Aerospace - Page 4

A research team, which includes researchers from Penn State, the University of Virginia and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with industry partners Solvay and Oshkosh, has found that adding small amounts of graphene to the production process of carbon fibers - which are typically expensive to make - both reduces the production cost and strengthens the fibers and so could one day lead to using these lightweight, high-strength materials to improve safety and reduce the cost of producing planes and cars.

For decades, carbon fibers have been a mainstay of airplane production. If created in the right way, these long strands of carbon-based atoms are lightweight, stiff and strong. "Even though carbon fibers have really nice features, they would make a car far more expensive" with the way carbon fibers are manufactured now, said Adri van Duin, professor of mechanical and chemical engineering, Penn State. "If you can get these properties easier to manufacture then you can make cars significantly lighter, lower the cost of them and make them safer."

ESA-backed researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and SCALE Nanotech in Estonia have demonstrated the laser-propulsion of graphene sails in microgravity.

As demonstrated first by JAXA's mission IKAROS (2010) and recently by The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 (2019), using light sails as propulsion system is among the most promising ideas to enable fast and affordable space trips. Not only sails do not require fuel to move, but they save its corresponding costly weight and that of its containing tanks.

It was recently reported that Rolls-Royce is to work with the University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and its partner Versarien on the use of graphene and other 2D materials used in wiring for next-generation aerospace engine systems.

The initial program of work will use the state-of-the-art chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment located within the GEIC.

A new graphene-based sensor that measures stress via cortisol in sweat could be used by NASA to gauge the anxiety levels of astronauts.

Developed by Caltech assistant professor of medical engineering, Wei Gao, the device features a plastic sheet etched with a laser to generate a 3D graphene structure with tiny pores in which sweat can collect. Those pores create a large amount of surface area in the sensor, which makes it sensitive enough to detect compounds in the sweat that are only present in very small amounts. Those tiny pores are also coupled with an antibody sensitive to cortisol, allowing the sensor to detect the compound.

Orbex, a UK-based private, low-cost orbital launch services company, has developed what it calls an "advanced, low carbon, high performance micro-launch" rocket called "Orbex Prime" and states that it already has a customer to fly on it.

Built with 3D-printed engines and a carbon fiber-and-graphene body, Orbex Prime will utilize renewable "bio-propane" as its fuel of choice. The two-stage rocket will be designed to carry up to 150 kilograms of payload, contained within a 1.3-meter fairing, into Sun Synchronous Orbit. Orbex even says its Prime rocket will be "80% reusable", although it is rather unclear how this would be executed.

The Graphene Flagship recently launched an Airbus-Backed Project for graphene-based thermoelectric ice protection systems. Now, Versarien announced that it has been selected to participate in that project.

The Project, which is categorized by the Graphene Flagship as a Spearhead, large-scale commercialization project, aims to develop graphene-based thermoelectric ice protection systems and to advance the technology readiness level of graphene in these systems.

The Graphene Flagship has announced the launch of eleven new "Spearhead Projects", each developed to take graphene-enabled prototypes to commercial applications. Now, the Graphene Flagship has committed 45 million Euro to invest in eleven commercialization projects led by key industrial partners in Europe such as Airbus, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, Lufthansa Technik, Siemens, and ABB. Notably, the project partners will also co-fund the projects with a further combined contribution of 47 million Euro, showing their interest in the development of graphene-enabled products.

The newly launched projects combine the results of the Graphene Flagship's innovative scientific research with the ambitions of commercial partners for marketable applications. This initiative will bring the number of companies involved in the Graphene Flagship to 78, which makes up nearly half of the whole consortium.

The Graphene Flagship has announced the GICE Spearhead Project - development of a graphene-based thermoelectric ice protection system, that will aim to advance the technology readiness of graphene in such applications.

If ice accumulates on the wings, propellers or other surfaces of an aircraft, control can be dangerously inhibited. Thermoelectric ice protection systems prevent this from happening, using an ultra-thin conductive coating layer to generate heat when current is applied. The GICE project will attempt to use graphene to improve existing technology for this application.

2D fab, together with SAAB and Blackwing Sweden, developed new graphene-enhanced components for the aviation industry that offer increased lightning strike protection and strength.

The project, called Multigraph, was launched in 2017 with the mission to create better components for the aviation industry. The aim was to use graphene’s multifunctional properties to increase the mechanical strength and electrical conductivity of the materials used, the latter reducing the amount of maintenance required due to lightning strikes.

Haydale has launched a range of graphene-enhanced prepreg materials for lightning-strike protection, utilizing functionalized graphene to improve the electrical conductivity.

The material has been developed in collaboration with Airbus UK, BAE Systems, GE Aviation and Element Materials Technology Warwick, within the NATEP-supported GraCELs project where the first iterations of materials were developed and subjected to lighting strike tests. The consortium is now looking to manufacture a demonstrator component using the materials developed to establish composite manufacturing protocols as a showcase part for commercial purposes.