Product category:
Mould, Die and Tool Making Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Brookhouse Holdings | Subject: Composites components
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 October 2006
Composites components for Airbus A400M
An expert, international team has designed, prototyped, and successfully tested a composite fuel tank access cover (FTAC) for the new Airbus A400M military aircraft.
An expert, international team, assembled and project managed by Brookhouse, of Darwen, has designed, prototyped, and successfully tested a composite fuel tank access cover (FTAC) for the new Airbus A400M military aircraft and is soon to start rate manufacture The various members of the team have brought to the project, skills in composites components design, materials technology, process tooling and composites manufacture, to ensure that the innovative finished product totally complies with the Airbus specification, especially in terms of its light weight, its damage resistance and cost-effectiveness
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 Sep 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Two New Correa Machining Centres For Brookhouse
Two further Correa CNC machining centres have been ordered by Brookhouse Holdings plc, of Darwen to meet the increasing demand for precision tooling for the civil and military aerospace, automotive an
Brookhouse Carries Out On Site Repair
Brookhouse Composites, of Darwen, has recently carried out an on-site repair of damage to an Agusta Helicopter using a portable Heatcon composites repair system.
Brookhouse has itself worked closely with Airbus and BAE Systems for many years on projects from the Canberra bomber to the JSF and on various aircraft within the Airbus series.
However, in order to win the contract for the design and manufacture of the Fuel Tank Access Cover for the next generation of composite wings for the A400M, the Darwen company brought together a team comprising Sener, a Spanish company, who have an expertise in aeronautical design composites structures, Cytec, a US-based carbon fibre company, and Degussa, who manufacture a leading brand of core material for composite structures.
This team then designed, built and tested prototype models prior to the contract award to demonstrate that they had in principle a design that that could fulfil the stringent A400M design requirements.
Further reading
Training jet speed brakes modified and built
Brookhouse Aerospace, of Tameside, Manchester, is currently building the modified speed brakes which will be retrofitted to all the T45 Goshawk trainers in service with the US Navy.
5-axis CNC routing and trimming machine
A new 5-axis CNC routing and trimming machine has been installed at Brookhouse to further improve the UK's largest independent composites assembly company's finishing expertise and capabilities.
All pre-production tooling required to support this task was manufactured by Brookhouse Tooling.
The qualification programme is now well advanced with the delivery of the production Fuel Tank Accces Covers scheduled to be in the last quarter of this year, in line with the schedule requirements.
The effective handling and efficient completion of this exciting project is a demonstration of Brookhouse's ability to offer a comprehensive, design/ make packaged composite product.
Acting as overall project manager, Brookhouse can supply aerospace companies with the capability to take responsibility and assume the risk for complete packages of composites development and manufacture work.
Working with global partners, it can develop the materials and techniques to design, manufacture and test prototype composite components and it can then design and manufacture the required production tooling before producing the finished components in-house.
As a result, Brookhouse is ideally placed to help aircraft manufacturers meet the challenges and opportunities afforded by composites components and structures.
• Brookhouse Holdings: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
