THE USE OF FIBRE REINFORCED THERMOPLASTICS FOR HELICOPTER PRIMARY STRUCTURES AND THEIR ENGINEERING SUBSTANTIATION

The introduction of advanced thermoplastic composite materials in the early 1980's offered materials with improved matrix dominated and similar fibre dominated properties compared to existing thermoset composite materials. Anticipated benefits included improved environmental, ballistic and impact tolerance. Reduced manufacturing cost were also envisaged for appropriate components. Westland have consequently selected the most promising materials and undertaken significant engineering substantiation in order to confirm these benefits and assess their suitability for aerospace applications. The focal point of the work has been the design, manufacture and test of a flight rated primary structure (horizontal stabiliser and fins for the Westland 30-300 aircraft). This component choice allowed the demonstration of component design and manufacturing technology applicable to other aircraft structures. Limited comparative work with regard to epoxy thermoset materials has also taken place.