Bio-composites could transform aircraft design

<p style="text-align: center;"><img title="1625117536663033.jpg" alt="2.jpg" src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20210701/1625117536663033.jpg"/></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Lightweight and high-strength materials have consistently played a key role in the construction of fuel-efficient and high-performing aircraft. Today, bio-composites – made of raw materials of biological origin – are giving engineers new insight on how to improve the environmental performance of&nbsp;<strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;"><a style="color: rgb(100, 161, 185); text-decoration: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.airbus.com/innovation/future-concepts.html" target="_blank">future aircraft</a></strong>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Five decades ago, up to 70% of an aircraft was made of a single material: aluminum. Lightweight, inexpensive, and widely available, aluminum was used in the construction of a variety of aircraft components, from the fuselage to other main engine parts. Since then, other materials have improved aircraft design, from metals (titanium, steel, new aluminum alloys) to&nbsp;<strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;"><a style="color: rgb(100, 161, 185); text-decoration: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.aerospacemanufacturinganddesign.com/search/?searchTerm=composites">composites&nbsp;</a></strong>(carbon and glass fiber, polymeric and epoxy resins).</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Today, a new class of highly performant materials – bio-composites – is emerging to offer more exciting possibilities for improved environmental performance as engineers aim to unlock their potential for use in future aircraft.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Bio-sourced composite materials are formed – like today’s composites – by a matrix (resin) and a fiber, but of biological origin. Increasingly used in industrial applications due to their numerous advantages, they are lightweight, flexible, cost-effective, and recyclable.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The raw materials for bio-composites are derived from natural renewable resources: biomass, plants, crops, micro-organisms, animals, minerals, and bio-wastes. Chemical and/or mechanical conversion is required to transform these raw materials into bio-composites, which can be used alone or in complement to standard materials, such as carbon and/or glass fiber.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Today, bio-composites can be composed of one or several of the following components:</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Natural fibers:&nbsp;</strong>These fibers can be obtained from animals, plants, or minerals. They do not require a carbonization process (the conversion of an organic substance into carbon or a carbon-containing residue).</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Biomass carbon fibers:</strong>&nbsp;Biomass (algae, cellulose, lignin) is used to create feedstock and raw materials for further transformation into fibers and resins.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Bio-resins:</strong>&nbsp;Resins are highly viscous substances that are converted into polymers (materials). Bio-resins are made of biological origin, derived mostly from plant oils, biomass, or bio-wastes.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">In aerospace, bio-composites could be applied in the following areas:</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Cabin and cargo:</strong>&nbsp;These applications require advanced properties relating to flammability, smoke density and toxicity (FST), and heat release.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Primary and secondary structures:</strong>&nbsp;These applications involve high structural loads and thus require improved mechanical performance and durability.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Auxiliary materials:</strong>&nbsp;These applications require functionality for non-flying materials or any means used for the production of composite components in industrial plants.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Raw materials in bio-composites</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Sugar cane waste</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Sugar cane waste, also known as bagasse, is a dry, pulpy material that remains after extracting juice from sugar cane stalks. Because sugar cane is widely available and a highly efficient converter of solar energy, it can yield large volumes of biomass.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Sugar cane waste is an excellent source of cellulose fibers, which can be used as filler in bio-composites. It can also be used in bio-based Furan resins, which are obtained by chemical conversion or bio-refinery. Furan bio-polymers, in combination with suitable natural or recycled fibers (such as recycled carbon fiber), could be used for aircraft interiors.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Water algae</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">From microscopic species to large seaweeds, water algae are simple photosynthetic organisms capable of binding CO<sub style="bottom: -0.25em; line-height: 0; font-size: 11.97px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;">2</sub>&nbsp;from the atmosphere and transferring it to biomass.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Water algae, like other biomass, could be used as a carbon feedstock to replicate the monomers used to produce today’s carbon fiber precursors or resins in standard composites. This approach could enable bio-composites to offer the same mechanical properties as existing composites for aircraft applications.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Basalt fibers</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Made of volcanic rock, basalt fibers are mainly found in the lunar maria on Earth’s moon. Non-hazardous with excellent shock and fire resistance, basalt fibers have similar mechanical properties to glass fibers, but with the advantage of a simpler manufacturing process due to their less-complex composition.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Fibers produced directly from lunar rocks could be used for a variety of purposes. This includes stabilizing the 3D-printed structure of the lunar station, generating thermal insulation, improving filter systems, and providing textiles for astronaut suits.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box;">Bamboo</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Lightweight, fast-growing and highly elastic, bamboo is a natural composite material composed of cellulose fibers embedded in a lignin matrix.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.96px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; word-spacing: 0px; white-space: normal; box-sizing: border-box; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Natural bamboo fibers combined with bio-based or standard resins could deliver many benefits. These include reducing environmental impact and improving mechanical performance.</p><p></p>