GKN Aerospace is in Paris with a clear message about new technology and the future - watch out for a "fundamental shift" in the way airframes are designed and made.

The UK-headquartered Tier 1 supplier is driving its business forward with a three-pronged common technology plan that means less polluting, less noise and greater efficiency throughout the aircraft life cycle, chief executive Marcus Bryson said.

He added that developments in composite structures, advanced metals and niche technologies "will help create a new generation of aircraft that we can manufacture more swiftly, efficiently and at lower cost than ever before".

In composites, GKN is working with key customer Airbus to develop high-speed, mass-production techniques for large wing components to satisfy the performance and build-rate requirements of aircraft ranging from the A350 to next-generation single-aisle. With Rolls-Royce, small structures are also getting composite attention, with a joint project to develop engine fan blades.

In metals, research in advanced aluminium and titanium alloys includes a recently formed joint venture with EADS in additive layer manufacturing - so-called 3D printing - a process already being used in Formula 1 motor racing and soon set to lighten Rolls-Royce fan blades.

GKN technology director Rich Oldfield sees "endless opportunity" for an industrial revolution in lightweight, low-waste, flexible manufacturing through ALM, although it is still in its early days. More broadly, he said: "The metallics side of our portfolio is really coming alive."

In niche technologies, composites and ALM promise exciting advances in in-built ice protection, intelligent coatings and acoustics.

Vice-president of business development Frank Bamford - who has worked alongside Bryson to transform GKN from a build-to-print components maker into a $2.3bn global Tier 1 partner to all key airframers, and is set to retire later this month after 35 years with GKN - said he believes this "quiet revolution" is marking a new age in manufacturing: "If I came back to one of our factories in five or 10 years I wouldn't recognise it."

Source: Flight Daily News

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