the A350 XWB by the end of 2011.

    FACC has applied for a patent for a membrane assisted resin infusion (MArl) process. This facilitates production of frames and stringers in one shot as single parts up to 30 square meters and 40 mm. thickness. Its depth infiltration principle saturates the component with resin from the surface inwards, eliminating x- and y-direction infiltration difficulty.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    DOJ files criminal charges against ABC Polymer over worker death
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Private equity buyer HIG outbids rivals for Avient's distribution unit
    2
    Obituary: Auxiliary equipment patent holder Charles Thiele
    3
    California lawmakers kill plan to cut plastic packaging in online shopping
    4
    Auto supplier Gissing enters Chapter 11, owes Tesla $13.3M
    5
    PepsiCo cuts bottle design costs, time with 3D printed mold inserts
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright Ā© 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
          • 2022 class
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified