Aerospace
Russia’s keeping the lead in aerospace
Industry
Aerospace is the fastest developing among other industries. It brings a high economic and scientific value to any state. Aerospace companies keep introducing the latest technological solutions and improving the processes.
Composite materials improve spacecraft performance.
Advantages of carbon composites
Carbon composites are widely used in aerospace engineering due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, heat tolerance, vibration resistance, and low specific weight.
Composites reduce the weight of aerospace products and cut the associated maintenance expenditures and fuel consumption.
- High strength
- High rigidity
- Weight
- Heat tolerance, zero magnetic response, radiation resistance
- High corrosion resistance
- Vibration resistance
Advantages of carbon fiber composites in aerospace equipment
This material is several times stronger than steel of standard grades
Carbon composite connections are far more reliable than connections made of brass, aluminum, nickel, bronze, or stainless steel
Carbon fiber versus other materials
| Fiber type |
Tensile strength, MPa | Tensile modulus, GPa | Elongation at break, % | Density, g/cm3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon fiber made of PAN precursor | high strength, standard modulus | 3500-5000 | 200-280 | 1.4-2.0 | 1.75-1.80 |
| high strength, intermediate modulus | 4500-7000 | 280-325 | 1.7-2.1 | 1.73-1.81 | |
| high modulus | 3500-5000 | 325-450 | 0.7-1.4 | 1.75-1.85 | |
| ultra high modulus | 2500-4000 | 450-600 | 0.7-1.0 | 1.85-1.95 | |
| Glass | E-glass | 2500-3800 | 70-75 | 4.5-4.7 | 2.5-2.7 |
| S-glass | 4000-4500 | 80-90 | 5.0-5.3 | 2.5 | |
| Organic | Aramid | 3000-3600 | 60-180 | 2.4-3.6 | 1.45 |
| Polyethylene | 200-3000 | 5-170 | 3-80 | 0.96 | |
| Steel | high strength | 1200-2800 | 200 | 3.5 | 7.8 |
| stainless | 800-2000 | 190 | 3.0 | 7.8 | |
| Basalt | 3000-4800 | 90-110 | 3.0 | 2.6-2.8 | |
| Boron | 3500-4000 | 350-400 | 0.5-0.7 | 2.6 | |
Applications
Carbon fiber is now a common material for body parts and interior elements in aerospace engineering.
5
Carbon fiber reinforced plastic is 5 times lighter than steel
1,8
1.8 times lighter than aluminum
Historical background
It is aerospace industry that promoted volume production of carbon fiber. In the 1960s, researchers discovered carbon to be a decent alternative to the conventional materials. This material is heat tolerant, lightweight, strong, rigid, and resistant in diverse environments.
Carbon fiber allowed to reduce the weight of spacecraft by 10% to 50% whilst improving their safety.
Experience
Lin Industrial, a Russian aerospace startup is developing private ultralight launch vehicles (10+ kg) to be made of carbon fiber. The company scheduled the first space launch to be performed in early 2020 opening up the opportunities for aerospace development in Russia.
Ultralight launch vehicles emerged on the market to meet the demand for orbital launching of satellites beyond the commercial space launch schedule and delivering payloads to the destinations off the routes of the large launch vehicles.
Summary
Spacecraft require materials that would sustain heavy loads in the severe environments. Carbon composites fit the requirement.
They are lightweight, strong, rigid, resistant to aggressive media, radiation and heat.