The supply chain for European aircraft aims to achieve competitive and sustainable products with high quality standards. Aircraft and engine manufacturers demand a radical change in the efficiency, profitability, and flexibility of industrial processes to adapt to high production rates and increasing product complexity and variability. In the transition to industry 4.0 the deployment of connected objects is transforming manufacturing and maintenance processes, enabling tighter integration of the value chain. Adding native connectivity to various parts of an aircraft will be key to speeding up this transformation. This involves embedding sensor technology into airframes, providing them with cognitive capabilities to improve manufacturing processes and operational availability without compromising safety. MORPHO is the joint effort of European experts in smart manufacturing, sensor integration, structural health monitoring, and recycling of aerospace structural parts and SAFRAN, a major OEM, to face this challenge.
Modern and future fan blades are designed and manufactured using a hybrid metal and advanced composite configuration. For the LEAP engine, the core body of the fan blades is built up of 3D-woven composite manufactured using RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) process, while the leading edge is made of titanium. This new design allows for a mass gain and exhibits high strength and fracture toughness, yet remains vulnerable to foreign object impact and delamination damages.
MORPHO’s goal is to promote the industrial deployment of smart engine fan blades by adopting a cognitive paradigm for their manufacturing, health monitoring during service-life, and recycling. MORPHO’s key objective is to advance the design, production, and field operation of multifunctional fan blades, with an emphasis on efficient, profitable, and environmentally-friendly manufacturing, maintenance, and recycling. During the life cycle of equipment (LCM), particular importance is given to: (i) the control of its manufacturing process, (ii) its operational availability, (iii) its maintenance, and (iv) the recycling of the components that constitute it.
To master the LCM of the fan module, which is the primary interface of the engine and the environment, we propose to embed sensors (printed piezoelectric and temperature and fiber optic) inside/on each blade and develop dedicated digital/hybrid twins to provide aircraft engines blades with cognitive capabilities. These will allow managing and assessing their entire life cycle. MORPHO’s ambition is to set the cornerstones of future standards for reliable, sustainable, agile, and cost-effective industrialization of this new generation of intelligent and multifunctional parts and their associated manufacturing processes.
