JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #62 - January/February 2011 - 50

aeronautics

Designing a lighter, cleaner aircraft:
EADS pushes the composite envelope
In 2001, the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) published a report that looked at air travel 20 years into the future. The report – European Aeronautics: A Vision for 2020 – created guidelines pointing the continent’s 400,000 aviation workers at the task of creating an industry that satisfied “constantly rising demands for lower travel costs, better service quality, (and) the very highest safety and environmental standards.”

By

CHRIS HARDEE CONSULTANT NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A.

50

O

jec composites magazine / No62 January - February 2011
One of the key strategies for achieving these goals is the replacement of current metal components with innovative composite structures. At EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space), a number of business units and aerospace partners are actively engaged in the development of “greener, cleaner” commercial aircraft. Through a global network of technical capability centres, collectively known as EADS Innovation Works, engineering teams at the €43.3 billion company are

n the environmental front, the report went on to set goals that would decrease impact of the aeronautics industry by cutting aircraft fuel consumption 50 percent, CO2 emissions 50 percent, and NOx emissions 80 percent by the year 2020. In order to achieve these aggressive goals, the aircraft engineering community is engaged in a competitive race to design lighter aircraft with greater fuel efficiency and longer range.

looking for ways to bring sustainability to aircraft design – one component at a time.

Sustainable aircraft design takes off
Dr. Tamas Havar, specialist at EADS Innovation Worksite near Munich, Germany, leads a variety of projects in the Structure Integration & Mechanical Systems department. He and his team are tasked with developing new aircraft structures using composite materials. “The goal of our ongoing analysis programme,” Havar says, “is to reduce emissions and manufacturing costs by focusing on the development of innovative composite design and manufacturing methods.” A project team of engineers from various EADS business units and university partners, led by the Airbus High-Lift R&T group in the frame of the German-funded aerospace programmes (Luftfahrtforschungsprogramm) IV 2nd Call, within the Project HIGHER-TE (High Lift Enhanced Research – Trailing Edge),

recently completed the analysis of an advanced composite load introduction rib (LIR), an important wing flap support structure in the Airbus A340 aircraft. While an Airbus A340 component was used for this study, the analysis results will be applied to new designs in general. In aeronautic applications, preimpregnated carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites are typically the composite of choice. In this instance, however, the EADS engineering team – while looking to reduce costs – chose an autoclave-free manufacturing process which led to the use of textile composites instead. Textile composites are also used in the bulkhead of the A380 – Airbus’ most composite-intensive aircraft to date. A critical factor in the design of composite aeronautic structures is how the parts attach to the surrounding aircraft structure. Current composite high-lift structures – such as a flap – typically utilize metal load introduction structures to attach to the wing. These structures, with fail-safe
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #62 - January/February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #62 - January/February 2011
