Speaker
Description
Aerospace industries have high interest in masts, structural reinforcement of platforms, deployable structures and similar solutions that combine dimensional accuracy with robustness, foldability and lightness. Components that integrate aluminium and carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) are nice candidates due to their mechanical properties and low density. The use of versatile joints with advanced properties which bring the opportunity of being used in applications of a very different nature will mean comparative advantage and optimization of time and resources in the development of future ESA projects or missions.
European collaborative research project ADALFIC ("Advanced Aluminium Fittings in CFRP tubes") focuses on the design, analysis, manufacturing and testing of ultra-lightweight CFRP tubes with integrated aluminium end fittings. These aluminium end fittings are equipped with very small, minimum-mass, spike-head pins realized by cold-metal transfer (CMT) welding technology by Fronius.
Goals of the project are ultra-lightweight struts which are A) able to stand defined tension and compression loads under elevated (+160°C) as well as cryogenic (-160°C) temperatures and B) show a high dimensional stability in the same working regime.
This research work gives an overview of the design concept for representative test coupons made of a CFRP base tube and two integrated Aluminium end-fittings which are reinforced with an array of CMT-welded Aluminium pins. These are used for laboratory scale testing of structural and thermal stability. Results of structural tests under thermal influence will be presented. These underline that CMT-pin are a very flexible and potential means to realize structural & thermal robust joints at a minimum of introduced mass.
| Speaker Country | Austria |
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