TPCs on the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350
Although The Boeing Co.’s (Seattle, Wash.) 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus (Toulouse, France) A350 XWB have earned much press as showcases for thermoset composites in aircraft structure, both programs also have advanced the use of thermoplastic composites.
Although The Boeing Co.’s (Seattle, Wash.) 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus (Toulouse, France) A350 XWB have earned much press as showcases for thermoset composites in aircraft structure, both programs also have advanced the use of thermoplastic composites.
For the A350, Ten Cate (Nijverdal, The Netherlands) and Toho Tenax (Tokyo, Japan) each have announced long-term supply contracts for their carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic prepregs, but the names of specific manufacturers they will supply and the parts they will manufacture were unavailable.
Some TPC applications, however, have been identified. Aerosud (Pretoria, South Africa) has been named as the supplier of continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic frame clips for the A350, which will be used to attach carbon composite fuselage panels to the fuselage skeleton.
Dutch Thermoplastic Composites (Almere, The Netherlands) has begun production on hundreds of different TPC clips and cleats for both the A350 and Boeing 787.
The 787’s overhead baggage bins will be attached using C-shaped and L-shaped TPC ceiling rails made by Xperion-CDI (Avon, Ohio), using its continuous compression molding (CCM) process.
Not least, Marquez (Montréal, Québec, Canada) is supplying the 787’s personal air delivery system (see the sidebar titled "Marquez innovates aircraft TPCs," under "Editor's Picks," at right).
Related Content
-
Cutting 100 pounds, certification time for the X-59 nose cone
Swift Engineering used HyperX software to remove 100 pounds from 38-foot graphite/epoxy cored nose cone for X-59 supersonic aircraft.
-
Carbon fiber, bionic design achieve peak performance in race-ready production vehicle
Porsche worked with Action Composites to design and manufacture an innovative carbon fiber safety cage option to lightweight one of its series race vehicles, built in a one-shot compression molding process.
-
Plant tour: Airbus, Illescas, Spain
Airbus’ Illescas facility, featuring highly automated composites processes for the A350 lower wing cover and one-piece Section 19 fuselage barrels, works toward production ramp-ups and next-generation aircraft.