Case study: carbon fiber beams for riveting machines used on Airbus aircrafts fuselage panels.
Date: 2019 – 20XX
Project status: in production
Quantity: small series
For the manufacture of certain large aircraft fuselage panels, the steel beams did not offer sufficient rigidity over a length of 9m to guarantee the precision required by the end customer, a factory of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
We therefore worked with the customer to develop ultra-lightweight and stiff carbon-fiber beams, made from ultra-high-modulus carbon-fiber plates from our standard catalog and manufactured by the kilometer in our pultrusion workshops.
The pultruded flat laminates were then assembled using prepreg draping, thanks to an innovative process developed specifically for this project with 2 regional partners.
The composite blank is then rectified to ensure compliance with the dimensional tolerances requested by the customer.
Finally, to obtain the final beam, metal end fittings were designed, machined and bonded on each side. Metal plates are also bolted at regular intervals ensure the interface with the aircraft fuselage panels.
The use of pultruded profiles has enabled us to cut costs by 30% compared with traditional composite technology (filament winding, RTM or prepreg draping), by significantly reducing material costs and labor time. In addition, pultrusion made it possible to achieve the desired rigidity for these beams, thanks to the longitudinal arrangement of ultra-high modulus (UHM) carbon fibers.
The use of standard profiles from our stock also enabled us to reduce manufacturing lead times by several months, as well as saving on tooling costs.
See the carbon machine beams product page for more information.