Composite materials get a new lab

04.12.2007

Aircelle’s new “composites” lab was officially opened on 15 November. It testifies to the company’s excellence in this cutting-edge sector, where performance is allied with reduced aircraft mass.

© T. Mamberti / SAFRAN

A new building has just been officially opened on the Aircelle (SAFRAN Group) site at Gonfreville-l’Orcher, near Le Havre (France). It is a research lab devoted to composite materials. To mark the occasion, Jean-Pierre Cojan, recently appointed as the company’s CEO, recalled to mind that: “Composite materials are a key line of development for Aircelle and, since they help reduce the weight and the noise nuisance of aircraft, they have a direct role to play in the issues of sustainable development. Aircelle, therefore, has for many years invested in composite materials, in line with a strategy of continuous reinforcement, justified by the stiff levels of competition.” The objective of this new composites laboratory is to offer a fuller range of resources for R&D work and to encourage synergies with partners. “Around 2015,” Jean-Pierre Cojan goes on to say, “the aircraft being sold today will have to be replaced. We therefore need to develop, as of now, the technologies of the future.”

Composite materials are formed from the combination of a “fibrous reinforcement” (glass or carbon fiber) with a “binder” (resin, or epoxy). Twice as light as aluminum - the lightest of metals - composites straightaway offer considerable weight gains, and they have numerous applications in the field of aviation. To illustrate the point, Aircelle’s CEO described the development of the first thrust reverser, produced in the 1970s, going on to say: “Aircelle is the Group’s center of excellence in the field of organic matrix composites. The work done by the company has made it possible to achieve major weight reductions and, at the same time, reduce noise emissions. Yet there are many discoveries still to be made.” Hence this new 1,100 m² lab, designed to accommodate some 40 employees.

© Aircelle

A “green” site for a cutting-edge lab

The lab’s engineers and technicians will carry out tests there on materials and finished products, in an environment that is designed to raise the bar in terms of environmental protection, energy savings and water management. Frédéric Joubert, composites lab manager, explains the symbolic significance of this inauguration: “It has taken a year and a half of reflection and work to produce this building and to put in place the global R&D and advanced technologies team, made up of the merger of the Research & Technologies and Laboratory teams.”

For Frédéric Joubert, the lab’s objective is of course to enhance nacelle performance, by leveraging the progress made in R&D. “What we are looking for above all is efficiency. There can be no overlooking the fact that composites are going to be one of the key factors in allying improved performance with reduced aircraft mass in the future.”

Lighter, quieter: the composite nacelle

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