24 AEROSPACEMANUFACTURING | jANUARy 2010
Composites i design & development
Another consideration has been a need to adapt to the
differing materials used by different projects. A trend in the
industry for both the latest Airbus and Boeing aircraft is that
due to the properties of the resins involved, performance
parameters are getting tighter.
Solano continues: “When we first started working towards
the 787 programme, the material Boeing was using was very
low tack and it took some time to work out the necessary
adjustments. You need to reconsider speeds, pressures and
temperatures in order to get the resins to the necessary level of
tack and with Airbus we’re in the same boat. From an MTorres
point of view we need to build equipment for all kinds of
programme, so we have to give the machines the flexibility to
run a very wide range of materials.”
Both the Toray Torayca 3900-series epoxy prepreg used on
the majority of 787 components and the Hexcel Hexply M21
material selected by Airbus for A350 parts - such as spars and
Finer control: The Spirit and GKN FIBERLAYUP machines are both configured for
consistent deposition over tight radii
stringers – offer the best proven structural solution after curing
(as far as the OEMs are concerned), but are defined by their
lower resin viscosity. This makes automating the lay-up process
define the programme. Along with GKN Aerospace, which more challenging, as only under greater temperatures and
will produce rear wing spars for the A350 using the same kind increased compaction are they able to perform as they need to.
of technology and equipment, spar components represent an Installation and debugging of the first FIBRELAYUP at
altogether different type of configuration to MTorres’ first ever Spirit is expected to be completed by March, with the second
machine of this type, delivered to Kawasaki Heavy Industries unit following one to two months later. They will then undergo
and now undergoing testing prior to production of monolithic customer and certification testing, which should take around
fuselage sections for Boeing’s 787 programme. six months. Solano concludes: “With a machine this complex,
The defining feature of the front spars in terms of the you are always learning; it’s a very didactic process. The
machine’s set-up is the sharp ‘U-shaped’ angle on the real feedback however will come over the next few months
component’s edges. The machine provided to Kawasaki, as customers begin to go into production.” The rest of the
configured for the gradual curvature of the fuselage section, equipment will also be installed and prepared for Spirit’s
is able to lay 0.5 inches material from 24 tows. By contrast, Kinston facility during this time to meet its proposed autumn
the tight radii of the spar components mean that 16 tows of launch, and the A350 programme’s move into production. ❙
0.25 inches are more appropriate. Although this narrower www.mtorres.es
bandwidth means a reduced production rate, it ensures there is
no compromise in structural integrity.
Sales director, Juan Solano explains further: “These corners
are where most of the effort is put in terms of mechanical,
electrical, software, control, programming, every area, to
maximise the performance of the machine when laying those
parts. Since we ran the first trial on a small scale spar a couple
of years ago we knew they were going to be critical points.
Running a 45° tape over a 90° corner requires a lot of attention
and we have to look at a lot of different parameters.”
The size of the spar components also means that the
headstock and tailstocks have changed. Although, in the case
of Kawasaki, it is possible for the machines to take an Invar
mandrel weighing up to 90 tonnes, the maximum loading
required of the spar components is only around 15 tonnes.
Despite this, these machines are still capable of taking
components up to 15m in length as those being provided to
GKN’s inner rear spar demonstrator: One of the components that will be produced
Spirit will eventually produce all three front spar sections.
using MTorres machinery
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