Development of advanced Laser based technologies for the manufacturing of Titanium HLFC structures

General Information

World air traffic volume is expected to double in the next 15 years and therefore the reduction of air transport contribution to climate change is nowadays one of the most important objectives for aircraft manufacturers. The reduction of environmental impact requires a continuous improvement in aircraft efficiency, which depends on the use of lightweight structures and efficient aerodynamics, among others. Hybrid Laminar Flow (HLFC) on wing and fin is one of the potential ways to enhance the efficiency of the aircraft and to achieve up to 10% of fuel saving in commercial passenger aircrafts. A design approach for HLFC structure is made of a perforated skin sheet which is stiffened by stringers. This structure is produced by joining parallel aligned stringers to laser micro-drilled thin skin. Afterwards, a straightening process is necessary to achieve the flatness requirements. DELASTI aims at the
development of (i) process and ii) system technology for reproducible laser welding and straightening of large titanium panels for HLFC structures, which shall iii) be assisted by an FE-based procedure focused on the prediction of 3D deformation and residual stresses. A revolutionary approach is sought which implies the use of one laser source as the only production means, in order to get the whole process in a single production stage. The project is co-funded by the Clean Sky 2 Joint Technology Initiative (CS2 JTI) which is a Public-Private Partnership between the European Commission and industry.

EU-Programme Acronym and Subprogramme Area	JTI-CS2-2014-CFP01 (Clean Sky 2)
Project Type	Clean Sky Project
Contract Number	Grant Agreement 687088
Co-ordinator	Lortek S COOP (ES)

Funding for the Project (€)	Funding for Hereon (€)
448,843	132,937

Contact Person at Hereon

Dr. Nikolai Kashaev, Institute of Materials Mechanics, Laser Processing and Structural Assessment, WMF, Phone: +49 4152 87 2536 E-mail contact

Participants

Airbus Deutschland GmbH (DE), Lortek S COOP (ES)

Last Update: 16. April 2021