Engineers have proposed an alternative to aluminium for the leading edges of aircraft wings after the material demonstrated encouraging aerospace-grade qualities in tests.
The material combines steel composite metal foam (CMF) and epoxy resin to form a hybrid material dubbed infused CMF by the team that developed it at North Carolina State University (NC State).
While infused CMF is about the same weight as aluminium, it is tougher and has other characteristics that make it more appealing from a flight performance, safety and fuel efficiency standpoint, said Afsaneh Rabiei, corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NCState.
CMF consists of hollow, metallic spheres made of materials including stainless steel or titanium that are embedded in a metallic matrix made of steel, aluminium or metallic alloys.
For their latest CMF study, the researchers used so-called steel-steel CMF, where the spheres and the matrix were made of steel. Previous work has found the metal foam canwithstand .50 calibre rounds, resisthigh temperatures, and blockblast pressurefrom high explosive incendiary rounds.
The infused CMF is made by immersing the steel-steel CMF in a hydrophobic epoxy resin and using vacuum forces to pull the resin into the hollow spheres and into much smaller pores found in the steel matrix. According to NC State, this results in about 88 per cent of the CMFs pores being filled with epoxy resin.
CMF armour cuts weight and adds protection
Stainless steel composite metal foam offers more protection than other forms of armour
The researchers then tested infused CMF and aerospace-grade aluminium to see how they performed in three areas that affect the performance of a wings leading edge: contact angle, insect adhesion, and particle wear.
Contact angle is a measure of how well water beads up on a surface. The lower a materials contact angle, the more the water clings to the surface, which can affect aircraft performance. The researchers found that infused CMF had a contact angle 130 per cent higher than aluminium.
Insect adhesion is measured in two ways: by the maximum height of insect residue that builds up on a material, and by the amount of area covered by insect residue on a materials surface. Infused CMF reportedly outperformed aluminium by 60 per cent in terms of maximum height, and 30 per cent in regard to the surface area covered.
The researchers also conducted grit blast experiments to simulate the erosion caused by the wear and tear that occurs over time when aircraft wings are in use. The researchers found that, while grit blast did increase surface roughness for infused CMF, it still fared better than aluminium; at its worst, infused CMF still had a contact angle 50 per cent higher than that of aluminium.
Aluminium is currently the material of choice for making the leading edge of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft wings, Rabiei said in a statement. Our results suggest that infused CMF may be a valuable replacement, offering better performance at the same weight.
By the same token, the results suggest that we could use different materials for the matrix or spheres to create a combination that performs as well as conventional aluminium at a fraction of the weight. Either way, youre improving performance and fuel efficiency.
The paper, Polymer Infused Composite Metal Foam as a Potential Aircraft Leading Edge Material, is published in Applied Surface Science.
See the article here:
Hybrid material makes the aerospace-grade - The Engineer
- why can't i print in the message area? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- smoke detectors - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Insulation drawings - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Boiler. - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Electrical Harmonics - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- axial thrust - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Pl inform which make suitable for this specification - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- CapsLock - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- How to Calculate Drag Reduction Factor for surge analysis - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- cable..pls help - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 11Kv joints - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- how to calculate required torque? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- IP rating for enclosures - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 11kv JOINTS SPACING ON PARALLEL CABLES - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- beep sounds - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Increse speed of pneumatic cylinder - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Pipe fittings-Manufacturing/Quality Assurance - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- kango memolition hammer - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Loss calculation in undergound Transmission Cables - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Design in ASP.NET - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- axial pump - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Auger bit - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Pipe - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Centrifugal oil filter ideas - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- When to install Horizontal Condensate Pot (Probably also called Spun Type) ?? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Confusion about a Resistance Bulb - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Loop testing for a NON-HART 4 wire instrument - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- My VAWT Project, next phase - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- voltage doubler - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- How to build corners and joints using Red Oak timbers? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- THERMAL OIL BOILER - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- How Do You Get a Degree in Green Energy? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- deareator pegging - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 99 ford ranger with no brake pedal at all - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- CAD tool for electronic circuitry design - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- hvac - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Unfinalized video miniDVD data recovery - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- eletronics - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- codless phones programming - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Effectiveness in cooling a drink with ice than water? - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Free Vibration Analysis of Tapered Composite Wings - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Can You Treat Composite Beams or Wings Mathematically like Isotropic Wings? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Particle, Particle in Space, Tell Me About Earthquakes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Russian Rocket Engine – Best in the World - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- New Online Evaluation of Laminated Composite Stiffnesses - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 'Autonomous' helicopters teach themselves to fly - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Next Target – Jupiter - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA's FERMI, Space, and Time - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Lunchtime Salon Today in L.A. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A vote for McCain is a vote against science - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Study Investigates Mental Overload in Pilots - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Releases Columbia Crew Safety Report - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- What the Stimulus Package Means for Science - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- All Scientists Have Conflicts of Interest (Duh) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Congress Considers Killing Open-Access Journals - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Transmission Swing Angle - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Long Weld Neck Flanges - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Super Critical Fluid Extraction for Rose Oil - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Capacitor Bank Calculations - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Power Supplies and Dummy Loads - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Standards for Piping Vibration - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Automatic Generator Changovers - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Synchronous Generators - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Suzuki Swift Brakes - Squeaks and Whistles - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Flange Serration - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Hydraulic Shapes and Reciprocating Machines - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- No Shortage of Engineers After All! - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Delta Starter Diagram - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- 2002 Chevy Duramax Diesel - Low Voltmeter Reading - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Energy Survey and Consumer Mapping Methodoogy - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Setback for Geothermal Energy - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Darlington Amplifier - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Diesel Storage Tank Design - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Car MPG Questions - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Dark LCD Display - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Calculating the Strength of Concrete Floors - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Hitachi Projection TV - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- WW II Water-Injected Engines - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Soap to Prevent A1H1N1 Contamination - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Car won't shift out of first gear - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]