unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/03/89)
NASA: BREAKTHROUGHS IN AIRCRAFT COMPOSITE STRUCTURES
NASA has awarded initial research and development contracts
with a potential value of $89 million to 15 aerospace companies
and universities as part of the newly established Advanced
Composites Technology (ACT) program.
Recognizing the importance of developing new, high-strength
plastics to maintaining U.S. leadership in the manufacture and
sale of commercial airliners, NASA is seeking technology
breakthroughs in these materials. Such breakthroughs would allow
structures made of epoxy-type resins and high-strength carbon
fiber to replace metal in the wings and bodies of future
transport aircraft.
Extensive use of such "composite" components can reduce
structural weight by 40-50 percent, purchase cost by 20-25
percent and the number of individual parts by half. "Composites
are the key to maintaining our lead in the transport aircraft
industry," said Charles Blankenship, director for structures at
NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. "The U.S. share of
the transport aircraft manufacturing market has been declining
since 1970."
Composite materials have demonstrated large weight savings
for aircraft structures and outstanding corrosion and fatigue
damage resistance. Despite these advantages, the full potential
benefits of composites have been limited by the high cost of
materials, labor-intensive manufacturing processes and inadequate
technology in structural mechanics and materials science.
NASA's researchers hope for breakthroughs in structural
concepts, materials and fabrication techniques. The technology
developed through the agency's efforts will be transferred to
U.S. government agencies and to the American aircraft industry.
To help meet these ambitious objectives, NASA is asking industry,
government and universities for "innovative ideas for the
efficient and cost-effective use of lightweight composite
materials" in aircraft manufacturing. The ACT program is an
important part of the overall composites effort.
The development of a solid structural mechanics technology
data base will make the ACT objectives attainable. It will
provide scientific understanding of failure mechanisms and
establish true limits of performance so that design and analysis
procedures may be applied to an airplane's primary structures.
Currently, transport aircraft use composite materials only in
secondary structures such as control surfaces, spoilers and
trailing edge panels.
The multiple-year program will be managed by Langley, under
the overall direction of NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space
Technology, NASA Headquarters, and will be conducted in three
major phases.
Phase I is called the "technology innovation" phase. It
will last about 36 months, and will focus on basic research in
materials and structures to define and develop unique and
innovative structural concepts that fully exploit the potential
benefits of composites, yet are efficient and cost-effective.
Phase II, the "technology development" phase, also is slated
to last 36 months, with the major thrust beginning about mid-
1991. It will concentrate on the most promising concepts
evolving from Phase I for scale-up to element and component-level
tests and analyses that will provide the basis for an integrated
technology data base.
The first two phases are designed to provide the fundamental
technology necessary for Phase III (the "verification" phase), a
currently unfunded part of the program with a planned duration of
three to four more years. Phase III represents a significant
effort to establish cost and weight effectiveness on full-scale
components. This part of the ACT program would establish
affordable technology for the development of transport and
fighter aircraft primary structures by the mid-1990's.
Funding for the first two phases totals $142 million,
including the following recently awarded contracts: Boeing
Commercial Airplanes, $22.6 million; Lockheed Aeronautical
Systems Company, $22.5 million; McDonnell Douglas Corporation,
$23.7 million; Northrop Corporation, $5.2 million; Grumman
Aircraft Systems, $2.7 million; Sikorsky Aircraft Division, $1.1
million; Dow Chemical Company, $6.0 million; Hercules Aerospace
Corporation, $1.1 million; University of Utah, $.8 million and
$.2 million; BASF Structural Materials, Inc., $1.8 million;
Stanford University, $.5 million; Rockwell International, $.4
million; University of Delaware, $.3 million; and University of
California at Davis, $.2 million.
About 60 percent of the program will be implemented through
these contracts, and additional contracts are planned for
emerging opportunities in advanced composite materials and
structures technologies that have high potential for aircraft
applications. In addition, in-house research at both Langley and
NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, will represent a
significant part of the program.
Photographs are available to illustrate this release by calling
202/453-8375
Color: 89-HC-454..............B&W: 89-H-457
89-HC-455..............89-H-458
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
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