Airplane Bomb Protection: Composite Materials

Photo Credit: Dave Sizer via flicker

The recent Christmas day "Underwear Bomber" failed, but what if he was successful? The folks at the Discovery Channel and the BBC put this to the test, setting off a similar explosive in a retired airframe. (You can watch the preview here.)

Not only would the airframe survive, but it is thought that a next-generation aircraft built with composite materials such as the 787 Dreamliner would do better:

"The BBC also used a decommissioned Boeing 747 and not a newer Airbus A330 for the test. An actual test would be necessary to prove this, but Wyatt and Joseph think that the newer plane, which was made with lighter and stronger composite materials instead of aluminum, would have performed even better.

The newest commercial passenger jet, the Boeing 747 or Dreamliner, which has even more composite materials, would likely perform even better, said Wyatt, although he doesn't know for sure."

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Composite Materials

The composite industry as a whole is interested in the success of Boeing's new 787; it is one more step towards mass acceptance of composite materials. Despite all the problems and the current 28 month delay in production, in the end, the weight savings on the 787 will help contribute to a 20% fuel efficiency.

Here is a great post by MIT's Technology Review on the problems and the future of the Dreamliner. A worthwhile quick read for anyone following the 787 saga.

Photo Credit: Dave Sizer via flicker

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Composite Material vs Metal

Perhaps the first driving factor for replacing metal components with composite materials was the resistance fiber reinforced polymers have to corrosion. The marine industry began to embrace composite materials shortly after WWII, manufacturing boats impervious to the corrosive salt environment.

Today, modern metal alloys such as aluminum, titanium, and even stainless steel are used in industries, such as aerospace, where corrosion in unacceptable. Although these metals are not "prone" to corrosion, there is still the risk of galvanic corrosion, which occurs when two dissimilar metals are in contact with one another.

In fact, due to the conductive properties of carbon fiber reinforced composites, there is a growing concern in cases where metal components are interacting with carbon fiber components. This is perhaps a major issue on designing the new generation of Boeing and Airbus airframes.

Corrosion will continue to be an issue for metal products, and corrosion will continue to be a driving factor for the integration of composite materials. For a good illustration of this, here is an interesting blog post discussing how the household cleaner Simple Green can corrode aluminum.

Photo Credit: Nomads: will create via flicker

Latest with Boeing and the 787

Many who follow composite materials like to keep an extremely close eye on Boeing, and in particular, the development of the new 787 Dreamliner. Randy Tinseth, the vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle has a great blog (Randy's Journal), which is a must read for staying up to date with all things Boeing.

Photo Credit: markjhandel via flicker

Latest Word on Composite with Boeing and Airbus

Nobody like wrinkles, especally composite manufacturers. Wrinkles in composite laminates can lead to delamination and premature failure. Apparently, Alenia Aeronautica out of Italy supplied Boeing with some fuselage sections, where the carbon fiber had some wrinkling. Boeing filed a stop work with Alenia as of June 23rd, and as of last Friday, Boeing has delayed the first 787 flight test until further notice (other issues involving joining the wings). Read a NY Times article here.

Meanwhile, Airbus has received £340 million in loans from the UK government to help stimulate domestic manufacturing, much of which will undoubtedly be composite related. This comes on top of a recent £60 million loan to GKN Aerospace for the manufacturing of rear spar and trailing edge for the A350 XWB. Read about it all here.

Photo Credit: markjhandel via flicker

Large Carbon Fiber Structures...

Here is an interesting clip showing the manufacturing of a fuselage section of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Much like filament winding, this tape laying machine is tightly wrapping carbon fiber prepreg around an extremely large mandrel. This mandrel is on a track, and is rolled into a massive autoclave where the carbon fiber is consolidated under heat and pressure.

In the clip you will notice they only show fiber being layed around the circumference of the fuselage, this provides the the incredible hoop-strength needed. It is my guess that that tape laying head can also rotate 90 degrees to lay prepreg tape along the length of the plane. (Someone correct me if I am wrong). Ironically, Boeing recently announced there are structural problems with their fuselage that will cause yet another delay while engineers reinforce these sections. You can read that announcement here.

Interesting to see this machine in action, it helps get the mind moving as to what else could be made using this process...

Composites and Boeing

I know it is cliche to talk about Boeing and their use of composites on their new Dreamliner, however, here is an interesting video showing the impact resistance of composite sandwich panels used on their planes.

Boeing Backlog Starting to Change

Everyone in the composites world is keeping a close eye on Boeing. As many aerospace technologies slowly trickle down to the mainstream, the utilization of lightweight composites in the new 787 Dreamliner will help with the adoption of composites in many other industries.

It is no surprise that an unnamed carrier has reduced their 787 order by 15 planes, (valued at $2.6 billion). As the economic and financial difficulties continue, I believe this is the precursor to many more dropped or reduced Boeing and Airbus orders.

More Info: Daily Herald