MILITARY, AEROSPACE & DEFENCE FEATURE
COLLABORATION: THE FUTURE OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY?
by Mark Howard, head of R&T business development and partnerships, Airbus I
n the complex and competitive aviation industry, any aircraft innovation is hot property. Protecting IP is crucial, but it can mean companies miss out
on learning from each other. So, the future lies in closer integration, and will be essential to achieve the 2050 targets for clean and sustainable growth. No single organisation has all the answers needed to take on the
challenges of the new world of air travel, the predicted revolution in terms of next generation aircraft and systems management: digital aviation and autonomous technologies, Artificial Intelligence, electrified energy sources, integrated value chains and more efficient designs. While the boundaries of technology are being pushed in many of these
areas by design engineers, the ability to maximise the benefits from research findings and early stage designs and bring them together to achieve viable, commercial, long-term applications is needed. That means specific integration skills, new processes and a toolkit for working with higher education, within industry as well as wider industry bodies to make real change possible. It also means opening up the new technologies and all the systems and structures involved to members of supply chains.
AIRBUS: PARTNERING WITH ROLLS-ROYCE AND CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY Airbus has become a strategic partner with the new Aerospace Integration Research Centre (AIRC) at Cranfield University. The university has positioned itself as the UK’s research airport – based around its integration lab for design, testing and manufacture, an on-campus airfield and smart road for testing autonomous vehicles. In practical terms that means Cranfield is able to work across the full Technology Readiness Level (TRL). The office and lab spaces are the physical element of a research and
development mini-ecosystem focused on technologies that are a priority for the business. The other strategic partner is Rolls-Royce. There are two Airbus research chairs on campus – working on industrial robotics and landing systems – supported by MSc students, all of whom work alongside engineers at Cranfield and on Airbus sites. Bringing together different pools of expertise and knowledge within the AIRC as and when needed is key. Co-location at the AIRC enables different groups of experts to collaborate
on specific projects, de-risking specific elements of technology by ensuring problems are picked up and dealt with earlier. Six collaborative research projects have been worked on via the AIRC over the last two years, each of them funded via the Aerospace Technology Institute, including projects on the safe application of autonomous robots in the manufacture and assembly of wings. Evidence has already been gathered of how technology from AIRC collaboration has led to important time savings at Airbus wing production plant – up to 15 hours have been saved from the manufacture of each wing set through introduction of automation and photogrammetry, resulting in significant savings at a production rate of 60 single aisle aircraft per month. Airbus’ recent establishment of a professor of Landing Systems
Engineering at Cranfield, focused on understanding key challenges of the physical gear, its systems and the integration with the wider aircraft and airport infrastructure, will be a major focus of growth for Airbus in the AIRC. The AIRC is a major opportunity for Airbus and Rolls-Royce to deal with
the issues relating to integrating new forms of powerplant into airframes by exploring novel configurations with ultra-long and slim wings and semi- embedded engines such as the Airbus Concept Plane. The close-coupling of the engine and the use of electric powerplants in such concepts creates aerodynamic and structural challenges. Solving these problems together will result in more efficient and effective aircraft. There are now plans to build on integration capabilities with Cranfield
and Rolls-Royce: the opportunity to support further parts of Airbus with technology and advanced systems developments, as well as looking to grow the eco-system and involve other partners. The AIRC will also play its part in the collaboration with Rolls-Royce on the E-Fan X hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, providing the ability to share the use of an airframe for research and testing purposes.
Airbus
www.airbus.com DESIGN SOLUTIONS | FEBRUARY 2019 33
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