Aircraft Maintenance and Repair, Seventh Edition, 7th Edition

Advanced Composite Materials

11

INTRODUCTION

The use of composite materials in aircraft has increased greatly in the last few years. The use of composite materials has increased from a few percent in early military aircraft to over 50 percent per weight for newer civilian aircraft models such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus 350 which use carbon fiber as the primary material for fuselage and wing structures. Figure 11-1 shows the material composition of a modern transport aircraft.

FIGURE 11-1   Material composition of modern transport aircraft. ...