The Rise of Composite Materials in Aerospace Manufacturing
Explore the future of aerospace manufacturing with insights into advanced materials like carbon fiber composites and nickel-based superalloys, the rise of Additive Manufacturing, and the importance of sustainability. Learn about the crucial role of continuous education and R&D in driving innovation.A raft of new materials is set to change the face of aircraft manufacturing in the years ahead. But what will they mean for the machining and tooling sector, and what steps need to be taken now to keep up with the speed of change?
The global aerospace industry has bounced back strongly from the inevitable pandemic slowdown. Demand is increasing by some 4-5 per cent each year and is expected to continue over the next two decades. To meet that demand – and align with net zero emissions targets by 2050 – manufacturers and suppliers will need to look at new materials, wider collaborations and more effective ways of working, says Mark Walsh, Academic Lead at Seco Tools in the UK.
“I've been involved in aerospace manufacturing for a long time, and I used to say you should always think what the technological advancements might be 30 or 40 years in the future. However you can never really be sure. There are many different opportunities with materials now and we’re seeing the introduction of materials in engine components for aircraft that we would never have previously considered.”
Advanced composites like carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are a case in point. Composite materials are becoming more prevalent in aerospace due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, and some 50% of modern aircraft structures, like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner, are made from CFRPs.
“I think carbon fiber composites are the future, especially in supersonic flight,” says David Morr, who is responsible for global engineering education at Seco. “The technology is incredible. The only thing against it is the sustainability aspect, as they’re not easily recyclable and once components have been used they tend to go into landfill. But we are already investing in recycling, and finding cost-effective methods for recycling it on a mass scale is a priority,” he says.
This underlines an issue with many of the new composite materials in the aerospace industry. While each offers advantages, there are often challenges to overcome, either in terms of sourcing, cost, machining or recycling them.
With weight reduction a primary industry focus, aluminum alloys, such as 7178-T6 and 7079-T6, are strong, lightweight, relatively cheap and fast to machine. However, with a lower melting point than many other structural metals, they are potentially unsuitable for high-temperature applications and aluminum’s relative softness means it can’t withstand as much wear.
High-strength steels offer exceptional strength and impact resistance but can be difficult to machine. The same goes for stainless steels, which are used less in aerospace applications.
Titanium alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, are also crucial for their strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance, however supplies have been seriously affected by ongoing geopolitical issues.
With sustainability high on the industry agenda, nickel-based super alloys, predominantly used in the turbine sections of aircraft engines, are likely to improve fuel efficiency and overall engine performance and are critical in the push towards sustainable aviation fuels.
The proliferation of new composite materials in the aerospace industry means that approaches to machining and tooling will also have to evolve. David Morr is confident that 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing (AM) will have an increasing role to play, especially given that its introduction has proved to be smoother than was perhaps feared.
“I used to work with the Australian Defense Materials Technology Center (DMTC) as part of a collaborative team looking at future materials. A lot of talk at the time was about 3D printing, which we thought was going to be a challenge. But it ended up being a bit easier to machine, because it’s all PM (Powder Metallurgy) materials. The quality of the workpiece material eliminated any variations within the structure, resulting in a consistent machining process without any variations,” he recalls. “The sort of concepts that we need to think about are how these materials will be machined, what features will they have and what type of out-of-the-box thinking we may need to reach those goals.”
Mark Walsh agrees that additive manufacturing in aerospace will continue to grow, although, he believes, the day when we see it for sensitive parts within aerospace manufacture is some way off. “We’re probably 10 to 15 years away in my opinion,” he says.
Another possible development in aerospace engineering posited by Morr is an eventual two-tier manufacturing sector.
“With the potential growth in aviation around the world, the whole concept of how we build planes for the future might completely change,” he says. “For example, for first class and companies that want to make travel as fast as possible, there could be a focus on supersonic aircraft. Alongside that, we may use what we’ve already got today, but with better fuel-efficient engines, more recyclable content and more 3D printed items.”
However the industry does develop though, continuous education and training will be essential to equip the workforce with the skills needed to navigate the future of aerospace manufacturing.
“We have to increase training in general, which would also impact upskilling. I think there will have to be a ‘mutual handshake’ that we all teach one another. We need to invest in universities and say ‘hey, we see future technology in this, we want to get involved in your R&D and we’ll sponsor you in the R&D phase. In return, you look into what is happening at the cutting edge,’” says Morr.
With the growing influence of AI in industry, the role of machinists will likely change too, according to Morr, who sees a future where mechanical engineers and robotic engineers become next-generation machinists. This, he argues, will reduce overall costs in the long term.
The financial bottom line, which still drives so much of the business today will become more and more just one of three major considerations in tomorrow’s aerospace manufacturing, according to Mark Walsh.
“You’ve got the economic impact of what you do, the environmental impact and the societal impact. This is a relatively new way of thinking in terms of manufacturing, but I think it’s going to be the cornerstone of designing processes and materials. Consideration for circular design of new materials will become the norm, enabling the recovery, re-use and recycling of as much of the materials as we possibly can to reduce waste in our processes.”
Demand is buoyant and the aviation industry looks optimistically toward the future. And from materials and R&D to investment and education, OEMs and the aerospace manufacturing industry can stride confidently ahead in the knowledge that while supply chains may remain a challenge, the right building blocks are in place to mirror that confidence.
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