The trail-blazing Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (ATEP) run by the Midlands Aerospace Alliance (hall 1, stand B14) in the UK's traditional manufacturing heartland is on course to deliver substantial benefits to the aerospace and defence industries.
Monitoring by the alliance shows the five projects supported by funding under the first phase of the programme produced good results and demonstrated the benefits of teaming small and medium-sized enterprises with research bodies and end-users in highly focused problem solving.
These results include an actuator gearbox housing in composite materials that, after rigorous testing by Goodrich Actuation Systems, has been welcomed into the Next Generation Composites Wing Programme led by Airbus.
Among other successes is a high-temperature heat exchanger developed by a group led by HS Marston Aerospace, part of the Hamilton Sunstrand group. On the back of this innovation, HS Marston has become one of 10 partners on the Environmentally Friendly Programme launched by Rolls-Royce to develop greener engine technology for the future.
The first phase of ATEP was launched in 2006 with grants totalling £390,000 ($600,000).
The second phase, now under way, supports six projects with grant funding totalling £750,000. "These projects are on course to deliver some fascinating outcomes for incorporation on future aircraft," says Bridget Day, the aerospace alliance's innovation and technology manager.
The programme is run by the alliance to encourage the development and exploitation of new technologies by companies operating in the West Midlands' aerospace and defence supply chains. ATEP is part-funded by the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund, and is helping larger manufacturers work in partnership with SMEs and leading universities to develop new technologies that address emerging market requirements for future aircraft programmes.
A similar programme, the aerospace innovation support programme (AeISP), is run by the alliance in the East Midlands with funding from the East Midlands Transport iNet, East Midlands Development Agency and European Regional Development Fund. It has had notable success with fostering collaboration between academic and business worlds through new "technology nodes".
AeISP manager Stan Payne says: "A university with expertise in a specific technology acts as the node for a network of businesses with a common interest in that particular technology. Businesses provide the university with expertise and advice on industry trends, and gain access to research opportunities of which they might not otherwise have been aware."
However, the ATEP programme is showing the way. The six second-phase projects cover a wide swathe of technology.
In the case of Aerospring, three SMEs - including two regional competitors - have been brought together with the Institute of Spring Technology to manufacture springs in novel materials such as titanium and various nickel alloys. Data gathered will enable accurate fatigue predictions for springs produced from any of the materials covered.
Another project, tagged Aircraft Tyres Finite Element Modelling, "is a good example of the innovative results that can be achieved with close industrial co-operation," says Day. Airbus, the customer, regularly provides input to Dunlop and the research team on the required direction for the finite element modelling work and its future directions, enhancing the value of the collaborative effort. So far, modelling has been validated by work on an existing tyre and is set to move on to predictions for new tyres in future aircraft programmes.
HS Marston is building on developments in diffusion bonding carried out under an ATEP 1 grant to model a novel surface cooler to increase the effectiveness of engine thermal management in the Technology Advancement of Surface Coolers project.
To date a test rig has been built and commissioned and sample test results correlated with computer-generated models. Working with Rolls-Royce as customer ensures that test data is truly representative.
Midlands-based Indestructible Paint leads a project whose objective is removing the hazardous elements from protective engine-surface coatings. All funded partners in the Chrome-free Ipcote project are SMEs and are learning new technology development capabilities and project management skills as the project develops with the technical support of ceramics institute Ceram.
As well as finding a substitute for the hexavalent chrome in current Ipcote coatings, the project team will require data to support the customer accreditation process and the many end-user accreditations. Team members are on the national committee overseeing Reach, the European regulations on use of chemicals, and are keeping abreast of possible new hazards that may affect the industry.
"On the Rach committee list of work needed, the chrome-free Ipcote project is the only one progressing so well, due to ATEP funding, so we are getting national recognition for this type of managed technology development project," says Day.
In Endurance Braking - a project with wide application in aerospace - SME James Kent and Meggitt Braking have been sharing knowledge to try and find an optimum material solution for the friction required at high temperatures. Thermal modelling has started and is being correlated to early test data on new carbon test pieces.
Meanwhile, an Aeromet-led project to develop a novel aluminium alloy A20X with considerable increases in strength characteristics has advanced to the successful casting of a 3,000kg (6,600lb) batch of the alloy using production continuous casting equipment. Product demonstrator trials have begun following chemical, metallographic analysis and mechanical testing of this latest ingot.
Simulation modelling of the casting process is also under way, while structural analysis and machining trials will test the extremes of the alloy capability.
West Midlands companies will have a three-year exclusive window of opportunity to exploit technology developed under ATEP 2 as an added benefit of the programme.
Source: Flight Daily News
