Leonardo will produce two fuselages in composite material for the turboprop demonstrator, as part of the Clean Sky 2 program which aims at studying a future aircraft for regional transport. The goal is to reduce mass and manufacturing costs through automation.
Leonardo nears the end of the design’s stage of a couple of demonstrators with composite fuselage for a future aircraft as part of the green regional aircraft workflow for the EU’s Clean Sky 2 program.
The project consists in two full-scale structures representing the front part of the fuselage section of a regional turboprop, just behind the cockpit. The automation of the production and the way the individual components can be integrated in the wider assemblage are central elements of the project which aims at reducing composite structures costs. Those are currently more expensive to produce than the conventional cells in aluminium alloy.
The fuselages are designed to value the utilisation of composite materials for the structure, reducing both manufacturing costs and mass, thus also reducing the environmental impact during the whole life cycle of the aircraft.
A demonstrator will be used to analyse fatigue and static tests while the other one will be used to value how the cutting-edge technologies operated can affect passengers’ confort and safety. The project will also value the integration of sensors within the composite structure to control its health state and facilitate the predictive maintenance of the cell.
Leonardo’s aircraft division will produce the two demonstrators. The extensive design stage should end later this year, before the production. The preliminary design works started in 2018.