Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ADDIFLAP (ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING of FLAP TRACKS based on LASER W-DED PROCESS)
Période du rapport: 2022-06-01 au 2023-07-31
The environmental challenge (reduction of fuel consumption) for aircraft industry is driving new handicaps in this sector as improvements on fuselage and aircraft engines and light weighting. Indirectly, reduction of maintenance operations has also influence on environmental footprint by reducing the waste parts, oils or greases, etc. The use of lightweight materials as titanium alloys has been growing up in the aircraft industry alloys for weight reduction. However the high ratio between the raw material used to produce a component and the mass of the component (“buy-to-fly”, BTF ratio ) raises the scrap material, the environmental impact and the production costs. Additive Manufacturing (AM), and particularly Wire Directed Energy Deposition by Laser (W-DED-LB) is being the alternative manufacturing process to reduce waste material and the production costs. W-DED process is becoming a key manufacturing process in aerospace development, mainly due to high deposition rate, the ability to build larger structures and high efficiency in material compared with powder AM technologies. W-DED-LB techniques have an important drawback linked to a complex heat management. The implementation of inappropriate building strategies would result in important distortions and residual stresses in the final built component. The implementation of a novel manufacturing methodology able to ensure the quality of the built component is a key issue to overcome. The combination of the manufacturing strategies and the main advantages of coaxial W-DED-LB process proposed in ADDIFLAP will enable to manufacture a low distortion near net shape (NNS) for flap track structure.
On the other hand, one of the breakthroughs in tribology is to design solid films with desirable friction and wear properties across the load, speed and temperature ranges to reduce the use of lubricants minimizing the maintenance of the components. Addition improvement for carriage system based on a sliding pad concept proposed in ADDIFLAP will support the replacement of the actual roller system, reducing the maintenance and the use of greases during the service life of the aircraft.
From the work performed along the ADDIFLAP project, main objectives of ADDIFLAP project have been succuesfully reached. A full-scale flap track support has been manufactured by W-DED-LB process according to the manufacturing strategy developed in the project, reducing the distortion of the base plate below ±1mm. The demonstrator was finally machined to target geometry with a reduction over 50% in the BTF ratio compared to conventional machining from a Ti billet.
From the model tests PEEKCA30 was selected as the final material to manufacture the sliding system solution. To reach this good wear performance of PEEKCA30 on the titanium surface, a hardmetal coating was applied to the titanium surface. So, the flap track surfaces in contact with the sliding pad has been coated to fulfil the wear/friction requirements.
Finally, the test rig required to perform the final wear tests of the sliding pads over the flap track support has been designed and manufactured. Assembly of whole components was performed and wear test on full component to assess the wear performance of the sliding pad system is ongoing.
According to ADDIFLAP results further development is required before being ready for production environments. Further R&D will be required to optimize mechanical properties of deposited material, the new strategy for cost-efficiency, production cycle time, and certifications for the material must be obtained. The final design of the sliding-pad should be optimized after manufacturing several prototypes and testing them to ensure robustness and cost-effectiveness.
On the other hand, one of the breakthroughs in tribology is to design solid films with desirable friction and wear properties across the load, speed and temperature ranges to reduce the use of lubricants minimizing the maintenance of the components. Addition improvement for carriage system based on a sliding pad concept proposed in ADDIFLAP will support the replacement of the actual roller system, reducing the maintenance and the use of greases during the service life of the aircraft.
From the work performed along the ADDIFLAP project, main objectives of ADDIFLAP project have been succuesfully reached. A full-scale flap track support has been manufactured by W-DED-LB process according to the manufacturing strategy developed in the project, reducing the distortion of the base plate below ±1mm. The demonstrator was finally machined to target geometry with a reduction over 50% in the BTF ratio compared to conventional machining from a Ti billet.
From the model tests PEEKCA30 was selected as the final material to manufacture the sliding system solution. To reach this good wear performance of PEEKCA30 on the titanium surface, a hardmetal coating was applied to the titanium surface. So, the flap track surfaces in contact with the sliding pad has been coated to fulfil the wear/friction requirements.
Finally, the test rig required to perform the final wear tests of the sliding pads over the flap track support has been designed and manufactured. Assembly of whole components was performed and wear test on full component to assess the wear performance of the sliding pad system is ongoing.
According to ADDIFLAP results further development is required before being ready for production environments. Further R&D will be required to optimize mechanical properties of deposited material, the new strategy for cost-efficiency, production cycle time, and certifications for the material must be obtained. The final design of the sliding-pad should be optimized after manufacturing several prototypes and testing them to ensure robustness and cost-effectiveness.
General results of each WP are summarized below:
Activities of WP1 have been focused on development of the simulation models for W-DED-LB process of Ti6Al4V material and the set-up of the manufacturing process. Different manufacturing strategies have been tested and compared with simulation results, and final manufacturing strategy has been selected. Finally, the setup of the W-DED-LB process has been established including design of inert chamber, clamping tool and optimization of process parameters. Manufacturing of the first full scale near net shape was performed in order to extract the coupons for mechanical testing.
In WP2,dimensional control of the near net shapes has allowed to check the matching between simulation and experimental results. Analysis of chemical composition and mechanical properties of the deposited have been performed. Main results from the mechanical tests show that static tests provide acceptable results in all tested directions. However dynamic tests show big differences between the tested directions, and some of them do not fulfill the requirements.
The full-scale flap track demonstrator has been manufactured by W-DED-LB process in WP3. Dimensional control performed by 3D scanning has confirm the near net shape is under the tolerance limits to be machined and extract the target geometry of the flap track support.
Within the context of WP4, main requirements for determining the wear resistance of the sliding pads have been defined and model experiments with different self-lubricant materials were performed to select the most viable solution for the sliding pad concept. Simulations for design and validation of the maximum contact pressures in the new self-lubricating sliding pads have been performed and sliding pads have been designed and manufactured.
Different loading scenarios have been studied and simulated for the test rig design under WP5 activities. Wear test conditions have been defined by simplifying the configuration of loads without compromising the test effectivity. The test rig was finally designed and manufactured and the sliding pads, the carriage and the flap track support have been assembled into the test rig. The wear test is ongoing.
A summary of dissemination and communication activities is presented below:
•ADDIFLAP project results has been presented at technical conferences and events of great interest to the consortium.
•Different news have been published at AC2T and AIMEN Annual Reports, and also in local written or digital press.
•Numerous publications have been made on social networks, like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram- mentioning ADDIFLAP project.
In terms of market relevance (medium-term exploitation), the Key Exploitable Results (KER) have been redefined.
Activities of WP1 have been focused on development of the simulation models for W-DED-LB process of Ti6Al4V material and the set-up of the manufacturing process. Different manufacturing strategies have been tested and compared with simulation results, and final manufacturing strategy has been selected. Finally, the setup of the W-DED-LB process has been established including design of inert chamber, clamping tool and optimization of process parameters. Manufacturing of the first full scale near net shape was performed in order to extract the coupons for mechanical testing.
In WP2,dimensional control of the near net shapes has allowed to check the matching between simulation and experimental results. Analysis of chemical composition and mechanical properties of the deposited have been performed. Main results from the mechanical tests show that static tests provide acceptable results in all tested directions. However dynamic tests show big differences between the tested directions, and some of them do not fulfill the requirements.
The full-scale flap track demonstrator has been manufactured by W-DED-LB process in WP3. Dimensional control performed by 3D scanning has confirm the near net shape is under the tolerance limits to be machined and extract the target geometry of the flap track support.
Within the context of WP4, main requirements for determining the wear resistance of the sliding pads have been defined and model experiments with different self-lubricant materials were performed to select the most viable solution for the sliding pad concept. Simulations for design and validation of the maximum contact pressures in the new self-lubricating sliding pads have been performed and sliding pads have been designed and manufactured.
Different loading scenarios have been studied and simulated for the test rig design under WP5 activities. Wear test conditions have been defined by simplifying the configuration of loads without compromising the test effectivity. The test rig was finally designed and manufactured and the sliding pads, the carriage and the flap track support have been assembled into the test rig. The wear test is ongoing.
A summary of dissemination and communication activities is presented below:
•ADDIFLAP project results has been presented at technical conferences and events of great interest to the consortium.
•Different news have been published at AC2T and AIMEN Annual Reports, and also in local written or digital press.
•Numerous publications have been made on social networks, like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram- mentioning ADDIFLAP project.
In terms of market relevance (medium-term exploitation), the Key Exploitable Results (KER) have been redefined.
Main progresses from the work performed in ADDIFLAP project are summarized below:
•Simulation based manufacturing has enabled the reduction on distortion of the component up to 40%.
•Coaxial laser wire DED technology has been demonstrated for manufacturing of large size components in Ti6Al4V under an inert atmosphere.
•Full-scale flap track demonstrator has been manufactured by W-DED-LB process. A reduction on more than 50% on the BTF ratio is reached.
•Mechanical behaviour of the Ti6Al4V deposited material was deeply studied performing different static and dynamic tests.
•Different self-lubricating concepts have been investigated under realistic contact conditions in model tests.
•Sliding system for replacing the roller system on the flaps movement was designed and manufactured.
•Wear test plan was defined, and test rig was designed and manufactured accordingly. Performance of the sliding system is being evaluated.
•Simulation based manufacturing has enabled the reduction on distortion of the component up to 40%.
•Coaxial laser wire DED technology has been demonstrated for manufacturing of large size components in Ti6Al4V under an inert atmosphere.
•Full-scale flap track demonstrator has been manufactured by W-DED-LB process. A reduction on more than 50% on the BTF ratio is reached.
•Mechanical behaviour of the Ti6Al4V deposited material was deeply studied performing different static and dynamic tests.
•Different self-lubricating concepts have been investigated under realistic contact conditions in model tests.
•Sliding system for replacing the roller system on the flaps movement was designed and manufactured.
•Wear test plan was defined, and test rig was designed and manufactured accordingly. Performance of the sliding system is being evaluated.