Sprouting Growth Of Thermoplastic Composites in Aerospace, the Newcomer is Here to Stay
The aviation industry generates about 2% of all human-induced Co2 emissions and 12% of the emissions of the transportation industry. Can the Thermoplastic composite market in Aerospace grow enough to have a significant impact? Let's find out!
On 6 March 2017, the 36-State ICAO Council has adopted a new aircraft CO2 emissions standard which shall reduce the impact of aviation greenhouse gas emissions on the global climate by mandating an increase in efficiency for new aircraft. It will on an average require a 4% reduction in the cruise fuel consumption of new aircraft starting in 2028 as compared to 2015.
Low fuel efficiency hits airlines with a double whammy. First, the higher consumption of fuel leads to larger emissions of greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming. Second, higher fuel consumption leads to a higher cost which is already the highest component of the operational cost of airlines. Aircraft OEMs have forever been on the quest to increase their fuel efficiency. Now it is the law as well as the competitive industry which mandates such improvements.
For a given payload, lower airframe weight leads to lower drag which in turn increases the fuel efficiency. A reduction in airframe weight of 100 kg can result in lower fuel consumption to the tune of 19,000 liters in a year. Thus, weight reduction is a win-win for airlines and the environment.
Lightweighting: In its quest for lighter, yet stronger materials the industry has come a long way from the use of Aluminium, Steel & Titanium to the use of composites, which have increased in proportion from a mere 4% in the 1970s to around 50% today. As demonstrated by next-generation aircraft, B787, attaining 20% higher fuel efficiency, 5% more reduction in noise, and 30% lower maintenance cost than B767. The use of composites made this feat possible, and it opens the door of possibilities for adaptation of thermoplastic composites as well.
For long thermoset plastic have been the mainstay of the aviation industry. They were most certainly an improvement over metals. But the industry might be on the cusp; metallic parts and thermoset composite parts, are being replaced (though in smaller proportions) with their lighter weight brethren, the thermoplastic composites in the aerospace & defense industry.
Turning a new leaf: A Better material & strong growth fundamentals
Though thermoplastic composite’s applications are very common in the automotive industry, their share is minuscule in the aerospace industry. Currently, thermoset composites dominate the A&D composites market because of their low cost & high quality. But they are not without shortcomings; lack of reusability, longer processing time & processing costs are its major lacunas.
The newly developed thermoplastic composites are blessed with a lower weight, an indefinite shelf life, low moisture absorption, excellent thermal stability and chemical resistance, high toughness and damage tolerance, solvent resistance and low dielectric constant; armed with such qualities thermoplastic composites are set to change the aerospace industry.
Competitive Edge: Thermoplastic composites tower over thermoset composites with many qualities. They are better in terms of processing, material properties, cycle time, and cost.
Processing Superiority: Reduction in cycle time i.e. faster curing and production ranging from one-fifth to a third reduction in processing time, low-cost fabrication & easy processing. Also, there are avenues for increased automation.
Material Superiority: lightweight structure, lower part count as they can even be welded, enabling fabrication of larger components without adhesive bonding, and riveting, thus reducing the number of components involved. Lower VOC emissions is an added advantage.
Galvanic corrosion between dissimilar materials is one of the prime causes of structural failures. With thermoplastics in place, the possibility of galvanic corrosion is ruled out as components can be fused together making the aircraft safer.
The Cost Advantage: The reusability of parts and scraps is a major advantage and shall reduce the overall cost of parts substantially. Lower energy requirement while processing it is also a cost advantage. As of now thermoplastic composites are expensive, but the life cycle cost advantages are inherent. In toto, thermoplastic composite’s reusability, excellent properties, and lightweight structure are destined to save millions for airlines.
Unsurprisingly thermosetting composites are fast becoming the blue-eyed boy of the aerospace industry. There has been a surge in the use of thermoplastic composites in the last 10 years. Radical improvement in their properties has won over the initial skepticism regarding their inferior properties.
Today they are used in both airframes and interior of aircraft. Their usage as clips, cleats, fixed-wing leading edges, J-nose leading edges, panels for fuselage, profiles & brackets, ribs & angle brackets, control surface parts, seat backs, window panels, and cockpit floor are made with thermoplastic composites.
There seems to exist a reasonable scope for thermoplastics to grab a sizeable portion of aircraft components, provided that they address the issue of very high costs, and undergo improvement in properties.
Stratview Research, after analyzing a plethora of factors, expects the Thermoplastic Composite Market in Aerospace to reach near $680 mn by 2024, galloping at a CAGR of near double digits.
Drivers of growth: The growth till 2024 is prognosticated on various fundamental factors. Increasing air traffic: Increased traffic in different parts of the world is creating a greater demand for commercial aircraft (growth CAGR around double digits), which has the largest share of thermoplastic composites and shall boost its growth.
Deliveries: A growth of over 3% in aircraft deliveries, driven by the Asia-Pacific region.
Increasing production rates: The next-generation aircraft like B787 and A350XWB, with Airbus promising an exceptional rise in production rates of A350 XWB, are bound to increase the consumption of thermoplastic composites.
Penetration: The increasing penetration of composites in different aircraft types is driving growth. The dual advantage of overall demand increase coupled with increased penetration is further propelling the demand.
The Growth Hotspots
Commercial aircraft dominate the market with over 3/4th share. Stratview Research foretells the growth to march on at around double-digit CAGR.
Europe is projected to remain the largest thermoplastic composites market for the commercial aircraft segment over the next five years, driven by increasing production rates of A350XWB coupled with high thermoplastic composites content per aircraft. Europe is the only region in the globe which manufactures.
USA is expected to remain the largest A&D thermoplastic composites market, driven by B787 of Boeing and G500, G550, G600, and G650 of Gulfstream Aerospace aircraft programs.
Germany and France are also expected to report double-digit growth.
The nitty-gritty of thermoplastic composite’s application
So far, thermoplastic composites are used mainly used in Interiors and Airframe. Airframe dominates the market by over half of the share and is poised to retain the lead with a high CAGR. Clips and cleats of fuselage frames are the biggest applications of thermoplastic composites in the segment. They are used in the form of laminates, unidirectional tape, and fabric prepreg.
Though in smaller proportion, thermoplastic composites have also found applications in Acoustic liners, Ducts, Engine propellers, and Pylon components are the major thermoplastic composite applications in the segment.
In terms of fiber, carbon fibers have almost the entire share, leaving only a tenth of the market for glass fibers. All the major applications of thermoplastic composites in the A&D industry are made with carbon fibers. Carbon fiber offers numerous advantages, such as excellent weight reduction, high strength-to-weight ratio, high tensile and compressive strength, low coefficient of thermal expansion, and high fatigue resistance but at a very high cost. This makes the usage of carbon-fibers higher as the aircraft capacity (in tonnes) increases.
Glass fibers are roughly 15 to 20 times less expensive when compared with carbon fibers. This has been the major driving force for glass fibers in marking its presence in those areas where high performance is not the biggest concern.
PPS resin dominated the global A&D thermoplastic composites market with over half of the share. Together with PEEK, they dominate over four-fifths of the market.
A transforming market
The global A&D thermoplastic composites market is highly consolidated with the presence of less than 25 active players. The top 5 players, GKN Aerospace, Premium Aerotec, Daher, Dutch Thermoplastic Components, and Avanco Group (Xperion Performance Polymer Composite captured around nine-tenths of the market in 2017. GKN Aerospace holds one-third of the market share. All five major players are expected to remain the most dominant ones over the next five years as well.
There have been new entrants & it is further expected that there would be more market entries of new players in the coming years as market attractiveness grows.
The market is abuzz with new product developments, merger-acquisitions, joint ventures. In 2018, Bucher Leichtbau and Ensinger developed thermoplastic connector mountings for aircraft interiors. In 2017, Daher designed and developed the first-ever thermoplastic composite wing rib for a commercial aircraft, which slashes the component weight by 35% vis-a-vis Aluminium.
In 2017, Liberty Hall Capital Partners, a private equity firm, acquired Quatro Composites, L.L.C. a leading supplier of thermoplastic composites, which is integrated into AIM Aerospace Corp.
Avanco Group (Xperion Performance Polymer Composites) was the fifth largest player, has also formed a joint venture with Cutting Dynamics Inc. (CDI) for thermoplastic composites in 2017.
A glimpse of the Future
With weight and emission reduction being an exigent matter, the future of lightweight thermoplastic composites looks bright. From the vantage point of strong global demand for aircraft, increasing penetration of thermoplastic composite, and ICAO guidelines almost mandating the improvements in efficiency; the growth potential is large.
The relative advantage over thermoset composites in terms of faster & low-cost production is just in time to meet the challenges of faster production. The increased production rates, deliveries, big order book and larger backlogs of major airlines are going to assure high future growth.
The future of thermoplastics hinges on the progress on the fronts of cost reduction, better and properties to suit newer applications. Because of its reusability, over-all cost reduction will not be as herculean a task. With the advancement in technology, one can be sanguine of a future with better thermoplastic composites.
