Porcher Industries supports Stelia Aerospace in thermoplastic fuselage demonstrator

Porcher Industries, a leader in technical textiles and thermoplastic composite solutions with a global platform delivering unique chemistries, technologies and innovations, is proud to support STELIA Aerospace during its recent “ARCHES BOX TP” research project, that was showcased at the recent Paris Air Show.

STELIA Aerospace has developed a full-scale thermoplastic fuselage demonstrator to allow an internal evaluation of the use of high performance thermoplastics - as opposed to thermosets – within a next generation single aisle aircraft. The demonstrator featured all the typical characteristics of a primary fuselage airframe those being thin skin, lightning protection, stringers and frames, to allow a detailed evaluation of these technologies in a true industrial environment.

STELIA Aerospace has invested several millions in their ARCHES BOX TP Research & Technology project (2015-2017) within the CORAC (French Strategic Advisory Board for Civil Aviation Research) platform. The project is both a technological challenge, thanks to the much lower level of maturity than thermoset matrix composite, and an economic issue, because its global application for the fuselage of the single aisle aircraft (with demanding Low Cost – High Rate require.