Weight reduction has been a critical goal since the earliest days of crewed flight. Modern civil aircraft are designed with greatly reduced aircraft operating empty weight to achieve a significant payload to weight fraction that contributes directly to aircraft flight efficiency. In the quest for reduced weight, aircraft manufacturers began to introduce applications of non-metallic material, such as textile composites. Potential weight savings become reality because of the high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight properties of the composite material. Cost reductions come about from the fewer number of pieces that make up the components and from the fewer number of fasteners required for assembly. The man-made composites can be divided into 3 main groups: PMCs (polymer matrix composites); MMCs (metal matrix composites); CMCs (ceramic matrix composites). PMCs are the most common, also known as FRP (fibre reinforced polymers or plastics). PMCs combine a resin system and reinforcing fibres, the properties of the resulting composite material will combine something of the properties of the resin on its own with that of the fibres on their own. Fibre-reinforced material is anisotropic, that is, its properties depend on the direction of the fibres. Therefore, in structural form, 2 or more sheets are sandwiched together to form a lay-up so that fibre directions can be aligned to those of the major loads. Fibres form the basic skeleton of the composite. Fibres of different types and properties are utilized: glass, aramid, carbon. Although there are many different types of resin in use in the composite industry, the majority of structural parts are made with 3 main types, namely polyester, vinyl ester and epoxy.
Textile composites in aircraft applications
Die Verwendung textiler Verbundwerkstoffe - Gewichtseinsparung und Kostensenkung bei Luftfahrzeugen
Asian Textile Journal ; 23 , 8 ; 49-53
2014
5 Seiten, Bilder, Tabellen, 8 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
Development of textile reinforced composites for aircraft structures
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