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Independent research and technology organization TWI Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.) is leading , a 3-year project that aims to address the need for advanced composite materials in aerospace through its digital transformation. Officially launched on Jan. 1, 2025, the PLEIADES consortium (see below) brings together a range of expertise, disciplines and technologies to induction welding and identify novel vitrimeric formulations enhanced by integrated photonic sensors, thus providing data to the digital supply chain, composite structural health monitoring (SHM) and maintenance.

Project partners will bring together a variety of capabilities covering the formulation and characterization of new composite materials, automating the induction welding process via integrated sensing, disassembly of composites joints, healing and maintenance schedules. This will be complemented via the development of passive PIC-based multi sensors and a unified QA-SHM methodology, as well as extensive modeling for induction welding and the development of material, healing, damage propagation and de-icing models.

All of these disciplines will be pursued in synergy with the Clean Aviation partnership to address the needs for high-volume sustainable manufacturing that integrates inspection, recycling and circularity in the aerospace industry. A maintenance and repair protocol will be developed along with an innovative SHM methodology and a digital twin that will contribute to the digital research infrastructure. It is expected that, by making full use of the new technologies to promote sustainability and circularity, cost savings of at least 30-40% can be achieved.

TWI is coordinating the PLEIADES project. Other partners involved are: 

• Erevnitiko Panepistimiako Institouto Systimaton Epikoinonion kai Ypologiston (ICCS, Greece)
• Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzw (IMEC, Belgium)
• Talos Analytics (Greece)
• Engineering Technology Solutions (ETS, Greece)
• Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
• Evektor SRO (Czech Republic)
• Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
• Collins Aerospace Ireland Ltd.
• Cranfield University (U.K.)
• EuCIA (Belgium)
• Brunel Composites Center at the Brunel University London (U.K.)

EuCIA is in charge of the project’s dissemination, exploitation and communication activities. The association will also be leading tasks relating to collaboration with other projects and life cycle analysis (LCA).