IRT Jules Verne, partners launch SCRATCH TPC assembly project
A continuation of SPECTRA, this project’s technological building blocks will contribute to the deployment of a matured conduction welding solution to improve aerospace-grade TPC assembly.
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SPECTRA fuselage panel demonstrator with integral frames welded by conduction. Source | IRT Jules Verne
(IRT Jules Verne, Bouguenais) and its partners Airbus, Airbus Atlantic, Cero and Safran, have launched the SCRATCH project, a continuation of the that focused on welding thermoplastic composites (TPC) for aeronautics.
The 3-year project’s objective is twofold: to increase production rates while reducing the assembly costs of composite elements, a key issue for the competitiveness of the aeronautics industry. To achieve this, SCRATCH aims to mature a conduction welding solution for aerospace-grade TPC materials via two chosen industrial case studies presenting complementary geometries and technical challenges.
SCRATCH will consist of testing, evaluating and optimizing this welding technology on these two configurations, in order to better understand its potential and its limits. Several areas of development will be pursued including:
- Exploration of the performance and limits of the process according to the geometries studied
- Implementation of precise monitoring for better welding control
- Optimized clearance management during assembly
- Development of suitable tools based on advanced thermal simulations.
The expected advances will pave the way for broader industrial integration of conduction welding for high-performance TPC materials. In particular, they will enable new applications to be considered on complex parts requiring high mechanical strength.
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