Surface Engineering

The U-CROSS project enables monitored displays to launch exposure testing under real atmospheric conditions.

The U-CROSS project is calibrating ultrasonic corrosion sensors (UCS) for real-time detection of localised corrosion on aluminium alloys, intending to study anti corrosion primers and the depletion of inhibitors. This project, coordinated by CIDETEC Surface Engineering, and integrated by DASSAULT AVIATION, INSA Lyon, MISTRAS, TITANIA and UBFC, aims to validate the technology developed.

In order to test the UCS technology in a realistic scenario, consistent with the exposure environment of aircraft in service, CIDETEC Surface Engineering and TITANIA have set up two atmospheric stations at their facilities. In these stations, an environmental exposure test will be carried out for at least 18 months in two different corrosive environments: the Cantabrian coast (CIDETEC) and the South-Atlantic coast (TITANIA).

Both stations, which are fully operational with atmospheric sensors and acquisition equipment in place, include a frame with a wooden structure in which the samples and the demonstrators for the exposure testing will be installed.

Two years after it was launched, the project, with a budget of € 1.5 million, is now at the halfway point and it have released already some results from indoor tests in laboratory conditions. The environmental exposure test will mark the success of U-CROSS project, thanks to which the aviation industry will be able to solve one of its greatest problems: maintenance and inspection costs. Thus, early corrosion detection will allow future damage to be preventively corrected, saving aviation companies considerable costs.

The STELLAR project is making progress in the development of new solutions to reduce drag and fuel consumption in aircraft.

 

Aircraft are not alone in the skies, meaning they face natural obstacles to which they must adapt. As aircraft become faster and more developed, the Aeronautics industry is faced with the problem of an increase in obstacles that magnify the drag coefficient: we are talking about insects. The accumulation of insects on aircraft wings has a negative effect on air distribution, altering laminar flow, with a resulting direct impact on fuel consumption.

For months, the STELLAR project has been working to develop cleaning solutions and new efficient and durable anti-contamination coatings based on a thorough understanding of the properties of insect residues and their interaction with surfaces.

CIDETEC Surface Engineering, a partner of the project coordinated by the Belgian centre Materia Nova, is developing low-adhesion solutions to mitigate insect contamination of the aircraft fuselage. The accumulation of insect debris on the leading edge of the wing surface is related to insect haemolymph, so CIDETEC is working on anti-contamination coatings based on omniphobic solutions providing high haemolymph-repellent properties.

At the halfway point of the three-year project, CIDETEC Surface Engineering has several strategies open based on surface modification by polymer anchoring, functionalised nanoparticles in a polymer matrix and ionogel technology. Thanks to their low surface free energy and excellent slip capacity, these omniphobic coatings lead to low-adhesion surfaces resistant to insect haemolymph contamination.

The project, part of the CleanSky 2 programme to reduce CO2 emissions and aircraft noise levels, has a budget of almost € 2 million and is expected to be completed in October 2023.