As part of Boeing’s push toward high-rate composite manufacturing technology for future commercial and defense projects, the company is partnering with the University of Sheffield on a British government-backed advanced manufacturing production research project.
The Isothermic High-Rate Sustainable Structures (IHSS) effort is funded through the UK Aerospace Technology Institute program and will focus on automated dry fiber and resin infusion advanced manufacturing methods.
Boeing will provide project oversight, leadership and technical support for IHSS which will be housed in a new £50 million ($65 million) facility dubbed Compass (Composites at Speed and Scale). The site will form part of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)—a machining and materials research campus which was established in collaboration with Boeing in 2001.
Other program partners include Spirit AeroSystems, which will contribute advanced stringer preform fabrication and inspection technologies and conduct part inspections and factory modeling from its facility in Prestwick. Dorset-based Loop Technology will provide support for automated composite handling, assembly, and inspection.
The project will target high manufacturing rates and increased production efficiency and is aligned with Boeing’s involvement in other research efforts such as NASA’s HiCAM (high-rate composite aircraft manufacturing) project. HiCAM’s production concepts center on next-generation thermosets, as well as resin-infused and thermoplastic composites, and are aimed at technologies that will enable a four to six times production rate increase without ramping up costs.
Speaking to Aviation Daily, Maria Laine, president of Boeing for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, says, “if we can crack the code on how to do this, it will be revolutionary.” New manufacturing technology resulting from the IHSS project will also benefit UK-based Boeing production, she adds. “That would absolutely be the intention and the probability of course when you’ve got the partners that have the capability and are already a part of the research and development team that we’re working in lockstep with. That would be the logical evolution.”
—With additional reporting from Steve Trimble and Tony Osborne
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