Manufacturing of Cocured Composite Structures for Aircraft with Autoclave Moulding Technology

Manufacturing of primary aircraft composite structures for fighter aircrafts, transport category aircrafts and UAVs with autoclave moulding technology.

Structures like wing, horizontal and vertical tails, fuselage shells, control Surfaces like rudder, elevator, aileron, flaps etc. developed for LCA-Tejas and SARAS aircrafts. Parts developed for LCA have entered Series Production.

Salient Technical Features

• Autoclave processing of prepregs is a well-established technology in the aircraft industry. It offers excellent reliability and part quality mandated for airworthy parts. This technique remains a benchmark for competing processes. Parts with fiber loading of 58-60% and void content less than 1% can be produced using this technology.
• CSIR-NAL has developed cocuring technology indigenously to realize highly integral structures for aircraft programs. The primary benefits of co-curing are reduction in part count, elimination of fasteners, reduced assembly and associated costs and elimination of stress concentration zones due to fastener holes, elimination of fuel leakage etc. The total structure is realized in shorter time compared to the traditional fastened structure. 
• More than fifteen LCA aircrafts have taken to skies with composite structures manufactured at CSIR-NAL and extensive flight testing has been done with composite parts performing excellently.
• Some of the structures developed have won prestigious awards in international forums like JEC Asia innovation awards in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

• Cocuring technology is one such approach wherein more than 50% of expensive fasteners can be eliminated and assembly time is reduced.
• Composites materials bring in overall reduction in life cycle costs of a particular component by reducing the need for frequent inspection, insensitivity towards
  corrosion etc.