ZLP developed an inline inspection system especially for the in-situ process. For this reason, the path planning must be adapted to the respective AFP parameters to ensure adequate laminate quality.” They will also lead to a rough surface in each ply and negatively affect the thermal control. “For example,” explains Dominik Deden, DLR research engineer responsible for the upper shell AFP skin production, “you can’t have gaps and overlaps in the applied tapes because those will become voids in the structure. “However, the process is more demanding because you don’t have a second consolidation step.” “This reduces panel lead time by up to 40% compared to a typical A350 fuselage panel using thermoset epoxy,” says Frederic Fischer, DLR project manager for the upper shell. In this process, the TC1225 UD tape is fully consolidated as it is applied, in one step, without further vacuum bagging, oven or autoclave (Step 10). The skin for the MFFD upper shell was produced by the DLR Institute of Structures and Design Center for Lightweight Production Technology (ZLP, Augsburg), using AFP in-situ consolidation (see “ Consolidating thermoplastic aerostructures in place, Part 1 and Part 2). AFP in-situ consolidation of upper shell skin. The goal of this article is to give an overview of the MFFD manufacturing steps completed so far and a discussion of the laser-based co-consolidation process that will be used for the LH side butt-strap joint. “We should be able to start welding the left-hand side butt-strap joint via laser in-situ joining by the end of August/start of September.” The right-hand (RH) overlap joint will then be completed by Aimen Centro Tecnológico (Porriño, Spain) and FFT (Fulda, Germany) via ultrasonic welding, followed by final evaluation of the MFFD digital twin (see last section of “ Proving out LM PAEK welding for MFFD”). “Setup of the lower and upper shells in the assembly fixture should take 1-2 months,” says Eric Pohl, research associate at Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (IWS, Dresden, Germany) in the BUSTI project. MFFD’s completed lower shell has been shipped to Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials (IFAM, Stade, Germany) for final assembly, and the upper shell should arrive by late July. “This multidisciplinary and international collaboration is the only way we will reach climate-neutral aviation by 2050,” says Salvador Romero Esteban, principal R&D engineer at GKN Fokker (Hoogeveen, Netherlands). The consortia that responded were awarded hundreds of work packages, completed by more than 40 companies and organizations (Fig. By the project’s end in 2024, overall technology readiness level (TRL) for such a fuselage will be advanced to TRL 5.įrom 2017-2019, Airbus Research & Technology (Bremen, Germany), as the MFFD project leader, issued 13 CS2 calls for proposal CfP07–CfP11 for work topics such as automated assembly plant for a thermoplastic fuselage, micromechanics of welded joints, novel tooling, multifunctional pick-and-place/welding end effectors, new test methods and testing, longitudinal fuselage joints, digital twins, CFRTP fuselage repair and more. When disseminated in 2017, the MFFD program goals were ambitious: Build an 8-meter-long, 4-meter-diameter fuselage section fully from carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer (CFRTP) composites to enable production of 60-100 aircraft/month with a 10% reduction in fuselage weight and 20% cut in recurring cost. The Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) program was conceived in 2014 as one of three large aircraft demonstrators within the EU-funded Clean Sky 2 (CS2) initiative (now Clean Aviation) aimed at advancing innovative technologies, aircraft sustainability and a competitive supply chain in Europe. Photo Credit all images: Clean Sky 2/Clean Aviation Photo Credit: DLR CC-BY license, Fraunhofer IWS, GKN Fokker. Stringers, frames and clips are welded to the AFP in-situ consolidated skin of the MFFD upper shell (top left) which will be welded to the completed lower shell (right) using two different longitudinal fuselage joints (bottom left). AFP in-situ consolidation, welded assembly.
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