Carbon fiber composite materials are many carbon fiber strands arranged in a certain direction, and then they are mixed with resin, ceramic, metal and other substrates. Compared with traditional metal materials, carbon fiber composite materials have the advantages of low density, high specific strength/stiffness, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, high temperature resistance, easy to design, and easy to large-scale integral molding processing.
Today, the market for 3D printed carbon fiber Composites is starting to ramp up in volume manufacturing, and Arris Composites has partnered with Airbus on composite research to lighten cabin brackets.
Sustainable development prospects
There are three major trends in the development of 3D printing of composite materials, one is that it will see the industrialization of processes and systems, and the combination of hardware and software development will be more supportive of mass production. The second is more sensor control of the system for real-time process control - thermal, dimensional and optical sensing improves process tolerances. Third, the new software used to improve the efficiency of 3D printing operations (e.g., pre-processing workflows, job management, etc.) is more mature, and thus more in-depth for new design and simulation of multi-material parts.
Sustainable air travel industry development
Arris Composites, based in Galley, USA, has revealed a research project with Airbus focused on the production of cabin supports. The project aims to lead to a significant reduction in aviation emissions by utilizing innovative manufacturing methods and materials, including composites.
According to Arris Composites, the replacement of the metal bracket (220 grams) with topologically optimized, aligned continuous fiber composite components (50 grams) resulted in a weight reduction of more than 75 percent. The weight reduction also translates into highly optimized fuel savings, as hundreds of these brackets are part of a single aircraft.
Weight loss is even more meaningful if you look at it from a larger perspective. If 100 aircraft were built a year with 500 brackets per aircraft, plus 50,000 lighter brackets, this would help save 113 million metric tons of fuel and 357 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the aircraft.
According to Airbus, bionic design, topological optimization and advanced composite materials are the future. By combining the benefits of 3D printing with the benefits of Composites, Arris Composites is helping the industry ideally combine these designs and materials to manufacture the future of flight.
In addition, Arris Composites' additive molding technology, which combines additive manufacturing and high-speed compression molding processes, will have a huge impact on replacement parts and future aircraft structures, proving that reducing carbon emissions is possible. Airbus itself is committed to exploring such technological pathways to support the vision of more sustainable air travel for future generations.