Thermoplastic components successfully flight tested on Bell V-280 Valor
The components were manufactured for Bell by GKN Aerospace for the V-280 Valor tiltrotor.
![](https://d2n4wb9orp1vta.cloudfront.net/cms/brand/CW/2020-CW/0620-cw-news-bellv280-valor1.jpg;maxWidth=720)
Source | GKN Aerospace
GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.) reported on June 3 that its thermoplastic components, delivered to aerospace manufacturer Bell Flight (Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.) in 2019, were successfully flight-tested on Bell’s V-280 Valor military aircraft. The newly installed components have now flown more than 12 hours on V-280 test flights.
The tiltrotor is one of the first military aircraft flying with thermoplastic technology, including a pair of induction-welded, thermoplastic ruddervators— control surfaces for V-tail configuration aircraft — and two compression-molded, thermoplastic access panels, which were developed in a Dutch TPC-Cycle research program led by Saxion University (Enschede, Netherlands). The access panels are manufactured from recycled thermoplastic waste material. (Read “Recycled thermoplastic composites for production”.)
As a partner in Bell’s Team Valor, GKN Aerospace also designed and manufactured the complete thermoset composite V-Tail for the aircraft, which has significantly reduced weight, cost, production time and parts count. Further, the successful flight testing suggests the application of thermoplastics on a military platform could leave potential for wider applications in the defense market.
With Bell V-280 Valor competing for selection as the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), GKN will continue to optimize the aircraft’s V-Tail design to meet FLRAA’s requirements.
Related Content
-
Nine factors to consider when designing composites cure tooling
Gary Bond discusses the common pitfalls and compromises when designing good cure tooling and their holistic significance for a robust composite production process.
-
One-shot manufacture of 3D knitted hybrid thermoplastic composite structures
MAPICC 3D project replaces steel seat support in heavy-duty vehicle with a 3D knitted composite made from thermoplastic hybrid yarns comprising the matrix and reinforcing components.
-
3D-printed CFRP tools for serial production of composite landing flaps
GKN Aerospace Munich and CEAD develop printed tooling with short and continuous fiber that reduces cost and increases sustainability for composites production.