SAE and NCAMP to develop aerospace material and process standards

SAE International (Warrendale, Pa., U.S.) and the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP) of Wichita State University (WSU, Wichita, Kan., U.S.) have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of globally harmonized aerospace material and process specifications for advanced materials in the aerospace and air transport industries.

“SAE International is pleased to partner with NCAMP on the development of aerospace material and process specifications for advanced materials for new design as well as repair,” says David Alexander, director of aerospace standards for SAE International. The agreement encompasses material and process specifications for composites, which are developed by the SAE AMS P-17, Polymer Matrix Composites Committee and non-metal additive manufacturing, which are developed by the SAE AMS-AM Nonmetals Committee.

Alexander acknowledged the power of this agreement, aligning the work of NCAMP with that of SAE’s auditing body, the Performance Review Institute (PRI). PRI manages the Nadcap accreditation program for the aerospace and defense industries. “By utilizing industry consensus SAE Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS) with associated PRI Qualified Products Lists (QPLs), the aerospace industry benefits from the availability of pedigreed materials which meet the requirements of aviation regulations pertaining to material qualification and control,” Alexander adds.

“NCAMP’s continued partnership with SAE will benefit industry users by providing multiple options for specifications, all linked to a public NCAMP material property qualification database,” says John Tomblin, NCAMP director and WSU vice president for research and technology transfer. “By continuing to implement the model set in place with composites in 2010, NCAMP databases will benefit industry worldwide as both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) accept the values developed through the NCAMP process.”

The aerospace industry, thus, will be able to utilize either NCAMP Material Specifications or SAE Aerospace Material Specifications, depending upon which specification meet their needs.

SAE International’s Aerospace Standards repository includes nearly 8,500 documents. Its 350 committees are comprised of 10,000 experts from 56 countries. They represent industry (airframers, suppliers, operators, MROs), regulatory authorities, military agencies, researchers, and consultants. Document development serves the full spectrum of aerospace businesses in both the commercial and military sectors thereby meeting the engineering, advanced technology, safety, regulatory, and defense needs of a world market.

NCAMP works with the FAA, as well as other government and industry partners to qualify advanced material systems and populate a shared materials database that can be viewed publicly. NCAMP provides the nation’s commercial and military aviation industry with a center for the validation and quality assurance of composites and advanced materials through data-sharing among multiple users, statistical continuity and reduced testing. NCAMP works closely with the Composite Materials Handbook-17 (CMH-17) to approve advanced material specification and design values. NCAMP is part of the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University and stemmed from NASA's Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiment (AGATE).