FRAMES - Press release n°1

The FRAMES (Fibre Reinforced thermoplAstics Manufacturing for stiffEned, complex, double curved Structures) project, supported by Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking and the DLR, intend to develop advanced knowledge and manufacturing solutions for a full scale thermoplastic aircraft rear end. The project is part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative focused on developing concepts and enabling technologies for an optimum rear fuselage an empennage. FRAMES main objective is to validate and assess a manufacturing approach of an integral thermoplastic rear end with critical design features. Key technologies developed within FRAMES will be used into a mid-scale advanced rear end demonstrator manufactured by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), part of a Clean Sky 2 technology platform for large passenger aircrafts. Project was launched on July 2020 and targets to deliver a xenon heating device simulation model for thermoplastic composites fiber placement, efficient double curved TP-stiffeners manufacturing solution and associated prototypes as well as a self-heating tooling equipment able to perform a coconsolidation of the skin and stiffeners in one shot. This document is a press release intended to spread out current activities conducted throughout the project