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Composite tailcone employs new techniques
Applications news
Composite tailcone employs new techniques
US Army UH-60L Black Hawk during peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
GKN AEROSPACE, working with Sikorsky Aircraft and the US Army’s ManTech Programme Office, has completed the design, development and manufacture of the UH-60 Common Composite Tailcone (CTC) test units for Sikorsky's Black Hawk
helicopters. This could lead to the production of up to 1000 tailcones over the next 20 years. The new all-composite tailcone has met critical goals in reduced weight, parts count, tooling costs, and manufacturing costs. The programme has
employed an improved manufacturing approach through the use of a Reduced Tooling Concept which has cut the number of tools by more than 70% over traditional methods while producing a highly repeatable, close tolerance structure. Costs have also been reduced through the use of automated fibre placement in the manufacture of the tailcone skins, providing high quality, repeatable laminates. The CTC uses the lightweight X-Cor material throughout the details of the assembly. This replaces traditional honeycomb in sandwich structures. The design also incorporates a paintless finish which integrates the colour into the skin laminate at the lay-up stage. This reduces labour costs and provides a high quality, durable finish. GKN Aerospace's facility in Tallassee, Alabama, led the manufacture of the six test units
and was in charge of design producibility, production inputs, tool design and manufacture, process development, and hardware fabrication. It was supported by GKN Aerospace, St Louis, where the CTC skin halves were fibre placed. “This pioneering programme for the Black Hawk helicopter has employed a range of new techniques and materials, creating a valuable database of knowledge and understanding for all involved in the team," reports Jim Gibson, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at GKN Aerospace. "We believe this will support Sikorsky and the US government as they bring the considerable benefits these technologies offer to other areas of the aircraft – and to other aircraft.” Sikorsky; www.sikorsky.com GKN Aerospace; www.aerospace. gknplc.com
Filter pot features integral thread A COMPOSITE filter pot featuring an integral thread has been developed by Australian company Talon. The company believes this is the first time that a composite thread has been successfully formed as part of the moulding operation. The part was designed for Waterco Co, a pool equipment and water filtration company with a manufacturing operation in Malaysia. It went into production in mid-2007 and is part of Waterco's commercial pool range. The composite part is designed to replace a cast iron part weighing 120 kg. The
6
REINFORCEDplastics
composite component weighs 16 kg, and is significantly more corrosion resistant than the metal component, and still exceeds the 10 bar pressure requirement. It is manufactured using an SP Ampreg resin and quadraxial glass reinforcement.
The complete filter.
January 2008
The part features a ‘moulded in’ Kevlar (aramid) reinforced thread. This means the filter can be fitted using standard O-ring screw fittings that can be easily assembled and removed. The filter can also be fitted to plastic and stainless fittings without the need for adhesive. Kevlar was chosen for its toughness and resistance to fatigue cracking. The base of the pot is flat so Kevlar strips are also positioned across the bottom to limit the deflection. The part is made in a CNC machined female aluminium tool as a wet press lay-up using a custom-made silicon bag and
using the tool like a pressure vessel. Talon’s CEO Geoff Germon says that the company may move the tool to either liquid resin transfer moulding (RTM) or low temperature prepreg once the demand for parts start to rise. Talon; e-mail: [email protected]; www.talon.com.au
The tool.
Composite tailcone employs new techniques
US Army UH-60L Black Hawk during peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
GKN AEROSPACE, working with Sikorsky Aircraft and the US Army’s ManTech Programme Office, has completed the design, development and manufacture of the UH-60 Common Composite Tailcone (CTC) test units for Sikorsky's Black Hawk
helicopters. This could lead to the production of up to 1000 tailcones over the next 20 years. The new all-composite tailcone has met critical goals in reduced weight, parts count, tooling costs, and manufacturing costs. The programme has
employed an improved manufacturing approach through the use of a Reduced Tooling Concept which has cut the number of tools by more than 70% over traditional methods while producing a highly repeatable, close tolerance structure. Costs have also been reduced through the use of automated fibre placement in the manufacture of the tailcone skins, providing high quality, repeatable laminates. The CTC uses the lightweight X-Cor material throughout the details of the assembly. This replaces traditional honeycomb in sandwich structures. The design also incorporates a paintless finish which integrates the colour into the skin laminate at the lay-up stage. This reduces labour costs and provides a high quality, durable finish. GKN Aerospace's facility in Tallassee, Alabama, led the manufacture of the six test units
and was in charge of design producibility, production inputs, tool design and manufacture, process development, and hardware fabrication. It was supported by GKN Aerospace, St Louis, where the CTC skin halves were fibre placed. “This pioneering programme for the Black Hawk helicopter has employed a range of new techniques and materials, creating a valuable database of knowledge and understanding for all involved in the team," reports Jim Gibson, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at GKN Aerospace. "We believe this will support Sikorsky and the US government as they bring the considerable benefits these technologies offer to other areas of the aircraft – and to other aircraft.” Sikorsky; www.sikorsky.com GKN Aerospace; www.aerospace. gknplc.com
Filter pot features integral thread A COMPOSITE filter pot featuring an integral thread has been developed by Australian company Talon. The company believes this is the first time that a composite thread has been successfully formed as part of the moulding operation. The part was designed for Waterco Co, a pool equipment and water filtration company with a manufacturing operation in Malaysia. It went into production in mid-2007 and is part of Waterco's commercial pool range. The composite part is designed to replace a cast iron part weighing 120 kg. The
6
REINFORCEDplastics
composite component weighs 16 kg, and is significantly more corrosion resistant than the metal component, and still exceeds the 10 bar pressure requirement. It is manufactured using an SP Ampreg resin and quadraxial glass reinforcement.
The complete filter.
January 2008
The part features a ‘moulded in’ Kevlar (aramid) reinforced thread. This means the filter can be fitted using standard O-ring screw fittings that can be easily assembled and removed. The filter can also be fitted to plastic and stainless fittings without the need for adhesive. Kevlar was chosen for its toughness and resistance to fatigue cracking. The base of the pot is flat so Kevlar strips are also positioned across the bottom to limit the deflection. The part is made in a CNC machined female aluminium tool as a wet press lay-up using a custom-made silicon bag and
using the tool like a pressure vessel. Talon’s CEO Geoff Germon says that the company may move the tool to either liquid resin transfer moulding (RTM) or low temperature prepreg once the demand for parts start to rise. Talon; e-mail: [email protected]; www.talon.com.au
The tool.