NCC leads composites manufacturing phase of eXtra wing demonstrator

The National Composites Centre (Bristol, U.K.), part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, has released a case study detailing its successful delivery of the design and manufacture of vital one-off flying parts to facilitate U.K. capability toward accelerating new technologies to decarbonize the aviation industry. The wing demonstrators are in support of Airbus’ (Toulouse, France) eXtra Performance Wing project to optimize wing aerodynamics and aircraft performance through hinged wingtips inspired by the biomimicry of seabirds.

Enhancing aerodynamics requires the eXtra performance wing to be longer, thinner and lighter than the standard wing, causing it to be more flexible, and more susceptible to turbulence. The NCC’s support was sought to design and manufacture the key structural elements for a 6-meter section of the wing to relevant aerospace standards.

With part funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI, Cranfield, U.K.), the structural design phase of the demonstrator wing part was led by Airbus in a close partnership with specialists from Expleo (Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France), the University of Bristol, and the NCC. A team of more than 500 NCC engineering specialists led the composites manufacturing phase. The scope of the 18-month project included the design and fabrication of tooling suitable for the manufacture of 28 one-off flying parts.

Notably, the project will help the NCC lead advancements in industrial design and the adoption of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies particularly in the pursuit of delivering innovation to advance net zero flight. It also expands the organization’s manufacturing testbed’s end-to-end engineering services for aerospace customers keen to trial next-generation process innovations.

“The Airbus and NCC teams have collaborated on the design and industrialization of primary structure composite components for the eXtra demonstrator wings,” says Sarabpal Bhatia, eXtra Performance Wing demonstrator – wing delivery team leader for Airbus Operations Ltd. “These manufactured high-aspect ratio wing components have been integrated into the wing assembly in Filton, which are targeted to be installed on the flying demonstrator aircraft next year [2025] in France.”

Airbus’ eXtra Performance Wing will use a Cessna Citation VII to flight test new systems including hinged wingtips and an adaptable trailing edge which can be used to modify the wing shape, mimicking a bird’s ability to adapt to flight conditions. This could reduce the maximum loads on the wing, enabling the use of higher aspect ratios and unlocking their potential fuel burn benefits.