GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC NASHIK

(AN ACADEMICALLY AUTONOMUS INSTITUTE OF GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA)

-Presentation on-
‘‘Composite Materials Used In Aerospace Applications”

 Guided by:-  HOD:-

Dr. S. A. Chopde Dr. A . D. Palsodkar
Presented by:- More Rahul Ramchandra
(163175)
 Topic Name
 Introduction Of Composite Material
 Classification Of Composite Materials
 Composites Used In Aerospace And Their Application
 Manufacturing Processes
 Advantages Of Composites
 Disadvantages Of Composites
 Future Scope For Composites In Aerospace Industry
 Conclusion
 Reference
 INTRODUCTION

A Composite material is a material system composed of two or

more macro constituents that differ in shape and chemical
composition and which are insoluble in each other. The history of
composite materials dates back to early 20th century. In 1940,
fiber glass was first used to reinforce epoxy.
Applications:
• Aerospace industry
• Sporting Goods Industry
• Automotive Industry
• Home Appliance Industry
A composite material (also called a composition material or
shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material
made from two or more constituent materials with significantly
different physical or chemical properties that, when combined,
produce a material with characteristics different from the
individual components. The individual components remain
separate and distinct within the finished structure, differentiating
composites from mixtures and solid solutions.
 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOSITES

Com posites

Particle-reinforced Fiber-reinforced Structural

Large- Dispersion- Continuous Discontinuous Lam inates Sandwich

particle strengthened (aligned) (short) panels

Aligned Random ly
oriented
COMPOSITES USED IN AEROSPACE AND
THEIR APPLICATION

Types of composites used in aerospace industry are:

Fibre Glass
CFRP
GFRP
GLARE
Aramid Composites
BFRP
QFRP
 SOME SPECIAL PROPERTIES OF
COMPOSITES
1. FIBRE GLASS :-
Incombustibility
Corrosion resistance
High strength at low densities
Good thermal.
Sound insulation
Special electrical properties.
2. CFRP :-
High Strength to weight ratio
Corrosion resistance
Electrical Conductivity
Fatigue Resistance
Good tensile strength but Brittle
Fire Resistance/Not flammable
High Thermal Conductivity in some forms
Low coefficient of thermal expansion.
3. GFRP :-
Impact resistance
Strength
Stiffness
Flexibility
Ability to carry loads

4. GLARE :-
Better damage tolerance.
Better corrosion resistance.
Better fire resistance.
Lower specific weight.
5. ARAMID COMPOSITES :-
Good resistance to abrasion
Good resistance to organic solvents
Nonconductive
Very high melting point (>500 °C)
Low flammability
Good fabric integrity at elevated temperatures
Sensitive to acids and salts
Sensitive to ultraviolet radiation
 APPLICATIONS OF COMPOSITES IN AEROSPACE
INDUSTRY

 Fuselage(bulkhead)
 Wings flaps
 Rudder
 Elevators
 Radoms
 Spoilers
 Floor beams and panels
 Helicopter main and tail rotor blade
 Space vehicle: satellites, missiles, rockets etc.
EXAMPLES OF USE OF COMPOSITES IN
AIRCRAFTS

Commercial :
Boeing 777
Boeing 787 dreamliner
Airbus A380

Military:
B-2 Bomber
LCA TEJAS(HAL)
 BOEING 777 COMPOSITE STRUCTURE

Components that uses

composite structure are:
Horizontal stabilizers
Vertical fin
Radom
Wings fairings
Passenger floor beams
Wing box
Engine cowlings
Engines fairings

Reduction in weight is over

5800 pounds.
BOEING 787 DREAMLINERS COMPOSITE STRUCTURE

Components that uses composite structure are :

Almost full fuselage
Upper and lower wing skin
Radom
Wing flaps, elevators, ailerons
Vertical fin and horizontal stabilizers
Use of composite is 80% by volume and 50% by
weight.
 AIRBUS 380 COMPOSITE STRUCTURE

Components that uses

composites structure are:
Horizontal stabilizers
Vertical fin
Radom
Wing box
Engine cowlings
Engine fairings

Wing box made up of

CFRP, has reduced weight
up to one and half tonnes.
 B2 BOMBER COMPOSITE STRUCTURE

B2 bomber is mostly made

up of carbon/epoxy
materials.

The reduction in weight

was about 40,000 -50,000
pounds.

Design material was

specially designed to
absorb radar waves.
 LCA TEJAS (HAL) COMPOSITE
STRUCTURE

LCA stands for light combat aircraft which is basically use of

composite material in its structures.

Components which are made up of composite material are:

Nose, wings upper surface and leading edge, exit nozzle.

Weight is reduced by 21%.

 MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
Fabrication of composite materials is accomplished by a wide
variety of techniques, including:
Open Mould Processes
Hand Lay-up technique
Spray-up Molding
Tape Laying machines(automated lay-up)
Filament winding
Pultrusion
Prepreg Production line
Composite fabrication usually involves wetting, mixing or
saturating the reinforcement with the matrix, and then causing
the matrix to bind together (with heat or a chemical reaction)
into a rigid structure. The operation is usually done in an open
or closed forming mould, but the order and ways of
introducing the ingredients varies considerably.
 Open Mold Processes
Only one mold (male or female) is needed and may be made of any
material such as wood, reinforced plastic or , for longer runs, sheet
metal or electroformed nickel. The final part is usually very
smooth.
Shaping. Steps that may be taken for high quality
1. Mold release agent (silicone, polyvinyl alcohol, fluorocarbon, or
sometimes, plastic film) is first applied.
2. Unreinforced surface layer (gel coat) may be deposited for best
surface quality.
 Hand Lay-Up
 The resin and fiber (or pieces cut from prepreg) are placed
manually, air is expelled with squeegees and if necessary, multiple
layers are built up.
 Hardening is at room temperature but may be improved by heating.
 Void volume is typically 1%.
 Foam cores may be incorporated (and left in the part) for greater
shape complexity. Thus essentially all shapes can be produced.
 Process is slow (deposition rate around 1 kg/h) and labor-intensive.
 Quality is highly dependent on operator skill. Extensively used for
products such as airframe components, boats, truck bodies, tanks,
swimming pools, and ducts.
 Spray-up Molding
A spray gun supplying resin in two converging streams into which
roving is chopped.

Automation with robots results in highly reproducible production.

Labor costs are lower.
Filament Winding
-Ex: pressure tanks

-Continuous filaments wound onto

mandrel

Adapted from Fig. 16.15, Callister 7e.

[Fig. 16.15 is from N. L. Hancox,
(Editor), Fibre Composite Hybrid
Materials, The Macmillan Company,
New York, 1981.]
 Filament Winding Characteristics
Because of the tension, reentrant shapes cannot be produced.

The filament (or tape, tow, or band) is either precoated with the
polymer or is drawn through a polymer bath so that it picks up
polymer on its way to the winder.
Void volume can be higher (3%).
The cost is about half that of tape laying.
Productivity is high (50 kg/h).
Applications include: fabrication of composite pipes, tanks, and
pressure vessels.
Carbon fiber reinforced rocket motor cases used for Space Shuttle
and other rockets are made this way.
 Pultrusion
Fibers are impregnate with a prepolymer, exactly positioned with
guides, preheated, and pulled through a heated, tapering die
where curing takes place.

Emerging product is cooled and pulled by oscillating clamps

Small diameter products are wound up
Two dimensional shapes including solid rods, profiles, or hollow
tubes, similar to those produced by extrusion, are made, hence its
name ‘pultrusion’
Pultrusion:- Continuous fibers pulled through resin tank, then
preforming die & oven to cure.

Production rates around 1 m/min.

Applications are to sporting goods (golf club shafts), vehicle drive
shafts (because of the high damping capacity), nonconductive ladder
rails for electrical service, and structural members for vehicle
and aerospace applications.
 PREPREG PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Prepreg is the composite industry’s term for continuous fiber
reinforcement pre-impregnated with a polymer resin that is only
partially cured.
Prepreg is delivered in tape form to the manufacturer who then molds
and fully cures the product without having to add any resin.
This is the composite form most widely used for structural
applications
 ADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITES
Light Weight - Composites are light in weight, compared to
most woods and metals. Their lightness is important in
automobiles and aircraft, for example, where less weight means
better fuel efficiency (more miles to the gallon). People who
design airplanes are greatly concerned with weight, since reducing
a craft’s weight reduces the amount of fuel it needs and increases
the speeds it can reach. Some modern airplanes are built with more
composites than metal including the new Boeing 787, Dreamliner.
High Strength - Composites can be designed to be far stronger
than aluminium or steel. Metals are equally strong in all directions.
But composites can be engineered and designed to be strong in a
specific direction.
Strength Related to Weight - Strength-to-weight ratio is a
material’s strength in relation to how much it weighs. Some
materials are very strong and heavy, such as steel. Other materials
can be strong and light, such as bamboo poles.
Corrosion Resistance - Composites resist damage from the weather
and from harsh chemicals that can eat away at other materials.
Composites are good choices where chemicals are handled or stored.
Outdoors, they stand up to severe weather and wide changes in
temperature.
High-Impact Strength - Composites can be made to absorb impacts
—the sudden force of a bullet, for instance, or the blast from an
explosion. Because of this property, composites are used in bulletproof
vests and panels, and to shield airplanes, buildings, etc.
Design Flexibility - Composites can be moulded into complicated
shapes more easily than most other materials. This gives designers the
freedom to create almost any shape or form. Most recreational boats
today, for example, are built from fiberglass composites because these
materials can easily be moulded into complex shapes.
Part Consolidation - A single piece made of composite materials
can replace an entire assembly of metal parts. Reducing the number of
parts in a machine or a structure saves time and cuts down on the
maintenance needed over the life of the item.
 DISADVANTAGES OF COMPOSITES

 Some higher recurring cost

 Higher material cost
 Non visible impact damage
 Repairs are different than those to metal structure
 Isolation needed to prevent adjacent aluminium part galvanic
corrosion
FUTURE SCOPE OF COMPOSITES IN AEROSPACE

There is a wide scope of composite material in aerospace.

Composite materials have a great potentiality of application in
structures subjected primarily to compressive loads. Composite
materials have attractive aspects like the relatively high
compressive strength, good adaptability in fabricating thick
composite shells, low weight, low density and corrosion
resistance. Composite materials have good mechanical, electrical,
chemical properties, due to which we can use composite material
in many various industries. Various parts of aerospace are
manufactured by composite material due to good properties.
Composite materials are used for Fuselage(bulkhead), Wings,
flaps, Rudder, Elevators, Radoms, Spoilers etc.
 CONCLUSION
Composite material offers high fatigue and corrosion resistance.
Composite materials have high strength to weight ratio. So they
are best suited for aerospace applications.
 REFERENCE

• Handbook Of Composites By S. T. Peters

• Fundamentals Of Composites Manufacturing By

Dr. A. Brent Strong

• www.wikipedia.com