Overview
The civil aeronautical product requires a continuous product improvement that is achieved by:
- reduction in weight
- lower consumption
- reduction in operating costs of the aircraft
- level of passenger comfort
The first three requests are now answered through the use of carbon fiber composite materials in primary structures of the fuselage. The potential offered by composite materials allow a significant reduction in weight and of recurrent manufacturing and maintenance costs, factors that contribute to the reduction of operating costs.
The purpose of this project is to develop structural primary components (fuselage panels) for aeronautical applications in order to improve, from the customer and user point of view, the acoustic comfort when applied to the entire fuselage. The results represent a decisive innovation for improved comfort on board commercial aircrafts and significantly reduce the burdens of weight due to the addition of insulation materials in the cabin, thereby helping to increase the performance of the aircraft and to reduce maintenance costs because of less parts to maintain.
The aeronautical products will be tested not only on international aeronautical applications but also in other transport sectors and vehicles: ships, trains and cars, where similar problems are present.
The activities of this research project can be divided into the following areas:
- Innovative technologies for the design of composite components for the primary structures of fuselages of large aircrafts. The main innovation will lead to improved acoustic performance.
- Preparation of a numerical simulation platform, which integrate different methods and simulation techniques allowing the analysis of the response of vibro-acoustic structures starting from micro simulation up to the structural components.
- Study and simulation of the transmission of acoustic energy produced by the aerodynamic boundary layer through stiffened composite structures, with the support of tests in the wind tunnel.