The use of advanced composite structures is continuously increasing in the modern aerospace industry. Military aircraft were the first to take advantage of the weight saving potential of composites. The most recent civil aircraft mirror this trend, with much of their major structure exploiting composites. The use of all-composite structures for unmanned vehicles is routine nowadays.
While composites present many advantages relative to conventional metallic structures, in terms of weight, stiffness, fatigue behavior and corrosion resistance, they also suffer from many limitations, especially their labour intensive manufacturing methods, which result in high recurring cost.
The lecture will focus on the challenges of implementing composites in aeronautical structures, and will present actual applications in IAI different products, with the reasoning behind the selection of their structural concept and manufacturing technology.
