Composite materials Two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined,

produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure.
Typical engineered composite materials include: Composite building materials such as cements, concrete Reinforced plastics such as fiber-reinforced polymer Metal Composites Ceramic Composites (composite ceramic and metal matrices)

Composition of Composites
Fiber/Filament Reinforcement Matrix Composite

Use of composites in the aerospace industry has increased dramatically since the 1970s. Traditional materials - aluminium, steel and titanium. Benefits of composites - reduced weight and assembly simplification. The performance advantages by reducing the weight of aircraft elements has been the major impetus for military aviation composites development. Reduced production and maintenance costs has proven to be a major factor in the push towards composites. Composites are also being used increasingly as replacements for metal parts on older planes. New aircraft utilize what would be considered high performance composites in marine terms. These include carbon, boron and aramid fibres combined with epoxy resins.

The above figure shows current and projected expenditures for advanced composite materials in the aerospace industry.

Examples of specific aerospace composites development programs :

Lear Fan 2100: The Lear Fan uses approximately 1880 pounds of carbon, glass and aramid fibre material. Beech Starship Boeing: Composites are widely used in aircraft interiors to create luggage compartments, sidewalls, floors, ceilings, galleys, cargo liners and bulkheads. Fiberglass with epoxy or phenolic resin utilizing honeycomb sandwich construction gives the designer freedom to create aesthetically pleasing structures while meeting flammability and impact resistance requirements. Airbus Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF): Advanced composites enable the ATF to meet improved performance requirements such as reduced drag, low radar observability and increased resistance to temperatures generated at high speeds. The ATF will be approximately 50% composites by weight using DuPont's Avimid K polyamide for the first prototype. Navy Fighter Aircraft (F-18A): The wing skins of the F-18A represented the first widespread use of graphite/epoxy in a production aircraft. Osprey Tilt-Rotor (V-22): Up to 40% of the airframe consists of composites, mostly graphite fibres in 3501-6 epoxy (both from Hercules).

Why use plastics?

Strength to weight ratio
Part count and manufacturing operations reduction Flexibility Electromagnetic transparency Corrosion resistance

Smooth contours

Advantages

Weight reduction (approx. 20-50%) Corrosion resistance Fatigue resistance Tailorable mechanical properties Sales through offset Lower assembly costs (fewer, fasteners, etc.)

Disadvantages

Some higher recurring costs Higher nonrecurring costs Higher material costs Nonvisible impact damage Repairs are different than those to metal structure Isolation needed to prevent adjacent aluminium part galvanic corrosion

Market Sectors
Commercial Large passenger and freight aircraft for civilian use Military Military aircraft both fighter and bomber aircraft Rotary Helicopters for both civilian and military use Business jets and small planes Space Satellites, manned and unmanned spacecraft Missiles & Weapons

PMMA Polymethylmethacrylate PC Polycarbonate

PTFE and other fluoroplastics

Fibers used
Carbon graphite fiber reinforcement

Composite matrix used

Polyester resins

PA Polyamides(nylons)

Typical Thermoplastics

PEEK Polyetherketone

PEI Polyetherimide

PAI Polyamide-imide

Glass fiber reinforcement

Epoxy resins

PAA Polyarylamide

PSS Polyphenylene sulfide

Aramid fiber reinforcement

PPSU Polyphenylsulfone

PVF Polyvinylidene fluoride

POM Polyoxymethylene

Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer Extremely strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer The polymer is most often epoxy, but other polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester or nylon, are sometimes used. The strongest and most expensive of these additives, carbon nanotubes, are contained in some primarily polymer baseball bats, car parts. It has high strength-to-weight ratio and very good rigidity is of importance.

Rudder of A310 Airbus Advantages over a traditional rudder made from sheet aluminium are: 25% reduction in weight 95% reduction in components by combining parts and forms into simpler moulded parts. Overall reduction in production and operational costs, economy of parts results in lower production costs and the weight savings create fuel savings.

Glass fibre reinforced polymers Glass fibers are useful thermal insulators because of their high ratio of surface area to weight. However, the increased surface area makes them much more susceptible to chemical attack. By trapping air within them, blocks of glass fiber make good thermal insulation Advantages this has over cast aluminium manifolds are: Up to a 60% reduction in weight Improved surface quality and aerodynamics Reduction in components by combining parts and forms into simpler moulded shapes. Automotive gas and clutch pedals made from glass fibre reinforced PA 66 (DWP 1213) In contrast to carbon fiber, glass can undergo more elongation before it breaks. There is a correlation between bending diameter of the filament and the filament diameter

Aramid Fibers Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated body armorfabric and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, and as an asbestos substitute.

Nanocomposites

Future applications of plastics in aerospace

Nanocomposites offer huge benefits Lighter and stronger materials nanotechnology has the potential to increase strength and heat resistance in both conventional thermoplastics and composites. Self-clean coatings nanotechnology can be used to produce selfcleaning coatings for flight surfaces to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency. Abrasion resistant coatings aerospace glazing can suffer from abrasion during use and nanotechnology can produce abrasion resistant coatings to prolong life and visibility. Light weight remotes The growing use of remote controlled surveillance craft has been enabled by the ability of plastics materials to reduce weight and to increase flight times. This is a relatively new area for aerospace and the use of plastics has been an enabling technology for this area. Rapid manufacturing Rapid manufacturing techniques are now being developed for the production, not simply of prototypes, but also for the series production of parts. Rapid manufacturing allows rapid testing and development to achieve the best design for virtually non-existent tooling costs.

Fire, smoke and toxicity The response to fire is not a simple flammability issue, but is a combined issue of flame, smoke, and toxicity (FST). Compliance with FST regulations is mandatory and one of the key issues in the use of plastics. Engineering plastics generally have better FST response than the commodity plastics.
Fracture and failure issues High-strength composites can suffer invisible damage due to impact that can affect their long-term performance. The aim is to reduce impact damage and to prevent any potential cracks from spreading.

Potential concerns

Recycling Almost all of the materials used in aerospace can be easily recycled using currently available technology. However, for composite materials, the recycling technologies are still new and developing rapidly. One of the most promising technologies is the use of pyrolysis, high temperature processing without the presence of oxygen. Pyrolysis offers an opportunity to take waste composite materials and to recycle these into valuable feedstock (eg. Gases, oils, waxes, char, etc.) for new composite materials.