Yesterday FACC AG was honoured with the Innovation Prize of the State of Upper Austria 2013 for the development of an integral wing box for aircraft using a new infusion-based manufacturing procedure “MARI”. Walter Stephan, Chairman of FACC AG, and Robert Machtlinger, Chief Operating Officer of FACC AG, accepted the prize in the category “Major Enterprises” during the official awards ceremony in the ORF OÖ (Upper Austrian TV) studio. It was presented by State Economic Councillor Michael Strugl.
The Innovation Prize is awarded to the most innovative companies in Upper Austria and is intended to demonstrate and honour the innovative power and technological capability of the domestic companies. An independent jury assesses the submissions and rewards inventions and developments with high application potential.
The quintessence of the FACC innovation is a highly integral wing box for large aircraft that is manufactured entirely from carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFK) and using a newly developed infusion process. The advantages of this innovation are to be seen in considerable savings of costs, time and energy in the manufacturing process and improved product characteristics of the wing box. FACC is the first company anywhere in the world that has manufactured wing skins “in one shot” in combination with a newly developed infusion technology. As a result, the company occupies a pioneering technological position within the aviation industry and opens up for itself additional market opportunities in the field of primary structures – and that in the sector of fibre-reinforced plastic applications, a sector that is growing particularly strongly and has a particularly bright future.
MARI infusion process sets new standards
For the manufacturing of wing boxes from carbon fibres according to the current standard of technology, so-called “prepregs” (pre-impregnated fabrics) are taken, applied to a tool and cured in autoclaves by being subjected to high temperatures and pressures. Subsequently the reinforcement profiles (so called “stringers”), also made of CFRP and which have been cured separately, are positioned thereupon and connected mechanically using rivets, screws, etc.
The MARI infusion process developed and patented by FACC sets new standards in the integral construction method for primary structures of large-scale, complex geometry. The individual components are hereby no longer cured separately and then stuck or bolted together, but manufactured “in one shot”. In this new process the wing skin is assembled fully integral from dry semi-finished fibre components instead of prepregs together with their reinforcements, positioned in a tool and placed in a curing oven. After the entire component has been heated the resin, which has been treated likewise, is “sucked” through the component under vacuum.
The most significant advantage in the manufacturing of the wing box skins “in one shot” is to be seen in the fact that, thanks to the dispensing with the mechanical connecting elements such as screws or rivets, the weight of the component may be reduced significantly. This results in aircraft that are lighter and use less fuel. The concept of the wing box may be scaled down to any size and adapted to all sizes and types of aircraft. The new process also brings with it enormous cost saving potential in production. The usage of the curing ovens instead of the energy-intensive autoclaves for the curing of the components and the dispensing with the cooling process when storing the prepregs considerably reduce energy consumption.
About FACC
FACC AG is one of the world’s leading companies in the design, development and production of advanced fiber reinforced composite components and systems for the aviation industry. Their range of products reaches from structural components for the fuselage and wings to engine components to complete passenger cabins for commercial aircraft, business jets and helicopters. FACC is a supplier to all large aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Sukhoi, and COMAC as well as for engine manufacturers and sub-suppliers of manufacturers. In the 2012/13 business year FACC achieved an annual turnover of 433.9 million euros. The company employs a staff of around 2,400 employees in Austria.
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Copyright: FACC AG, free of charge
For additional information please contact:
Andrea Schachinger
Corporate Communication
Tel: 059/616-1194
E-Mail: a.schachinger@facc.com