Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NHYTE (New Hybrid Thermoplastic Composite Aerostructures manufactured by Out of Autoclave Continuous Automated Technologies)

Teaser

NHYTE (New Hybrid Thermoplastic Composite Aerostructures manufactured by Out of Autoclave Continuous Automated Technologies) project aims at developing concepts and methodologies which will enable the realization of innovative and green integrated aero-structures made by a new...

Summary

NHYTE (New Hybrid Thermoplastic Composite Aerostructures manufactured by Out of Autoclave Continuous Automated Technologies) project aims at developing concepts and methodologies which will enable the realization of innovative and green integrated aero-structures made by a new recyclable hybrid thermoplastic composite material with multifunctional capabilities.The new composite material answers to the need for reduced weight and consequently reduced fuel consumptions and emissions of an aircraft, as well as for more ecological and less costly manufacturing processes.This material will be fabricated by an innovative working cell implementing advanced and continuous automated production processes. Typical aero-structure made by using the new NHYTE material will be manufactured by robotic machine using new processes as: “In-Situ Consolidation Automated Fibre Placement (ISC AFP)”,“Continuous Compression Forming (CCF)” and will be assembled by “Induction Welding (IW)”. This concept on one side will provide advantages from the structural point of view, in terms of better impact damage performance,while on the other side major advantages will result on manufacturing process simplification,including improved cycle times and lower energy consumptions, since it does not require autoclave for consolidation phase.The proposed manufacturing technology has wide spectrum of applications, not confined to a certain typology of components. The generic nature, in fact, makes the processes proposed in this project suitable and profitable for other business areas, not only aerospace field. The ISC of thermoplastic materials by AFP process is an attractive manufacturing technology as it is fast, clean, automated and uses sustainable materials. Specific market opportunity will be explored for the innovative products investigated during the project, including hybrid material production, panel fabrication and composite assembly by welding, together with the final goal of design, production and certification of primary aircraft structure. Overall Objectives of NHYTE project are:
1. Development of an innovative multifunctional thermoplastic prepreg material;
2. Development of a pre-industrial continuous automated process for fabrication of hybrid thermoplastic prepreg materials suitable to be processed by AFP machine;
3. Manufacturing of complex shape aero-structures by means of ISC process made possible by AFP technology and Continuous Forming process;
4. Application of the multifunctional material to realize an integrated aero-structure by using advanced out of autoclave joining methods for reducing fastener number and decreasing manufacturing and operational parts;
5. Environmental and Life Cycle Assessment, according to ECO-quotation procedures and weight and cost saving.
Consortium has set a target for weight saving not less than 5% for primary structures, namely not less than 8% for narrow body fuselage structures. Target for composite structure manufacturing cost reduction is up to 25% for primary structures. The usage of advanced numerical tools and development of new ones will return also a reduction in design and certification costs (incl. testing) up to 20% for primary structures. Further reduction of full life cycle cost is expected from recycling of scrape materials (up to 40%) and end of life structures.

Work performed

The main achievements at M18 are :
•Design and Construction of the prototype equipment for hybrid material manufacturing;
•Procurement of materials needed for the completion of the project;
•Definition of the guidelines for IW (Induction Welding) process needed to detail the main issue regarding the IW process for the specific demonstrator configuration;
•Update of existing e-testing solution (LGAI), to adapt it to material testing campaigns as it was created for structural test programs;
•LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methodology and optimization model finalisation;
•The manufacturing concepts to be analyzed are clearly defined: ISC AFP process vs Autoclave; high speed lay-up vs Autoclave; IW technology;
•A complete LCA + LCC (Life Cycle Cost) analysis has been performed for conventional processes and materials ;
•NHYTE visual Identity, communication Pack (logo, website, etc) and first part of the dissemination & exploitation activities;
•Identification of the physical demonstrators at all levels and test matrix;
•Study and definition of the hybrid thermoplastic material manufacturing parameters;
•Validation and verification of the new hybrid material.

Final results

NHYTE project was conceived to respond and contribute to the renewed ACARE SRIA agenda, improving the aircraft environmental impact by a reduction of CO2 emissions and NOx, as well as decrease the particulate matter. Such improvements will be achieved implementing advanced manufacturing technologies, able to reduce processing time and also the weight of an aircraft. The main concept of NHYTE project is to develop an innovative automated working cell enabling the realization of highly integrated and green aerostructures made by a new hybrid thermoplastic composite material with multifunctional capabilities.Limitations of thermoplastic composites that NHYTE project aims to overcome are: lack of automated and fast processes to manufacture thermoplastic complex structures for the aerospace sector; problems in joining thermoplastic composite parts using structural adhesives. The impact of the developments foreseen by the NHYTE project could be very high, since currently these structures can be processed in very expensive autoclaves able to reach high temperatures (around 400°C for PEEK composite structures) and slow cooling rate. The new hybrid material investigated in the project will allow to manufacture advanced composite aerostructures by fast and flexible processes at a temperature not too high, just above 210°C. Consortium aims at transforming some ‘state of the art’ aircraft concepts into more efficient (more payload per unit weight and per money) transport, both by increasing structure efficiency and by a more straightforward use of modern materials and processes. Expected Impact of the NHYTE project are summarised below:
1. Reduction of energy consumption & environmental Impact
- Weight reduction not less than 5 % for primary structures, namely not less than 8% for narrow body fuselage structures, obtained through the utilization of an improved prepreg;
- Mitigation of the energy consumptions associated to the process simplification and improved cycle times, since the use of an autoclave consolidation phase is not required;
- Reduction of full life cycle cost from recycling of scrape materials (up to 40 %) and end of life structures.
2. Maintaining Industrial leadership
- Structural advantages toughness improvement (multilayer material) and better impact damage performance;
- Reduction in design and certification costs (incl. testing) up to 20 % for primary structures through the use of advanced numerical tools and the development of new ones;
- Increased safety and reliability associated to lower manufacturing costs up to 25 % for primary structures obtained by the lower temperature and energy consumptions and simplified processing, as well as improved recyclability.
3. Breakthrough technologies
- Technologies that will be developed within the NHYTE project are far beyond the current state-of-the-art, by allowing applications never performed before.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.nhyte-h2020.eu.