Outlook on ecological improved Composites for aviation interior and secondary structures

Composites are important materials used in aviation due to their excellent mechanical properties combined with relatively low weight enabling the reduction of fuel consumption. Expensive carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resins are used in fuselage and wing structures and increasingly compete with classic metals. Glass fibre reinforced phenolic resins are mainly used for the interior panels due to their low weight and favourable fire properties. All these composite materials used in aviation have one thing in common: they are man-made. Renewable materials like bio-fibres and bio-resins are under investigation for a long time for composites but they did not made it into modern aircraft in high amounts yet. The project ECO-COMPASS started in April 2016 under Horizon 2020 and aims to bundle the knowledge of 17 partners in China and Europe to develop ecological improved composites for the use in aircraft interior and secondary structures. With a duration of three years the cooperation aims to deepen the general relationship between both continents. Bio-based reinforcements, resins and sandwich cores will be developed and optimized for their application in aviation. Furthermore the use of recycled man-made fibres to increase the mechanical strength and multifunctional aspects of bio-composites will be evaluated. In order to withstand the special stresses in aviation environment, protection technologies to mitigate the risks of fire, lightning and moisture uptake will be investigated. An adapted modelling and simulation will enable the optimization of the composite design. Electrical conductive composites for electromagnetic interference shielding and lightning strike protection will be investigated as well. The cooperation includes the exchange of knowledge and materials in order to optimize the development of ecological friendly composites. To assess the environmental impacts a Life Cycle Assessment will be carried out to compare the new eco-composites with the state-of-the-art materials. The aim of the presentation at the Greener Aviation 2016 conference is to give a short overview of the project objetives and it’s special background with the collaboration of Chinese and European partners. Selected topics of the ECO-COMPASS project will be presented in more detail with first results from the technical work-packages on different types of fibre-reinforcements, bio-sourced resins, core-materials and possible application in aviation interior and secondary structures with their different challenges for ecological improved materials. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690638