Commercial Aircraft Composite Technology [Paperback]

This book is based on lectures held at the faculty of mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. The focus is on the central theme of societies overall aircraft requirements to specific material requirements and highlights the most important advantages and challenges of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) compared to conventional materials. As it is fundamental to decide on the right material at the right place early on the main activities and milestones of the development and certification process and the systematic of defining clear requirements are discussed. The process of material qualification - verifying material requirements is explained in detail. All state-of-the-art compositemanufacturing technologies are described, including changes and complemented by examples, andtheir improvement potential for future applications is discussed. Tangible case studies of high lift and wing structures emphasize thespecific advantages and challenges of composite technology. Finally, latestR&D results are discussed, providing possible future solutions for keychallenges such as low cost high performance materials, electrical functionintegration and morphing structures.

Introduction.- Requirements, development and certification process.- Material technology.- Manufacturing technology.- Testing.- Repair.- Flap design studies.- Tailored wing design.- New developments.Ulf Breuer has studied mechanical engineering at theuniversities of Darmstadt, Manchester und Kaiserslautern, where he graduated in1993. After his military service he worked as scientific assistant at theInstitute of Composite Materials in Kaiserslautern. After he received hisdoctorate degree from the University of Kaiserslautern in 1997, he accepted aposition at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), where he worked on thedevelopment of advanced composite wing structures. In 1999 he joined Airbus andworked as a projectl“m