JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009 - 52

USERS’ PLATFORM Successful partners Manufacturing a fuselage via one-shot infusion Bernard Stervinou, a lecturer at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT) of Brest (France) and keen aviation enthusiast, has created a group comprising his own students along with manufacturers in order to produce the first fuselage for a light aircraft by means of one-shot infusion: the Nijal, whose name means "to fly" in Breton. he objective was to construct France's first light aircraft with an integrally stiffened one-piece fuselage made from carbon/epoxy in a single step. The result: an award at the JEC Show 2008 in Paris. T boat building). With each passing crop of alumni, a number of these students have become increasingly involved in the development of new processes, testing and validation, and in manufacturing the tools. A few years ago, Mr Stervinou created an association called "Savoir-Faire, Savoirs Aéronautiques et Composites" ("Knowhow, Aerospace Skills and Composites") which finances the aircraft and which will take charge of it. Innovation The innovation that characterises this project lies in the infusion moulding on a complex carbon preform of an integrallystiffened one-piece carbon aircraft fuselage in a single step. The composite materials comply precisely with the mechanical characteristics / mass ratio. This technology makes the industrial process competitive. It offers the integration of functions, time savings in manufacturing and improved working conditions, not to mention the absence of expiry limits, the disadvantage with prepregs. Many partnerships Mr Stervinou has managed to gather many partners around him: - Gazechim, for the supply of free materials during the exploratory phase; - The University of Nantes, for materials characterization and strain testing of the completed structures; - H D S Structures, called in for the analysis and modelling of the wings; - Composites Distribution, for supplying the carbon fabrics; - Axson, for supplying the epoxy resin and exchanging know-how; - Structil, for supplying carbon in exchange for acquired know-how (fuselage LRI); - Rex Composites, manufacturer of composite aircraft and aerospace structures, has provided a grant for the development of the first sandwich mould prior to technological transfer to Rex Composites; - finally Oséo, a financing agency for innovative small and medium-sized businesses has also provided financial support. France's first light aircraft with an integrally stiffened one-piece fuselage made from carbon/epoxy in a single step. The project Bernard Stervinou has been teaching the use of composite materials since 1984, and has been a Vocational Degree lecturer at Brest IUT since 1999. Already a pilot and the manufacturer and owner of an aircraft made out of composites, the idea came to him to design and manufacture a brand-new aircraft. He opted for a classic design in order to focus exclusively on the composite processes. This aircraft has served as a basis for the training of around 70 students, who have thus been able to discover the world of aviation and who today, for the most part, are working in this particular field (following their training, around 75% of the Vocational Degree students of Brest IUT find work in aerospace and 25% in On the stage for receiving a JEC Award 2008. This development began in 2000 with a study of the wing and its tools, all of which were produced by infusion (technology transfer to Rex Composites of the know-how acquired at Brest). The complete instrumented wing, with flaps and ailerons, was tested for combined flexion and torsion up to the point of rupture (in the presence of the DGAC). The model for the lower part of the fuselage was produced in PS foam via numerically-controlled machining. The corresponding mould was produced in high-temperature carbon/epoxy in order 52 jec composites magazine / No46 January-February 2009
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009
