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New RTM'd carbon composite center hinge fitting withstands 20-ton air load in commercial jet spoiler assembly.
Source: AirbusDuring landings, spoilers (on wing top, forward of the downward-extended flaps) are hinged upward to a maximum 50° angle to assist
with braking.
Source: FACCMetal bushings and bearings are installed in the fitting lugs.
Source: FACCThe original metal center hinge fitting (top left) was heavy, produced out-of-house with unacceptable lead-time, and manually joined to
the spoiler assembly with metal fasteners (top right). The composite hinge fitting (bottom left) is RTM'd from a preform fabricated by Cytec, and then
layed up and cocured with the composite spoiler assembly in an autoclave (results at bottom right).
Source: CytecCenter hinge fitting production begins with the weaving of PRIFORM fabric, in which 6K carbon fiber and spun thermoplastic yarn are
alternated in both the warp and the fill of the fabric weave.
Source: FACCCycom 977-2 toughened epoxy prepreg is layed up in an open mold to build the spoiler's outer skin (composite top assembly). The
skin is covered with one layer of Cytec's FM300 adhesive film (green material in the photo, marked for center hinge fitting positioning).
Source: FACCThe fitting and spoiler are cocured in an autoclave, then demolded and the hinge lugs are precision machined (in photo) to tolerance.
Source: CytecThe hinge fitting is molded via resin transfer molding (RTM). Low-viscosity Cycom 977-20 epoxy resin (without toughener) is injected
into the PRIFORM preform. Under heat, the thermoplastic yarn in the PRIFORM fabric melts and disperses into the epoxy to become the toughening
agent in the matrix. The cured part is shown, ready for assembly with spoiler.
Source: FACCThe net shape cocured structure gets a finish coat of polyurethane coating before shipment to Airbus.
Source: FACCThe pre-manufactured center hinge fitting is positioned over the upper skin/adhesive film. Honeycomb core and the bottom skin
prepreg plies are added, encapsulating the fitting.
Source: CytecComponents of the 3-D preform are built up from the PRIFORM fabric (a/b) and joined to form the final four-lug center hinge fitting
configuration (c).
Source: CytecFACC's new composite spoiler/ center hinge fitting assemblies for Airbus 330-300 and Airbus 340-500/600 aircraft save significant
production time and expense.
Composite performance
The composite spoiler assembly is built in three phases: 1) RTM manufacture of the center hinge fitting; 2)
prepreg construction of the spoiler itself; and 3) autoclave cocure of the spoiler and the center hinge fitting.
Cytec manufactures the hinge preform, spinning the thermoplastic toughening polymer into filaments and then
weaving them with 6K carbon fibers from Toho Tenax Japan (Mishima, Japan) to form a 370 g/m² areal weight
5-harness satin fabric. The fabric is woven at Cytec's Greenville, Texas facility and then shipped to the
company's plant in Wrexham, U.K., where it is hot-formed into the three-dimensional near-net preform at a low
temperature that softens the soluble fibers but does not permit them to flow into the fabric. The process is
similar to plastic thermoforming; the heated PRIFORM preform is shaped over metal tooling designed and
manufactured by Cytec, which closely approximates the contours and thickness of the finished part.
Cytec ships the finished preform to Kuvag GesmbH Engineered Products Group (Neumarkt, Austria), an FACC
subcontractor, for RTM processing. Kuvag loads the preform into a matched steel mold primed with Chemlease
4190 (Chem-Trend, Howell, Mich.) and injects low-viscosity Cycom 977-20 resin at an initial temperature too
low to dissolve the toughening fibers (between 140°F/60°C and 194°F/90°C). This ensures that the material
won't be carried away with the flow front before the resin exit port is closed. As heat increases to 284°F/140°C,
the fibers dissolve quickly, and the toughener diffuses into the epoxy before the part cures at about
355°F/180°C.
Finished hinge fittings are shipped to FACC, where they are incorporated into the spoiler's carbon composites
sandwich construction. The spoiler assembly is layed up in a concave tool primed with Frekote water-based
mold release from Henkel Corp. (Madison Hts., Mich.). The spoiler's prepreg skins are made from the standard
toughened version of Cytec's Cycom 977-2 combined with Toho's HTA carbon fibers woven in a 2x2 twill (2x2
twill consists of two warp yarns woven over and under two fill yarns, making a more pliable fabric than plain-
weave fabrics, where each warp yarn is woven over each fill yarn). The upper and lower skins enclose a Nomex
honeycomb core between them. Produced by Hexcel (Dublin, Calif.), Nomex is supplied to FACC by Euro-
Composites (Echternach, Luxembourg and Elkwood, Va.).
The sandwich encapsulates the RTM'd center hinge fitting. Outer skin prepreg plies are layed up first. Then the
RTM fitting is cobonded with prepreg plies to form a front spar assembly, which is built into a composite top
assembly. The fitting, honeycomb core and inner skin plies are added in that order. The assembly is then
cocured in the autoclave at 350°F/177°C.
After demolding, the part is precision machined to remove flash and detail its contour and then drilled for
attachment of edge fittings. (Since they see only minimal loads and are less expensive than RTM'd parts, the
edge fittings are standard aluminum sheet metal lugs.)
Steel bushings and bearings are installed in the center hinge fitting lugs and, as the final step, the entire
assembly is sealed with a polyurethane coating produced by PRC-DeSoto International (Glendale, Calif.) before
the spoiler is shipped to Airbus for aircraft assembly.
Airbus installs the spoiler forward of the flap by sliding a bolt through the bearings on the lugs and connecting
the spoiler to the actuator, which raises and lowers the movement of the spoiler body.