need for paint, which can add hundreds of pounds to an airliner, and assume acoustic properties, which are traditionally built into the fuselage. Additionally, film appliqué serving as the outer layer can reduce drag by enhancing surface smoothness. Johnson emphasizes that the protective coverings Cessna is testing are not “self- healing skins,” which also are being researched by others outside of Cessna. “Our thinking was that we would rather have damage [to an aircraft’s surface] be visible, so the need to inspect would be obvious,” she explains. “We believe there could be a cost/weight penalty for the self- healing system.”
The Wichita-based manufacturer of bizjets and small piston-powered aircraft is working on the project with Integument Technologies Inc., maker of protective coatings and films. The small firm, with fewer than a dozen employees, is based in Tonawanda, NY. Cessna’s facility in Bangalore City, India, is assisting in the project by providing an Internet search for surface materials and building a materials database. And Cessna’s facility in Chihuahua, Mexico, is providing 177 substrate panels, each comprising seven layers of carbon, on which different protective skin combinations are applied. These panels are meant to represent an aircraft’s primary composite structure. Testing is conducted at Cessna’s home base, in Wichita, KS.
A Second Phase The STAR-C2 project represents a second phase in NASA’s N+3 program. Phase one was launched in 2008 and concluded in April 2010. Four teams participated in phase one, which covered airframe and propulsion technology as well as surface coatings. Phase one’s mission was to explore ways to achieve NASA’s goal of developing aircraft that yield a 70-percent reduction in fuel burn, a 71-decibel reduction in noise within airport boundaries and a 75-percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. Cessna and Georgia Institute of Technology were members of a team lead by GE Aviation.
The appliqué, called FluoroGrip, has been applied to various DoD vehicles and items, as shown in these images. 42 Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | April / May 2012
The first phase entailed designing a concept aircraft for the 2030 timeframe. Georgia Tech research determined a growing demand for point-to-point travel with associated environmental savings, so the GE-lead team came up with a 20-passenger aircraft with an 800-nm range. The turboprop plane would weigh 14,600 pounds (6,222 kg), little more than half the weight of a current, comparable airplane. The other teams—lead by
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