The aerospace engineering industry and the composites

The aerospace engineering industry has been known to used a respectable volume of composite materials since the Sixties for the conception of aircrafts for air transportation. Initially, commercial planes that went to volume production were mainly built from steel, aluminium and titanium alloys. The addition of composites in the aerospace sector has made for more efficient, safer, and more economical production of today’s aircrafts. The last four decades have seen the aerospace industry face a kind of revolution leading to many composites implemented for helicopter and aircraft production. Fibreglass composites were the early composite materials to be implemented by the aerospace industry, followed by two other composites, i.e. carbon fibre and aramid fibre, in the early seventies. The main applications of composite materials for aircraft and helicopter interior parts include the conception of fuselage fairing panels, fuselage skin panels, and instrument panels. Some of the principal advantages to use composites are the rather low conception and installation expenses, in addition to lower toxicity and better resistance to fire. One great innovation that allows implementation of composite materials is the possibity to manufacture complex parts in one piece (especially through thermoforming), hence notably decreasing various costs related to machining and assembly process. Through research and innovation of aerospace engineering companies, the evolution of composites has facilitated parts to be built and/or cast with distinct physical and chemical properties and characteristics, those parts dedicated for specific uses and complying to the specific needs of the industry. Besides offering the possibility to built long lasting and reliable parts, this type of material also provides excellent protection against corrosion. The considerable enthusiasm demonstrate by aircraft manufacturers for those impressive composites is continuous. Whether for designing aircraft interior components and parts or structural parts, composites made by plastic components manufacturer provide the industry with obvious advantages and possibilities when combined to conventional alloys and materials.