creating the future for composite in uk: national composites centre

© National Composites Centre. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. NCC-TMP-038 v2

Presented by

September 2013 NCC Presentation MRO Europe

Tom Hitchings, Business Development Director

Creating the future for Composites in the UK

Opportunities for developing repair techniques at the NCC


….Will not give the answers of how to repair composite aircraft components

….Will not claim that NCC has the answers to the challenges of repairs to

composites

….But will inform you about a facility, of which you may not be aware, which

is full of specialist composites engineers from Industry and Academia who are

addressing these and many other challenges

This presentation…



The National Composites Centre (NCC):

• Launched as a result of the UK Composites Strategy, November 2009

• An open access, industrial scale, state-of-the-art, development facility

• Is industry led and hosted by University of Bristol

• The hub for the UK composites industry

• Part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre

Overview of the NCC




TRL 1 TRL 5 TRL 6 TRL 7 TRL 8 TRL 9 TRL 3 TRL 2 TRL 4

Research

Product

Basic & Applied Research

Technology Feasibility, Development & Demonstration

Technology Launch & Operations

Universities HVM Catapult Centres Industry

NCC Focus

Align Research with Industry needs

Technology to Industry

NCC Mission

To be the world leading centre of excellence for collaboration and innovation in composite technology

• Deliver world-class innovation in design and rapid manufacture of composites

• Validate design concepts and advanced manufacturing processes

• Develop prototypes & facilitate widespread industrial exploitation


Governance

Future Technology

Strategy

National Strategic Priorities

Future Capability Development

Industrial Priorities

Steering Board

Organisation

Technology

Director Operations

Director Operations Committee

Research Committee

OPERATIONS TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Chief Executive

Business Development

Director



NCC Provides

Open Access

Confidentiality

Cross Sector

Collaboration

• design and simulation • prototype manufacture • process optimisation • testing and inspection • manufacturing & test equipment • expert resources

Oil and Gas, Aerospace, Sporting Goods, Rail, Composite Materials, Medical, Automotive, Consumer Electrical, Construction, Small Aircraft and Marine sectors.

~120 Engineers and Technicians Typical Background: 80% Industrial, 20% Research



NCC Presentation MRO Europe

Facilities - Overview Currently 8,500m2 State-of-the-art building

• 5,500m2 workshop space

• Offices, meeting & teaching facilities

• Space for 200 Expert Resources

Equipped for

• Optimised-design, analysis & simulation

• Prototype and test piece manufacture

• Validation

Offering

• Open & restricted access

• Co-location of member equipment & staff

Extension underway to increase size to 17,000 m2

to increase capacity to 350 engineers and enhanced

learning, manufacturing and assembly areas

September 2013



NCC - Facilities & Key Equipment

September 2013


Membership & Access


Tier 1 Member • Aimed at larger companies • Define Core Programme & use IP • Credit to spend in the Centre • Individual membership of Board

and Committees • Influence on NCC & beyond • Access to seats & rooms Minimum Spend: £300k* per annum

Tier 2 Member • Aimed at medium sized companies • Credit to spend in the Centre • Collective membership of Board

and Committees • Collaboration with Industry &

Academia • Access to seat & rooms Minimum Spend: £30k* per annum

Associate Member • Organisations who provide

equipment/services in lieu of cash

• Individually customised • Working with other Members Cost: £ Fair value per annum

General Access • Open to any size company • Pay per use using published rates • Escorted access to the NCC • Can be used towards Membership

minimum spend criteria.

* 2011/12 values; escalation clauses apply

September 2013



NCC Current Membership

Mar 2013 NCC Presentation Mar 2013


Who are members of the HVM Catapult?

Billet forging; sheet forming; precision forging

Machining; materials and component testing; hybrid and metallic composites, assembly

Printable electronics; chemical processing;

biotechnology

Automation and tooling; fabrication, joining and assembly;

additive and net shape, process modelling

Composites design and manufacture

Fabrication of civil nuclear components

Lightweight product system optimisation; energy storage and management; digital verification and validation



• Wings, winglets, fuselages etc. are being designed and manufactured in composites now.

• They are being designed to give optimum performance • Many parts are being manufactured in autoclaves

• Actual layups and materials are not consistent or finalised yet • Their design is not being compromised to make repair easy!


Some MRO challenges in composites

GKN Proprietary

This utilises a laser to ablate composite materials for scarf repair preparations.

Laser Ablation Repair Preparation

Technology Description

Applications&

Benefits

Target application are CFRP structures.

Benefits include:

• Automation of a time consuming manual process

• Higher accuracy depth control tolerances‘

• Continuous undamaged fibre on bonding surface

• Contact free material removal

Continuous development with current prototype equipment

Refine the process parameters in order to reduce time and cost

Develop the next phase of equipment to enable a versatile repair cell

Continue to work towards OEM qualification

Next Steps

GKN Proprietary

Hand ablated repair preparation

Machine ablated repair preparation


MRO organisations would benefit from working alongside the OEM’s as they design and develop their innovative new solutions..

Summary


• Gain an understanding of the key criteria for structural integrity • Work with the OEM’s to influence design details at an early stage to

ensure that MRO is achievable • Learn how to develop techniques for repair on early parts • Get up the learning curve before the parts hit the hanger or runway ….By getting engaged at the NCC


© National Composites Centre (NCC). All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary document. This document and all information contained herein is the sole property of NCC. No intellectual property rights are granted by the delivery of this document or the disclosure of its content. This document shall not be reproduced or disclosed to a third party without the express written consent of NCC. This document and its content shall not be used for any purpose other than that for which it is supplied. The statements made herein do not constitute an offer. They are based on the mentioned assumptions and are expressed in good faith.


www.nccuk.com 0117 3707 600

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