Composites Facing Production Pinch | Aviation International News

Composites Facing Production Pinch

Hexcel striving to solve manufacturing lead time, cost challenges for higher narrowbody outputs

Compared with current twin-aisle aircraft such as the Airbus A350, the use of carbon fiber in future single-aisle designs would require faster lead times for companies such as Hexcel.

By Thierry Dubois • Writer

March 31, 2016

Composites material supplier Hexcel is looking for ways to overcome what it sees as a production-capacity challenge from around 2025 if the trend toward more composite materials in airframes continues on its current pace. Should next-generation narrowbodies consist of more than 50 percent carbon-fiber reinforced and other plastics, as in the most recent widebodies from Boeing and Airbus, the industry will face daunting tasks in cutting manufacturing lead times and costs, said Paul Mackenzie, Hexcel’s v-p for research and technology, at the A-Star Aerospace Technology Leadership forum last month in Singapore.

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