Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Techniques in Aviation

The aviation industry is constantly looking to improve its efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint while meeting the growing demand for air travel. The aviation industry intends to save energy by using cutting-edge materials like Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP), graphene, and additive manufacturing processes. These innovative materials and production methods offer great promise for enhancing the sustainability of air travel by reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. On the other hand, achieving optimal aircraft operation can be a complex process, but it all comes down to one thing: ratios. The thrust-to-weight, buy-to-weight, and strength-to-weight ratios are carefully considered to ensure energy saving and flight safety. This chapter provides information about the positive impact of CFRP, graphene materials, and additive manufacturing on the thrust-to-weight ratio, buy-to-weight ratio, and strength-to-weight ratio and how they can contribute to a greener aviation industry.

The aviation industry is currently confronted with the challenge of climate change and the need to address sustainability issues related to the depletion of fossil fuel resources used to produce composite materials. At present, notable advancements have been made towards the attainment of the carbon emissions reduction goal through the improvement of aircraft design using sustainable green composite materials, which leads to a subsequent decrease in fuel consumption. Various high-strength natural fibres and bioresins have undergone tests and evaluations as the aviation industry seeks for more sustainable and eco-friendly materials. This chapter reviews the biocomposite materials which is feasible for aircraft applications. In addition, hybrid fibre reinforcement in biocomposites and fibre orientations were also discussed. The use of biocomposites in aircraft is now encountering numerous challenges and barriers, primarily stemming from the limitations imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on materials used in aircraft. These restrictions necessitate compliance with established guidelines and standards.

The growth in aerospace operations has sparked an interest in the development of innovative structures and materials. With the demand for an increased sustainable outlook, the creation of more efficient, lightweight structures is necessary for future operations. Modern additive manufacturing (AM) technology provides the unique ability to fabricate highly optimised and complex structures, presenting several benefits that contribute towards a more sustainable sector. This chapter outlines the importance of modern AM technology as a pathway for more efficient aerospace structures and flags the novel opportunity it presents for future developments. The primary advantages of AM towards efficient structures are analysed, signifying the importance of weight reduction and reduced material processing and energy requirements. The notion of localised manufacturing with a shortened supply chain and greater production flexibility achievable is also outlined. The current challenges that inhibit the widespread adoption of AM in the aerospace industry are presented, focusing on the difficulties of quality assurances and production limitations. Prospective capabilities of this technology, including in-space manufacturing and in situ resource utilisation, are further presented to demonstrate the potential of AM for a more sustainable and efficient sector.

This chapter describes the case studies in the manufacturing process as examples of the application of intelligent aircraft production system that has been established based on the development of artificial intelligence technology.

Artificial intelligence was established so that optimized welding condition is conducted in welding process for the aircraft parts. The inspection photo image of the welded position was digitized for improving the data accuracy. In these establishing and digitized process, machine learning was developed and applied. In addition, the optimization of production systems and schedule through the monitoring and calculation of future layouts of production machines using simulation technology are described as the examples of the various digital production systemization efforts. Finally, the engineering strategy and artificial intelligence technologies for advanced digital smart factory in the aircraft industry are summarized.

Over the past decades, climate change has remained one of the major global challenges in the world. In the aviation and aerospace industry, the environmental sustainable development strategies towards carbon-neutral mainly focus on efficiency and demand measures, sustainable fuels, renewable energies, and removal and carbon offsetting. The carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions footprint of an aircraft is primarily determined by energy and fuel efficiency. The advanced engine control systems of an aircraft can optimise the engine performance to achieve energy efficiency, fuel optimal consumption, and emission reduction. This paper proposed a digital twin architecture of a sustainable aircraft control system that allows the system to collect, analyse, and optimise sustainability-related data and to provide insight to operators, engineers, maintainers, and designers. The required information, knowledge and insight databases across flight environment, engine specification, and gas emissions are identified. The research argued that the proposed architecture could enhance engine energy efficiency, fuel consumption, and CO₂e footprint reduction and enable (near) real-time data monitoring, proactive anomaly detection, forecasting, and intelligent decision-making within an automated sustainability control system. This research suggests ontology-based digital twin as an effective approach to further develop a cognitive twin that facilitates automated decision-making within the aircraft control system.