NDE of composite aircraft structures. Case studies

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NDE of composite aircraft structures. Case studies

Ramesh Kumar, M. / Srinivasa, V. / Jangir, Suresh / Sudheendra, H.N.

Composite materials are being increasingly used for fabrication of aircraft components for military and civil aircraft programs. Conventional manufacturing employs mechanical fastening or adhesive joining to realize structural assemblies. There is an increasing demand for the designer to reduce the manufacturing cost, process time, weight and the assembly of the part. To achieve this many processes are available and one such process is the co-curing, co-bonding technique in composites. Advanced Composites Division (ACD) is vigorously aiming at developing a cost effective and advanced method of composite fabrication. In the context of low speed civil aircraft development in mind our division has further booked into the new trend of manufacturing process leading to low cost and low weight for realizing the net component. One such area is Resin Transfer Mould (RTM) to produce a quality assembled part. RTM process is further refined to a method called Resin Infusion Technology under vacuum which is being adopted for civil aircraft programs. A consistent product repeatability and acceptable quality is a criteria, there is a need to establish the required NDE parameters to stabilize the process of fabrication.