Boing has com out with many very innovative systems over thee years and unfortunately only they for the most part can use or own them mainly due to excessive implementation costs. For the rest of us in the aviation industry reality is that this will boil down to the newest ie cheapest labour a angle grinder and not much more. The repairs will be safe but not as lightweight or perfect. Even today simple repairs such as this involving rights and alum patches are commonly sent to third world countries where thee labour rates are much cheaper. You can pay a mechanic $50 an hour or send to costra rica or Belize and spend a small fraction. Its done all the time and perfectly legal.
Jerry, thanks for asking about my upcoming May feature article on turning recycled plastics into fuel. The feature articles you see in the print edition usually appear online a few days later. Watch for it!
I agree with JL. While this is a cool gadget you'd still need a human for judgement and only part of the process.
If I get it right it evaporates the resins leaving the fibers. That would take 1k deg F likely not to damage CF or glass. If Kevlar types it would destroy them as the resin.
I'd not just slap a patch on that as resin must reinfuse completely to good resin. Possibly a weak area of not quite vaporized resin would block the new resin from mating.
There are many technics to access damage and repair it without such high priced robots.
Ann, Speaking of recycing plastics just where online is the article on turning plastics into diesel, gasoline? It's the article I've learned more I need than most of the rest here combined. I got it in print, here is it online?
Wow, engineering methods never cease to amaze me. The application of robotics to repair composite materials for aircraft is an awesome idea. With latest innovations in machine vision technology, robots can assist in spotting defects in aircraft structures particularly composite materials. This concept of using robots to repair aircrafts reminds of the scene in Star Wars The Phantom Menance where the R2 units were deployed to repair a damage space fighter while engaged in battle with the Imperial Fighters. Truly Amazing!
It is amazing to see new technologies developed in my lifetime come to to forefront of engineering in action. This new material did not exist at the beginning of my career, and now they are using it in huge airplanes in place of aluminum. Wow, that was fast! And now they have automated repairing the stuff! It's great to be an engineer!
J.Lombard, thanks for such a clear summary of this complex issue (and sub-issues). I'd sure like to find out more about your company for use in possible future articles. Can you contact me by email? I can be reached at ann.thryft@ubm.com.
The art and science of composite repair is constantly evolving. The advent of the B-787 class of aircraft is a game changer. In the past, composite parts have been considered "secondary structures", such as flight control surfaces, landing gear doors, floor panels, etc. Repair procedures were fairly well understood and integrated into the maintenance programs as normal operations. Now, with the composites forming a major portion of the load-bearing structure, the industry has to really step up their game. Our company is one of a few supplying composite repair systems for this purpose. We see every day the struggles the OEMs and the repair activities are having with these issues.
There are really four phases or issues of consideration when repairing composites. 1. Identification of the damage. 2. Preparing the area for repair (removing damaged material). 3. The actual repair (replacement of damaged material) 4. Verification of the process (QA /QC, NDT).
The subject of this article partially addresses #2. A few of the posters flagged some of the issues involved. How practical is the robot for use in-situ scenarios? How well can it negotiate compound curves, fasteners, varying material densities, and unknown sub-strucrures? One poster alluded to "dirty, violent abrasive cutting techniques on composites". Removal of damaged material is actually more surgical, with the use of hand-held routers, die grinders, and the like with diamond and carbide bits designed for this purpose. There is a large human expertise factor required for all phases of composite repair. The application of robotic technology to as many of these processes as possible is laudable, but more development is required. There is as much art as science involved with complex repairs.
Since most composite repairs require the application of heat to cure the aerospace materials, the real challenge is ensuring that heat is uniformly applied and reaches all parts of the material under consideration. This is especially challenging when dealing with carbon-fiber structures. Carbon conducts heat relatively well. The heat wants go everywhere, not just where it is needed. We are actively working with the OEMs to develop equipment and technology to ensure this is possible.
All phases of composite repair have come under much closer scrutiny from the FAA recently. They see the potential for a catastrophic event due to an improperly performed repair. It's back to basics: Training, proper procedures, process control, verification. Welcome to the friendly (safe) skies!
Hey William, glad you liked this story. It does seem kind of 20/20 in hindsight, especially the "don't bang on that complex composite layer" part. The other part that also seems obvious is the crossover from removing coatings on composites via laser--which SCLR Lasertechnik already does, and which sounds like a delicate process--to using lasers to repair composites with what sounds like a very similar method. Maybe someone from SCLR Lasertechnik was having a beer with someone from GKN Aerospace, and one of them said "I wonder what would happen if you used this for that...?" Just a guess.
Chuck, Boeing doesn't seem to like to discuss this subject in any detail, so their specific plans are unknown. Since GKN Aerospace is a major supplier to Boeing, one can always make reasonable guesses. That said, Boeing was having a lot of trouble earlier this year with apparent delam issues of the 787's composite fuselage: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0223-dreamliner-problem-20120223,0,6402954.story
I find it amazing what SLCR Lasertechnik can do with regard to coating removal. They claim, for example, that they can strip the paint from a part while leaving the primer intact. They can also remove paint from selected areas without the need for masking. I can think of a lot of occasions in which the ability to do these things would have been very useful.
By the way, it appears that the company is called SLCR (Selective Laser Coating Removal), not SCLR. The name was misspelled in GKN's press release.
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