Daher & List Combine Efforts To Weld Thermoplastic Composites

French Aircraft manufacturer, Daher, perhaps best known to General Aviation for its TBM line-up of turboprop single engine airplanes has teamed up with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) to develop welding technology for use in aircraft assembly which utilize thermoplastic composites.

Daher and LIST signed a three-year bilateral agreement at the JEC World Trade Show in Paris earlier today, where they hope to employ infrared welding technology on thick/large dimension parts, with an eye towards high reproducibility and quality. Through this deal, Daher and KVE Composites (who they hope to expand the welding solutions for their TPCs, where the latter brings its induction welding expertise in aerospace applications. In addition, Daher and LIST demonstrate that research-based institutions can successfully partner with industry to combine capabilities, and solve challenges without compromising safety.

For some time now, thermoplastic composites (TPC’s) have gained a following in general manufacturing over the years, and also found a home in the automotive and aerospace industries due to their high strength, light weight, and relative imperviousness to the destructive elements of nature. Furthermore, the benefits offered by the weldability of TPCs, coupled with accelerated processing times has the potential to play a larger role in commercial aircraft manufacture.

The three-day JEC World Tradeshow is the place to be for those in the composite industry or interested in the developments and potential applicability of the technology to a wide range of use cases whether that be aerospace, marine, general construction, automotive, or other sectors.

FMI: https://www.daher.com/en, https://list.lu, https://kve.nl, https://jec.world.events