STUNNING

Clean sky 2 funded project STUNNING, SmarT mUlti-fuNctioNal and INtegrated TP fuselaGe, will develop and manufacture a fully equipped lower half fuselage (A321) out of thermoplastic composites. The project is part of the Clean Sky 2 – Large Passenger Aircraft –Platform 2 development stream, led by Airbus. The project itself receives over 11.6M€ funding, with an additional support through CfPs worth over 6M€ funding.

Objectives

The objective of Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA) Platform 2 – Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) is to validate high potential combinations of airframe structures, cabin/cargo, and system elements using advanced materials and applying innovative design principles in combination with the most advanced system architecture in combination with the next generation cabin.

The overall objectives of the MFFD are:

  • Enable a high production rate of a minimum of 60 aircraft per month
  • Achieve a total fuselage weight reduction of 1000kg
  • Achieve a reduction of recurring costs

Lower half of the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator

In 2017, project activities started on the development of the lower half of the multifunctional fuselage demonstrator. This part of the project will develop, manufacture and deliver a 180° full scale multi-functional integrated thermoplastic lower fuselage shell, incl. cabin and cargo floor structure and relevant main interior and system elements. The demonstrator has a length of 8m, and a varying radius between 2 and 2.5m, similar to an A321 lower fuselage half. The demonstrator is planned for delivery towards the end of 2021/beginning of 2022 and the project will be completed in 2023.

The STUNNING consortium

The STUNNING consortium consists of Fokker, Diehl, NLR and TUDelft. Fokker is responsible for management and overall technical leadership of the program. Furthermore, Fokker bring its knowledge on thermoplastics manufacturing of parts, welding and advanced assembly techniques to the consortium. In addition, Fokker Elmo will be responsible for advanced systems development within the consortium. Diehl is responsible for interior parts such as sidewall panels, monument interfaces and smart system multiports. Next to applied R&D on several topics, NLR will be responsible for the skin manufacturing. The TUDelft bring its expertise on ultrasonic welding and will address some fundamental research topics with the support of several PhD candidates.

                      

7 calls for partners

Within the Clean Sky 2 program, our consortium has launched 7 topics within the call for partners scheme. These topics have been developed to further support the development of the demonstrator. Five projects have already been kicked off: MAYA, MISSION, MECATESTERS, EMOTION, and TCTool. The support ranges from validation testing, component development, manufacturing technology development, and advanced tooling.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Clean Sky 2 Innovation Action programme under grant agreement No 776455