Sky’s the limit in Indo-UK aerospace technology
By Kealan Finnegan
Innovations in transport technologies have changed the world in the last century, with air travel having provided enormous freedom of movement for over 60 years.
But even the 47-year old Boeing 747, which is still flying, has experienced a constant evolution: aircrafts manufactured today are much lighter, faster and more efficient than their predecessors.
The aerospace industry today relies heavily on inputs from the scientific community for improved technologies, for example better wing designs, more powerful engines, or lighter aircraft materials. Meanwhile, the scientific world is more intertwined with the industry than ever before. It is a good thing, therefore, that the UK has the very best academic institutes in aerospace research and can proudly boast of a 2500-strong company base (the largest in Europe) involved in cutting-edge developments all around the world.
To understand the challenges in aerospace innovations, consider Airbus’s new A380: it was built to beat the 747 as the global work horse and designed on the premise that a small increase in wingspan (50 ft) can carry many more passengers (555 versus 416). Sounds simple, however, the supply chain for the A380 is probably the most complex in the world – with major structural sections being built in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The wings, for example, are shipped by a barge since they are too large to be transported by traditional means. One can imagine the engineering challenges when parts built around the world are required to mesh to perfection for the final assembly!
Composite materials comprise more than 20% of the A380′s airframe. A variety of materials such as carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, glass-fibre reinforced plastic and quartz-fibre reinforced plastic are used extensively in the wings, fuselage sections, tail surfaces and doors.
Set against this vibrant context, a delegation involving academics from the best universities in the UK and UK companies developing cutting edge products, recently visited Bangalore to interact with their Indian counterparts from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Defence Research and Development Organisation labs, Indian Institute of Science and aerospace companies.
The UK Science and Innovation Network in India and the UK Trade and Investment led on this Aerospace Technology Exchange and Partnering Mission from 22nd to 25th April 2013. The mission included events such as a workshop on advanced airframe technologies co-hosted with NAL; an industry interaction session along with the aerospace arm of the Society of Automotive Engineers; and visits to research institutes and companies like Mahindra Aerospace and Tata Advanced Materials Limited.
The mission provided a platform for developing areas of common interest and synergies for further collaboration. For example, India has strong and growing aerospace programmes which involve large-scale use of composites such as the LCA and the ALH, an area where the UK leads on. It also provided an opportunity for industry and researchers from both countries to meet up on a common platform to understand research needs and applications.
Participating UK companies comprised: Peter Anderton from Group Rhodes, Phil Barnaba from BAE Systems, Yoge Patel and Mike Humphreys from Blue Bear Systems, and Mihir Pradhan and Suresh Kanakwadi from Delcam Software. UK academics were Prof. Brian Falzon and Dr. Adrian Murphy from Queen’s University, Belfast, Prof. Ian Jennions and Andy Shaw from Cranfield University and Prof. Costas Soutis from University of Manchester.
India and the UK already have several aerospace collaborations: from the BAE-HAL collaboration on software simulation or Rolls Royce and HAL’s JV for manufacturing parts, to Cranfield University and Marshall Aerospace’s collaboration with NAL.
This visit provided several research and commercial opportunities for companies and researchers from both UK and India to collaborate. The UK Science and Innovation Network in India is planning more such interactions, so if you are interested in taking part, please get in touch.
For more information on opportunities in India in Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing, contact: Prasenjit.Dhar@ukibc.com.
