ACAP - An Integrated Approach to Composites Manufacture 413

The Advanced Composite Airframe Program (ACAP) was intended to be a dramatic and significant step forward in the application of composite materials. These materials are finding increased use due to their high specific strength and weight ratioes. They can be five times stronger than steel at on-third the weight. The ACAP set specific goals in weight and cost savings which were to be checked by actual figures from manufacturing of a prototype. This prototype is now complete and undergoing flight testing to demonstrate its performance (Figure 1). The figures are in and they prove out the ACAP. The design, tooling and manufacturing processes used on ACAP, which resulted in a prototype that exceeds required goals are described in this paper. A number of specific manufacturing features are addressed; such as the producibility aspects considered for the airframe design, the tooling philosophy and approach used, the fabrication methods that make up the manufacturing plan and, most importantly, the results on the cost savings.