Resin Transfer Molding Process Used For the First Time in Large Aircraft Structural Parts

 

 

 

Airbus has begun production of resin transfer moulded spoilers for the A320neo family, the first time the process has been used for a large aircraft structural component.

 

The resin transfer moulding process involves fixing dry fibres in a mould before injecting resin, a process that produces consistently accurate products within hundredths of a millimetre. A Scottish factory in Prestwick, involved in the project, has produced the first batch of composite spoilers using the resin transfer moulding process with Spirit Aerosystems. Conventional production methods typically utilise prepregs and autoclaves, but Airbus considers this approach “expensive and time-consuming”. Airbus said the spoilers, initially designed for the A320neo, will be certified in the coming weeks and trial-fitted at its wing plant in Broughton, UK.