Lecture on composite materials: COMPOSITES OF INTEREST FOR THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

Target audience: universities and engineering courses, on demand.

Lecture already given at the following universities: UNIFEI, UNESP and UFABC.

The talk was developed for Portuguese-speaking listeners, but can be presented to English-speaking listeners on demand.

This lecture aims to provide the student with a broad view of composite materials and their applications in the aerospace industry.

It is divided into 8 sections, namely: 1. Evolution of composite materials 2. Advanced composite materials 3. Applications and demonstrators 4. Manufacturing processes 5. Think composites 6. Recyclability 7. Future 8. Bibliography

The first part presents the evolution of composite materials in the most advanced commercial aircraft to date, as well as the evolution of their use in other markets, such as in industrial, space and leisure applications.

The second part defines what is meant by advanced composite materials, presents the range of other applications, the advantages and disadvantages of using composite materials and also a list of the main FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulations that need to be met when to develop structural applications.

In part three, applications of composite materials in structural parts for the four main aircraft manufacturers today are presented, namely: Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and Bombardier.

In section 4, a comprehensive overview of the main manufacturing processes for parts made from composite materials is presented. The processes are divided according to the nature of the resin, i.e. thermoset or thermoplastic, and for each process the reason for its application is indicated and for which aeronautical component it is most suitable.

Section 5 presents an interesting case study, where it is possible to visualize a paradigm shift with regard to the way of designing aeronautical components in composite materials, with an emphasis on component integration, something that is not possible in metallic parts.

Section 6 deals with the issue of recyclability of composite materials, when aeronautical structures are discarded at the end of an aircraft's useful life. Some possible routes are presented, but there is still plenty of room to develop recycling processes with better performance.

Section 7 takes a prospective dive into the not-too-distant future, in the space elevator, where composite materials will have their place guaranteed, as will continuous filaments of carbon nanotubes.

In the last section, a list of some references is presented that will allow the student to delve deeper into this subject. Please note that this list is not exhaustive and that the available literature is much broader than that presented.

Anexo blog 4.4.pdf

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