Constellium partners with Dassault Aviation to develop the “Eco- Efficient Aluminum for Aircraft” Project within the Clean Sky Research Programme
PARIS, October 27, 2011 -- The European Programme Clean Sky has officially launched the “Eco-Efficient Aluminum for Aircraft” (ECEFA) project resulting from a Call for Proposal of the Eco-Design for Airframe Integrated Technology Demonstrator (ITD)* coordinated by Dassault Aviation.
ECEFA will develop an advanced aluminum product primarily for civil aircraft fuselage skin applications. With a starting point of 10% density reduction compared to current solutions, this new product is expected to offer further weight savings through design re-optimization. It also offers both physical and mechanical performances allowing for significantly reduced fuselage
wall thickness, durability of the aerostructure and use of eco-friendly surface treatments. The project is conducted at Constellium’s Research Centre in Voreppe, France.
The overarching target of Clean Sky, through its €1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) public-private research effort, is to provide solutions which minimize the impact of aviation on the environment. “The ECEFA project represents a step change in terms of eco-efficient airframe.
Aluminum can make the difference” says Christophe Villemin, President of Constellium's Global Aerospace Division.
Clean Sky-supported innovations are notably designed to meet recommendations from the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) to lower CO2 emissions. In that specific regard, weight performance is considered a critical area of research and improvement.
“The ECEFA project is rightly seen as a benefit for OEMs, as it addresses increased ecoefficiency requirements while offering other significant advantages, such as the reduction of maintenance operations,” adds Villemin. ECEFA’s total budget amounts to €473,000 and is supported by Clean Sky at 50%. Following lab trials and two initial campaigns at industrial scale, ECEFA’s ambition is to increase proposed technology readiness. A series of tolerance tests shall be conducted in order to better understand its potential and ability to meet airframers’ requirements.
Tagged with aluminium, alternative, materials, design, efficiency, reduced, weight
