IntAir

Cheaper, Lighter, Safer Composite Materials for Aircraft Interiors

The IntAir project successfully completed its activities in October 2018. For further information please contact us.

About

IntAir looked at refining materials and upscaling the manufacturing process for a new generation of aircraft interior composites that are cheaper, lighter and safer than the toxic, carcinogenic materials that are currently used.

Composite materials are well-established for aircraft interior sidewalls, galleys, lockers and seating. To meet the strict fire and weight requirements for aircraft interiors, the current solution is to use a fire resistant composite made of phenolic resin with carbon or glass fibre reinforcement. However, there are 3 major problems with phenolics:

  • Cost: Phenolic parts have long moulding times and need several hours of manual finishing.
  • Weight: The poor surface finish means that filler is needed, adding to the component weight.
  • Safety: Phenolics emit toxic and carcinogenic materials during processing.

Most composite aircraft components are manufactured from prepreg, an intermediate material where the resin is pre-impregnated into a reinforcement fabric, for subsequent moulding into parts.

As a direct substitute for phenolic, IntAir focussed on a prepreg using polyfurfuryl alcohol (PFA), a bioresin derived from crop waste, which offers the improvements in each of the 3 areas:

  • Cost: A reduction in moulding cycle time, and a reduction in manual finishing, with the same raw material cost.
  • Weight: PFA can give an improved surface finish, reducing the use of filler and decreasing average component weight.
  • Safety: PFA prepregs are less toxic, less carcinogenic and have far lower VOC emissions, reducing health & safety concerns from the workplace.

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Contact Us

Composites Evolution
4A Broom Business Park
Bridge Way
Chesterfield
S41 9QG
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1246 266248
Email: info@compositesevolution.com