Advanced Composites in Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

The development of composites for use in airframe engineering received a major boost with the introduction of carbon fibres in the mid-60s. The exploitation of these materials in the UK aerospace industry focussed very sharply on application in primary, i.e. high load bearing, structure, and great emphasis was therefore placed on the production of material of the highest quality using well tried and tested fabrication routes.

Establishing the necessary level of confidence in carbon fibre/epoxy resin composites as airframe structural materials also required an extensive and complex programme of mechanical and environmental testing. Large elements of this programme covered such matters as fatigue endurance, resistance to outdoor weathering, impact resistance and damage tolerance, chemical and fluid resistance, the effects of lightning strike and rain erosion, and thermal stability. The end result was an engineering data base which allowed the successful design, fabrication, and flight testing of major airframe structures in the UK in the 1980s.