GLOBAL ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT COMPOSITE AIRFRAME MARKET

INTRODUCTION

A large part of the use of carbon fibre composites in aircraft is due to their excellent strength-to-weight and anti-corrosive properties.

Aerospace composites are mostly employed in exterior applications due to their exceptional qualities, including strength, flexibility, durability, stability, low weight, and resistance to heat, temperature, and moisture.

Airframe components like landing gear, leading and trailing edges, engine nacelles, undercarriages, fuselages, and wings are made of aerospace composites such carbon fibre composites.

GLOBAL ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT COMPOSITE AIRFRAME MARKET DEVELOPMENTS AND INNOVATIONS

The industry is increasing because of aerospace composites' higher performance characteristics and their resilience to adverse environmental conditions. Carbon fibres and polymeric resins are the two main raw materials utilised to make carbon fibre composites.

The price of the precursor raw materials from which carbon fibres are produced directly relates to the price of the finished product. Polyacrylonitrile is now used to make carbon fibres (PAN). The market for aerospace materials would be directly impacted by a decline in aircraft deliveries.

Since commercial aircraft account for more than 80% of all composite material consumption, the industry would be significantly impacted by the decline in demand for composites resulting from a drop in aircraft orders.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Commercial aeroplanes use composite materials extensively; the airframes of these aircraft are made up of roughly 50% composite weight. The ATL/AFP procedures use computer-guided robotics to install one or more layers of carbon fibre.

The aramid honeycomb core's high tensile strength and lightweight quality boost fuel efficiency, save maintenance costs, and enable OEMs to meet strict environmental laws, particularly those set down in Europe and North America. The need for aviation composites in the airways is subsequently increased.

GKN Aerospace is a leading mobiliser of the equipment in the market. The latest integration has been the Eviation's composite materials, all-electric aircraft, Alice, will have fully integrated wing tips, empennage, as well as existing electrical interconnected transmission structures (EWIS).

Alice will also have three composite doors, carbon fibre blades, as well as a composite tail section. The aircraft and empennage are the first delivered by GKN Aerospace as a completely integrated structure, allowing the aircraft to take advantage of its multi-technology specialist skills in aviation.

Carboman Company is part of the component manufacture trending companies in the current industry. The carbon fibre composite structure of the HB-SIA and HB-SIB Solar Impulse aircraft will also launch parts for a number of projects in the new transportation industry.

The aircraft's 650-mile range will be cost-effectively provided by this lightest-possible carbon fibre composite airframe, which uses a sustainable, low-noise, and zero-emission rechargeable propulsion system tooling ranging from extremely large prototyping moulds to high-temperature composite techniques for mass production.

COMPANIES PROFILED

• Carboman Company
• GKN Aerospace
• Solvay
• Toray Industries
• Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings
• Hexcel Corporation
• Teijin Limited
• SGL Group