Worldwide legislative changes expected to spark industry rethink on avionics production processes
Avionics manufacturers face having to develop new production processes to cope with a global industry shift to lead-free components and solder.
Lead-free solder requires higher process temperatures to work, which has implications for component and circuit-board choices. The move to lead-free electronics is being driven by worldwide legislation. Electronics that use lead are being outlawed because it is feared the toxic metal will leak into the environment from waste dumps.
To cope with the legislation, industry standards bodies are discussing the practicalities of the change, which must begin by July 2006. This is when EU law comes into effect and is being treated by the industry as a global deadline.
"Before then, the industry is trying to answer questions like, what solder alloys do they use after 2006?" says Roger Goldberg, executive secretary of the Avionics Maintenance Conference standards body.
The maintenance challenge the change represents to industry is the need to track every avionics box's components. With leaded electronic avionics still in service but being repaired beyond 2006 with lead-free components and solder, airlines will have to track which type of components each aircraft's avionics boxes contain.
However, lead-free avionics boxes are available. Matsushita is already shipping lead-free products because Japan is ahead of the EU with its lead free legislation. According to Goldberg, the Airbus A380 and Boeing 7E7 are likely to use lead-free and leaded avionics because lead-free alternative products may not be available in time.
ROB COPPINGER / LONDON
Source: Flight International
