Periodic Reporting for period 3 - ECOFUNEL (Eco Design: Composite functionalization: thermal and electricalconductivity)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-05-01 al 2020-09-30
Actually, the application of composite materials is not only restricted to primary structure elements, but more and more metal components of the systems of the aircraft are being manufactured now in composites. However, the intrinsic properties of metals such as electrical conductivity are challenging the progress in the “carbonization” of some elements. Thus, the manufacturing of these parts in composites needs of novel material developments and strategies to meet all the requirements.
The environmental control systems (ECS) are essential systems of the aircraft that require of high electrical conductivity to discharge the static electrical charges produced during operation. Currently, some of the ducts of the ECS were successfully manufactured in polymer compounds. Nevertheless, the limited electrical conductivity of the composites that can be employed implies the use of metal braids to assure electrical continuity of the device, which add weight to the system. In this scenario, the ECOFUNEL project aimed to create new enhanced compounds with the objective of suppressing the extra weight of the braids. The technical approach for accomplishing the objectives included the use of specific fillers for the compounds in combination with reinforcements that enabled the enhanced electrical feature while keeping appropriate levels of mechanical properties.
During the whole 44-month action, a set of novel material formulations were proposed and created to substitute the current commercial compounds employed in the manufacturing of ECS. The candidate materials were evaluated in some key properties such as electrical conductivity or mechanical performance. Among all, one final material was selected for the manufacturing of the real-scale prototypes, and its characteristics were evaluated and reported. The new compound obtained showed a five-fold increase of electrical performance as compared to the reference material with a limited decrease of only 15 - 20 % of the mechanical properties. The overall technical results were presented in the MATCOMP ’19 Congress and Liebherr Aerospace SAS as the Topic Manager is studying the protection and exploitation via patent.
The ECOFUNEL outcome is clearly aligned with the societal interests in regard to a greener transportation through lower emission of pollutants, lower manufacturing residues and the total suppression of chromium treatments often employed in metal industry. Also, improving the characteristics of the composites empowers the competitiveness of the aeronautics sector of the European region and boosts the penetration of these materials to other systems of the aircraft and even to other transportation industries such as automotive and railways.