S. Van der Veen, Alcan Aerospace, Issoire, France; H. Ribes, Alcan Aerospace Transportation and Industry, Issoire Cedex, France; Y. Marchal, SONACA, Gosselies, Belgium

Summary:

The past years have shown a strong shift toward optimisation in the range of regional aircraft on the market. Highly specialised aircraft for 50 or fewer, 70 - 90 and 110-130 passengers are now available or will be in the years to come. Owing to the smaller size of the airframes and the specific mission of the regional aircraft, the material property requirements in this part of the industry are not always the same as those for large commercial transports. The main differences that potentially influence the choice of materials will be highlighted. Against this background, Alcan Aerospace's current offer fuselage materials will be presented. Apart from optimised materials, regional aircraft manufacturers are also looking to new and improved manufacturing techniques to help them improve the cost and performance of their aircraft. For the fuselage, friction stir welding and laser beam welding are promising new joining technologies. Each brings its own set of requirements regarding behaviour of the material during welding, and its properties after. An overview will be given. In the field of forming, new ideas on the manufacturing of highly curved leading edges for regional aircraft will be presented. Finally, new results will be shared on the most cost-effective structure for regional jets: integrally machined parts made from Low Residual Stress plate.