Structures

Various universities and aerospace companies are involved in the development of high-performance composite structures for next-generation revolutionary designs meant for aerospace applications. Boeing Commercial Airplanes is working with partners Alenia Aeronautica, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Vought Aircraft to develop composite fuselage primary structures for the new 7E7 Dreamliner. Composite structure is a great substitute for metals in aircraft construction when high strength-to-weight and/or stiffness-to-weight ratios are required, and when weights is of major concern. University of Michigan under a program funded by NASA, is involved in studying metallic foam core sandwich panels for use in hot structures.