Project description
Heat-busing designs for helicopters
Weight reduction and fatigue resistance have long challenged helicopter engineering, burdening these aerial marvels with inefficiency and vulnerability. The EU-funded HEFESTO project aims to shatter these limitations by revolutionising the engine deck and firewall area, replacing the traditional titanium structure with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). With an ambitious goal of achieving over 10 % weight reduction and enhanced fatigue resistance, this audacious endeavour holds the promise of a brighter future for helicopter technology. But the key lies in effectively protecting the CFRP against the ravages of heat and fire. Specifically, HEFESTO will develop a multilayer coating and subject the coated CFRP to constant temperature conditions to prove that this remarkable coating can maintain CFRP’s mechanical integrity, even at elevated temperatures.
Objective
The main objective of the HEFESTO project is to redesign the engine deck/firewall area of a helicopter in CFRP in order to obtain the greatest weight reduction possible (greater than 10%) and fatigue resistence improvement over the traditional titanium structure. In order for this to be feasible, the CFRP must be adecuately protected against heat and fire. The object of the HEFESTO project is therefore also to demonstrate a novel all-in-one multilayer coating effective to thermally isolate and fireproof CFRP in order to resist the operating conditions and fire hazards in the immediate area of a helicopter motor. The multilayer coating, which is composed of an aerogel (to thermally insolate), a ceramic (to fireproof) and an intumescent layer (to actively firefight), will be applied to the redesigned helicopter engine deck/firewall. The resulting structure will be fire tested to demonstrate it fireproof according to CS-29 standards, and also tested under constant temperature condicions representative of the motor area to demonstrate that the coating thermally isolates the CFRP at temperatures which are acceptable for this material to maintain its mechanical properties completely intact. The most appropriate configuration and application method for the mutli layer coating will be identified so as to make it practical, light, cheap and efficient.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CS2-IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
31191 Cordovilla
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.