Report: Jet Redesign Could Hurt Titanium Fastener Producers

9/15/2009
NEWS BRIEFS
Report: Jet Redesign Could Hurt Titanium Fastener Producers

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. is reconfiguring its new Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) commercial plane – Japan’s first wholly built commercial aircraft in more than 45 years – in a series of changes that will result in more space for passengers and cargo, American Metal Market reports.

“Among other things, the redesign will result in a greater reliance on aluminum and less on carbon fiber composites, with an aluminum wing box replacing a composite structure allowing for shorter lead times for structural changes,” writes Frank Haflich of AMM.

Composites, which have gained market share in recent months due to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, rely on titanium fasteners to join them, so a switch to aluminum could affect fastener makers who specialize in titanium products. Mitsubishi Aircraft has not detailed how its decision will alter the material breakdown on the MRJ, though one 2008 estimate “had carbon composites accounting for 28% of the plane’s weight, with aluminum at 58% and titanium at 9%,” according to AMM.

“Some aerospace industry sources wondered about any wider potential implication of Mitsubishi’s decision,” Haflich writes. “The MRJ delay follows a series of postponements on an even larger airliner program that also relies heavily on composites, and thus on titanium: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.”

Boeing has had reinforce repairs to a structural flaw on the 787 Dreamliner by adding fasteners to the wing supports, or stringers.

High loads at the ends of the stringers – long composite rods stiffen the inside of the wing skin – have caused the jet’s composite material to delaminate at the stress points during structural testing.

To address the problem, mechanics must crawl inside the assembled wings to create a “U-shaped cutout” in the each stringer as part of a “thorough redesign of the plane’s wing-to-body join.” ©2009 GlobalFastenerNews.com

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