Thermoplastic composite penetration in the aerospace structures

== Abstract ==

FIDAMC(Fundación para la Investigación, Desarrollo y Aplicación de Materiales Compuestos) ,&nbsp; has been investigating different technologies, under the frame of several research projects funded by Clean Sky initiatives and Spanish governmental entities, in order to demonstrate that &nbsp;thermoplastic can be directly manufactured via automation without autoclave consolidation and the full integration of the structure by co-consolidation method fusing together the skin and stringers in only one melting step.
Our Center is currently involved in an interesting project with a complete manufacturing solution of a thermoplastic wing skin using Automatic Fiber Placement (AFP) with assisted laser system as heating source&nbsp;techniques. This new Out-of-Autoclave procedure will be validated with ground/flying tests in 2020.
This paper provides an overview of several research projects aimed to develop the automated lamination and in-situ co-consolidation technology and includes a review of automated methods to lay up PEEK prepreg from the first AFP head, in cooperation &nbsp;with the Spanish supplier MTORRES and&nbsp;installed six years ago in FIDAMC, the evolution of this machine and the up-to-the minute configuration of new Multi-tows head to produce the feasibility demonstrator panel with co-consolidated "T" shaped stringers and scale up the methods to the final stiffened wing panel to incorporate in Clean Sky 2 as Flight test Bed developed by Airbus.

== Full document ==
<pdf>Media:Draft_Content_917459159native-articles-230.pdf</pdf>