MULFUN - Multifunctional Structures
Overview
Background & policy context:
The need to reduce cost is a driver for weight- and volume-constrained design on aircraft and satellites. In the last few years, lightweight composite materials have been increasingly used to reduce the structural weight of equipment components. However, concentrating solely on structural mass reduction does not lead to further reducing equipment mass, because the structure typically represents as little as 10 to 15% of the total mass. The envisaged solution was to design structural elements that can integrate multiple functions, known as multifunctional structures (MFS).
Objectives:
The project objective was the development of lightweight, fully integrated advanced equipment for aircraft and spacecraft (avionics electronic housings). Breadboards, based on the MFS technology, with a weight and volume reduction compared to their aluminium counterparts will be developed.
A planar array antenna and a composite-based housing that integrate thermal, electrical and structural functions was developed. Through the proposed MFS solution, a 30% weight saving and a 50% volume reduction of the equipment was expected. The applicability of the MFS technology in the aerospace industry was also be assessed.
Methodology:
MULFUN is a specification-focused, innovation-type project, with a building block approach, according to which four breadboards will be designed and manufactured. The work plan was structured into three main phases.
The first phase began with a general technology review of the MFS concept and the associated technology requirements (Work Package 1). After the assessment, two systems based on the two different approaches in thermal control (active and passive systems) were designed, manufactured and tested in two technological panels (Work Packages 2 and 3).
The second phase dealt with two different applications, which evaluated the technology developed in the first phase. The first design concept chosen was based on a planar array antenna for aircraft communications (Work Package 4). The second one was a representative power electronic housing (Work Package 5), addressing the problems of assembly, EMC shielding and the integration of dummy electronics boards.
The third phase (Work Package 6) covered the exploitation aspects of the innovation produced.
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