• Harman, D.
• Summerscales, John
• Grove, S.

Abstract

The drive to reduce cost in both the initial production and through life maintenance phases of composite structures has led the aerospace industry to examine alternatives to expensive prepreg options. Liquid resin infusion techniques, in conjunction with dry fibre preforms, offer the possibility of using low cost fabrication methods, but the possible weight penalty associated with meeting performance criteria can often negate this cost saving in terms of increased fuel consumption. The use of through-thickness reinforcement has the potential to not only bring the performance in line with toughened prepreg solutions, but to improve on it. To investigate the economics of tufting for 3D composite components, a series of metrics including manufacturing cost, performance and weight are studied for tufted and non-tufted NCF and a prepreg using a generic T-post case study. Based on the through-life cost benefit of a lower mass solution, the tufted T-post offers superior economy, with a weighted cost per part estimated to be almost 17% lower than the current prepreg solution. The generic T-shaped component has only been considered as a bolt-on solution; however the results could be applicable to many more multi-component, fastener-free preform applications and offer further cost saving potential for other aircraft.

Topics

• phase
• composite
• resin