Project description
And the two shall become one: thermoplastic welding for fuselages
Large passenger aircraft can carry over 100 passengers. The new designs on the horizon for next-generation aircraft rely on thermoplastic composites, and engineers require better ways to put all the pieces together – airframe, cabin and/or cargo elements and more. There is a particular need to reduce joining time and improve joint quality relative to results with current adhesive bonding approaches. The EU-funded MECATESTERS project is developing techniques for micromechanical characterisation of the interfaces involved to pave the way for the development of precision thermoplastic welding methods.
Objective
The Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA) Platform 2 – Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) will employ new combinations of airframe structures, cabin/cargo, and system elements using advanced materials, notably HPTP composites. The MFFD is focused on achieving significant cost and weight reductions, coupled with high production rates. To bring these materials to market, there is a need to validate direct joining methods, which eschew traditional adhesive bonding in order to reduce cycle time and improve joint quality.
The MECATESTERS project represents a key step in the progression of such technologies to widespread use in the aerospace sector. It will permit a greater level of understanding of the micro-mechanical behavior of the interfaces – an understanding which is currently limited: issues such as aging, healing, processing parameters, and durability need to be investigated in greater detail in order to develop a coherent approach.
The MECATESTERS project will elucidate many aspects of thermoplastic joining using precision thermoplastic welding (PTW) methods. It will examine systematically the effects of surface condition, matrix aging, and bonding method on the reliability and performance of assemblies bonded using a variety of thermoplastic welding technologies.
Fields of science
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
33600 Pessac
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.