Dr Zaffar M. Khan
Advanced Composites Research Center, AERO, Wah, Pakistan
zaffark@yahoo.com
Abstract
Stringent aerodynamic requirements of next generation aeronautical and space systems
dictate development of composite materials for their structures that are stronger than steel yet
lighter than aluminum. The development of composite structures involves integrated design and
manufacturing considerations through concurrent engineering. The concurrent design imply that
the materials qualification, design considerations, manufacturing process and mechanical testing
must be carried out simultaneously in an integrated manner for cost effective composite product
development.
If necessity is the mother of invention then aerospace industry is the mother of composite
technology due to its superior physical and mechanical properties. This paper examines the state
of the composite science and technology in aerospace industry with specific reference to the
existing practices, lesson learnt and assessment of advanced technologies under development.
This paper carries out evaluation of the design and manufacturing strategies for large composite
structures with the quest to minimize the gross take off weight. It evaluates the future technology
challenges associated with the application of composite materials to the primary structure of
advanced aerospace vehicles.
In the past, aircraft designers proposed theoretical designs based on flying wings concept
that was impracticable because the materials needed to construct them did not exist. The
composite materials have turned this dream into reality by development of Boeing-Northrop B-2.
The aerospace composites demand stands at 37 million pounds and is poised to exceed 82
million pounds by 2017 an impressive 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). It is
anticipated that the growth of carbon reinforced composites will increase to 12% CAGR (50
million pounds) by 2017 as given in Fig (1) [1].
Fig (1): The aerospace composites growth forecast in million pounds [1].
The air transport sector has increased composite usage over the last few decades The
Airbus A320 in the late 1980s and the Boeing 777 increased the per-plane use of composites to
10-15% of the total structure weight. The largest single program will be the Boeing 787, which
will take up 23% of the 600 million pounds in composites required for aircraft production over
the next decade. The aeroengine GEnx will incorporate more than 1500 lbs of composites that
make up 13% of total engine weight. Other Boeing programs include B777 (7%) and B737 (7%).
The Airbus programs will also stimulate market growth, led by A320 (10%), A350XWB (7%),
A330/340 (7%) and A380 (7%). There are dozens of aircraft programs that make up remaining
quarter of the composite demand including the B747-800, A400-M, F-35 joint Strike Fighter,
Euro fighter, EMB170/190 and the V-22 tilt rotor helicopter as given in Fig (2)
1.1 Matrix Constituent: The matrix material is responsible for holding the reinforcement
together to allow effective distribution of load, protection of the reinforcement form self-
abrasion, externally induced scratches, environmental moisture, chemical corrosion and thermo-
mechanical stresses. Various types of matrices are used in composite systems such are inorganic,
metallic and organic matrices, which can undertake 60000F, 18000F and 3500F of temperature
respectively. The polymeric matrices are classified in thermoplastic and thermoset systems. The
tough thermoplastic resin i.e., Polyphenyl Sulphide, Polyvinyl chloride and Polyetheretherketone
can be re-melted and solidified repeatedly. The relatively brittle thermoset i.e., epoxies,
bismalimides, polyamides and phenolics are composed of molecular cross-links, which results in
higher degree of dimensional stability and thermal resistance. Until recently, the most common
matrix materials for aerospace application have been epoxy. Epoxy based matrices have good
adhesive strength, low shrinkage during cure, are resistant to weather and hydraulic fluid and
have large database.
1.2 Fiber Reinforcement: Long and continuous fibers are more desirable in aerospace
composites since they impart better mechanical properties. The fibers primarily determine the
longitudinal tensile/ flexural strength and stiffness of a composite system. . They can be glass,
quartz, aramid, polyethylene, carbon, boron or other more exotic fibers depending on load
conditions. The glass fibers are cheap but its higher specific gravity and poor stiffness do not
permit high performance application. The aramid fibers, composed of aromatic polyamides,
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provide exceptional impact resistance and tensile strength. Boron fibers have good mechanical
properties but are expensive and are difficult to manufacture. The aerospace grade carbon fibers
are generally produced by pyrolysis of PAN precursor in a process involving controlled
oxidation, carbonization, graphitization and surface treatment. Attempts are being made at Oak
Ridge research laboratories Tennessee to integrate the carbonization and graphitization phases
using UV radiation into a single step process as given in Fig (3) [2].
Fig (3): The development of integrated technologies for manufacturing carbon fibers.
Typical aerospace grade tow size ranges from 1K to 12K PAN based carbon fibers. The
tows are woven into plain, harness, satin and basket weaves architecture. The orientation,
stacking sequence and thickness of the plies play a predominant role in design and analysis of
composite products. The orientation of the fibers could be symmetric, asymmetric, balanced,
unbalanced, and anti-symmetric, cross ply or quasi-isotropic. A laminate is called symmetric
when each layer above mid-plane of laminate has a layer having identical thickness, orientation
and distance below the mid-plane. A laminate is balanced when it consists of pairs of + and
orientation of layers that have identical thickness and elastic properties. The quasi-isotropic
laminate has number of ply groups (m) spaced at orientation of 180 /m.
Q z
n n
1 1
Where Aij Qij k
zk z k 1 , Bij ij k
2
k z k21 , Dij
k 1 2 k 1 3
Q z
n
ij k
3
k z k31
k 1
Qij = Body stiffness and Zi is the distance from center of laminate to the fabric layer, kij is
curvature.
The relative position of each Kth lamina are integrate over thickness for determination of
laminate forces, (Nx, Ny, Nxy), and moments (Mx, My, Mxy) are shown in Fig (4).
The shear coupling stiffnesses A16 and A26 couple in-plane deformations with in-plane
loading. They cause in-plane shear deformations under in-plane normal loading and in-plane
normal deformation under in-plane shear loading. These stiffnesses become zero for a balanced
or a crossply or a quasi-isotropic lay-up. For unbalanced laminates it is advisable to select the
stacking sequence that minimizes the shear coupling stiffnesses. The bending coupling stiffness
Bij, couples in-plane loading with out-of-plane deformation. It is responsible for laminate
warpage due to cool-down after curing and hygrothermal environment variations. It is therefore
desirable in general to eliminate this type of coupling by selecting a symmetric lay-up. In other
Fig (5): The forward sweep composite wings on the Grumman X-29 experimental plane.
The twelve potential pitfalls in designing for manufacturing friendly composite are as follows
[5,6]:
(a) The layers in the laminates should be symmetric and balanced with respect to
geometric mid-plane.
(b) Laminates must be designed with three major fiber orientations: 0, 45, 90. The
0 plies to carry axial, 45 plies to carry shear and 90 plies for transverse loads.
(c) The laminates carrying predominately shear loads should be 10% 0s, 80% 45s
and 10% 90s.
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(d) Laminates carrying predominately axial loads should be 60% 0s, 30% 45s, 10%
90s OR even a higher percentage of 0s.
(e) Laminates should have a minimum of 8% fibers in each major direction (0, 45,
90) to take care of inadvertent loads.
(f) 0 plies and 90 plies should be separated by a +45 or a -45 ply OR preferably
a +45 and a -45 ply to avoid Poisson mismatch during cure.
(g) Avoid stacking more than 3-4 plies in any one orientation to prevent delamination
(h) Avoid placing a stack of similarly oriented plies at the outer surfaces of laminates.
(j) 0, 45, 90 sequences or 0, 90 kevlar fabric are often used at the outer surfaces
to take up foreign body damage.
(k) Principle load carrying plies should be located toward the center of laminate.
(l) Avoid free edges to avoid inter-laminar stresses.
(m) Corrosion problems must be addressed during embedding metallic inserts in
carbon/ glass epoxy composites. Use of titanium fasteners is recommended.
Application of composite materials for the primary structures, liquid hydrogen tank and
thermal protection system is projected to be most promising for weight reduction of single stage-
to-orbit, RLV. The NASA has evaluated various technologies options and roadmaps for
developing the enabling technologies. The technical evaluation indicated that extensive
development of structures and materials technologies is required to achieve TRL-9 for RLV as
shown in Fig (8).
A state of the art smart structure in next generation aerospace structure feature a load
bearing carbon fiber composite structure having embedded piezoelectric discs for sensing
purpose and a multitude of embedded shape memory alloy wires for actuation purpose through
micro processors in smart composite structure. Research is in progress on embedding the
material functions of sensor, actuator and structure at atomic level. For example, the carbon
fibers are coated with piezoelectric materials to synthesize a smart composite material on micro
or nanoscale. Similarly electro-rheological fluids may be filled in hollow nano carbon tubes for
sensing and structural reinforcement respectively. These attributes permit a structure to be
synthesized with self adaptive smart abilities as shown by blended wing all composite next
generation aircraft in Fig (10) [9].
Fig (10): The next generation all composite blended wing commercial liner.
7. Conclusion:
As the structural complexity increases, the coupling between design, analysis and
manufacturing processes becomes inextricably intertwined and multi disciplinary. Therefore the
integration of actuators, sensors, processors, and structures for smart nano/ microstructure
applications mandates the evolution of sophisticated manufacturing process-driven design,
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analysis, and synthesis methodologies such as Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. The
molecularly designed nanocomposites such as Single/ Multiple Carbon Fiber Nanotubes have the
promise to be much lighter yet stronger. The advancements in design and manufacturing
techniques at the atomic level will diminish the boundaries between sensors and actuators. These
attributes permit a substance to be synthesized for self-adaptive abilities at the nano/ micro level.
The application of fiber optic neural sensors in composites has led to emergence of biomimetics,
neuromimetics and neuromorphic. The integration of composites with bio, nano and info
technologies will certainly enable the mankind to mimic the birds flight for enhanced structural
reliability, survivability and integrity.
8. Bibliography:
[1]: Kevin Michaels, A Fast Changing Market, JEC Composites Magazine/ No41 Jun 2008,
pp 34-36
[2] Trewin E. M. & Turner R.F., Carbon Fiber Properties and Manufacture, Caurtaulds Ltd
File No: 76 &77.
[3] Micheal W. Hyer, Stress Analysis of Fiber Reinforced Composite Materials, McGraw-
Hill International Edition, 1998.
[4] Zaffar M. khan, Impact of Composite materials on Engineering Industry, Science
Technology and Development, Vol. 13, No. 1, Jan-Mar, 1994.
[5]: S. T. Peters, Ten Common Mistakes in Composite Design and Manufacturing and How to
avoid them, SAMPE Vol. 42, No. 5, Sep/Oct, 2006, pp 53-59
[6] Isaac M. Daniel and Ori Ishai, Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials, Oxford
University Press, 1994.
[7] Gerard F. Fernando, Fiber Optic Sensor System for Monitoring Composite Structures,
Reinforced Plastics, Dec 2005, pp 41-49.
[8] Charles E. Harris et al, Design and Manufacturing of Aerospace Composites Structures:
State-of-the-Art Assessment, AIAA Journal of Aircraft Vol: 37, Number: 4, pp 545-559.
[9] B.S. Thompson, Biomimetic Materials: Was Leonardo Mistaken?, SAMPE Journal Vol.
32, No.1, Jan/ Feb 1996.