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Fraunhofer IFAM and partners have completed left and right welds connecting the upper and lower fuselage halves and sent the 8×4-meter full-scale section to ZAL for integration with a cabin crown module and testing.

Thermoplastic composite upper and lower half shells for the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator were welded using CO2 laser over a total length of 8 meters.

Demonstrator’s upper, lower shells and assembly prove materials and new processes for lighter, cheaper and more sustainable high-rate future aircraft.

Thermoplastics are evolving quickly into larger structures and clearly will have a significant role to play in the next commercial aircraft program — whenever that’s announced. This edition of “From the CW Archives” looks back on a thermoplastics pioneer.

Eight-meter-long CFRTP fuselage skin was achieved via laser-heated in-situ consolidation, with stringers, frames and cleats to be welded.  

Clean Sky project has delivered the 8 × 4 meter welded aerostructure component, aided by advanced thermoplastic composite technologies and smart robotics.  

GKN Fokker and Mikrosam develop AFP for the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator’s floor beams and OOA consolidation of 6-meter spars for TPC rudders, elevators and tails.

CW editor-in-chief Scott Francis reflects on the ways in which the composites industry has changed and also stayed the same based on observations from this year’s JEC World.  

New developments in automated or semi-automated manufacturing solutions through MFFD, CoMMaNds 2, FastFlexMont 2, Tempo and UniFix projects to achieve sustainable, efficient composite part production.

Clean Sky 2’s MFFD program continues to move toward its goal of delivering a welded, thermoplastic composite fuselage demonstrator using next-generation manufacturing processes.