Rotorcraft and Rotary Wing Materials & Structures Review V1.0.0

UK
U
K Air Vehicle Technology
Rotorcraft
R
otorcraft
2011
A review by the Materials & Structures

National
N
ational Technical Committee
Abstract
www.aadktn.co.uk/materialsntc
This review has been produced under the auspices

of the Materials and Structures National Technical
Committee, an integral part of the Knowledge Transfer
Network in Aerospace, Aviation and Defence. The
central requirement for the review is to provide
informed opinion on the foreseen needs and
opportunities for capability in materials and structures
for UK rotorcraft.
The review has been mounted on the Aerospace,

Aviation and Defence KTN Website and is available for
responsible use throughout the UK R&D community,
sponsors, users and suppliers. Weighted information
generated within can be used to guide potential
sponsors and suppliers of research and to enable end
users to maximize their involvement in the research
and its uptake. Guided research and development
is one element essential to refresh UKs competitive
position.
Contents
Foreword by Dr Ruth Mallors
Foreword by Dr Mike Hicks
1 Executive summary
2 Review Scope
2.1 Vehicles reviewed
2.2 UK Strategies and Philosophies for
Military and Civil Rotorcraft
2.3 Market Size and its Importance to the UK
2.4 Market Trends
2.5 International Issues
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3 Recent history
3.1 Aircraft Configuration and Concepts
3.1.1 Structural Design and Materials Choice
3.1.2 Engine and Rotor Design
3.1.3 Transmission Systems Technology
3.1.4 Landing Gear and Flotation Equipment
3.2 Structural Design and Materials Choice
3.3 Manufacturing Development
3.4 Operational Issues
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4 Current trends 5 year horizon

4.1.1 The Uninhabited Autonomous Rotorcraft
4.1.2 Diesel Engine Rotorcraft
4.1.3 The More Electric Rotorcraft
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5 Possible Future Scenarios - 20 Year Horizon

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6 Requirements Perceived for

Materials and Structures Research & Development
6.1 Safety
6.2 Reliability
6.3 Efficiency
6.4 Affordability
6.5 Environmental Impact
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7 Research Collaboration
7.1 National strategies for collaboration
7.2 International collaboration
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8 Summary
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Principal Authors
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Materials & Structures NTC Members
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About the Aerospace, Aviation & Defence KTN
Cover
Foreword by Dr Ruth Mallors
UK Aerospace and Defence is a success story by any

measure. It is a high value, high skilled and high technology
industry that competes on the world stage, second only to
the US in size and revenue.
While todays success story is largely the result of technology partnerships of yesterday,
tomorrow remains a challenge.
The opportunity for growth is undeniable. Products that emerge from the sector are amongst
the most complex manufactured and continue to increase in complexity; global competitors
are developing capability at a formidable rate; the global security and defence climate
continues to evolve but remains uncertain. The combination of these factors only underpins
the necessity for broader and deeper collaboration and partnership.
The sector delivers against the UKs highest level strategic

agendas such as high-value manufacturing, low carbon,
science and innovation and of course, defence. Employing
over a hundred thousand people, UK A&D industry
delivers real value and a genuine balance to the economy.
The sector has a rich heritage of technological innovation
throughout the supply chain, which has kept the UK at
forefront of the global aerospace and defence Markets.
Numerous examples exist of how effective partnerships
between business, government and academia have
created and sustained the UKs competitive and military
advantage.
Facilitated by the Aerospace, Aviation and Defence KTN, the National Technical Committees
provide the environment and mechanisms through which this collaborative spirit can thrive.
The NTCs are partnerships between industry, government and academia that deliver valueadd outputs from technology roadmaps, to collaborations, to knowledge assets such as this
report. I invite you to join this innovation climate by becoming a member of the KTN and
engaging with the NTCs.
Director
Aerospace, Aviation & Defence Knowledge Transfer Network
Foreword by Dr Mike Hicks
With collaboration being the irrefutable enabler

to innovation in any technology driven sector,
the National Technical Committees (NTCs) have
become the foremost focal points around the
issues of science, innovation and technology
across a range of disciplines within aerospace
and defence. Through this partnership
approach between industry, government and
academia fostered within the Materials and
Structures (M&S) NTC, a number of businessled initiatives are delivering real value to the
sector, such as comprehensive technology
roadmapping that enable collaborative research and clearly identify priorities for future funding.
This document, one in a series of such reviews prepared by the M&S NTC, contains the
consensus view of the materials community across the UKs rotorcraft sector. Developments
in materials technology are fundamental to delivering the performance demanded in this
highly competitive market. Innovative materials solutions permeate throughout such vehicles,
delivering reduced weight, lower cost of ownership, lower environmental impact, improved
reliability and greater endurance, whilst always maintaining safety as the overriding priority.
The report includes an assessment of the requirements and opportunities for which the UK
is well-positioned to deliver, and identifies the research and technology development that are
required to ensure the UK remains world-leading and competitive in these global markets.
In an ever-evolving economic and technology climate, these reviews truly are living documents
that need to reflect the very latest thinking of the expert community. They will be periodically
reviewed and updated, with a view to continuously expanding the range of contributors. The
broadest community is encouraged to use these reports to inform their thinking and influence
their strategies. The knowledge contained in these reports needs to be widely transferred
both within and beyond the engines and power-plants sector to ensure innovations and
developments are spun in and out of the sector.
I hope you find this review both informative and engaging. Should you have any comments or
questions, please connect with the M&S NTC or the Aerospace Aviation and Defence KTN to
ensure your voice is heard.
Chairman
Materials & Structures National Technical Committee
Executive Summary
This review has been mounted on the Aerospace, Aviation

and Defence KTN Website and is available for responsible
use throughout the UK R&D community. Weighted
information generated within these reviews can be used to
guide potential sponsors and suppliers of the research and
to enable end users to maximize their involvement in the
research and its uptake. This review is one of nine that cover
the perceived range of UK aerospace platforms and systems
including those that are novel or disruptive in nature. It is
intended that these reviews should be regularly updated.
Initially an outline of the vehicles to be reviewed, the
underlying UK strategies and philosophies for UK
rotorcraft and the size and importance of this market to
A review considering the materials and structural requirements for

research and development to support the design, manufacture and
operation of military and civil rotorcraft in the UK has been produced
under the auspices of the Materials and Structures National Technical
Committee, an integral part of the Knowledge Transfer Network in
Aerospace Aviation and Defence. The central requirement for the
review to is to provide informed opinion on the foreseen needs and
opportunities for materials and structures research supporting UK
rotorcraft.
the UK are provided against perceptions of market trends
and international out-sourcing issues. Then trends in
structural concepts, in structural design, materials choice,
manufacturing development and operational issues are
identified against three time frames namely; current and
recent history, those seen for the next five years and
speculatively those perceived over a twenty year horizon.
This review of market led development enables common
drivers for research to be identified over the three time
frames supporting Safety, Reliability, Efficiency, Affordability
and Environmental Impact. Against these persisting drivers
in excess of 50 specific areas for possible research and
development are identified, justified and detailed.
Review Scope
This review is one of nine produced and upgraded progressively by

the National Advisory Committee for Materials and Structures, now
the National Technical Committee, each being to a similar format and
standard. Overlapping issues are identified. Potentially disruptive
vehicle technologies are treated separately as an individual field
described as Future vehicles and concepts.
2.1 Vehicles Reviewed
This review encompasses both military and civil rotorcraft
designed, built or deployed in the UK. Aircraft used for
general business and personal aviation can be found in a
further review. A complete list of reviews includes: Civil transport aircraft ( > 50 seats )
General aviation, personal and business aircraft (< 50
seats)
Sports and recreational aircraft
Combat aircraft for strike, air defence, surveillance and
training
Military transport aircraft including in-flight refueling
Rotorcraft, military and civil
Space vehicles including satellites
Future vehicles and concepts
Engines and power-plant
Within the context of this Review, rotorcraft will encompass
the full spectrum from short range light aircraft for inter-city
commuting, personal, corporate and business use, those
for the linking of long range hubs and long-range heavy lift
aircraft. For military aircraft important functions include air
freight haulage, forces deployment, reconnaissance and
surveillance, maritime patrol, sea and ground attack. Both
civil and military forces use rotorcraft extensively in search
and rescue operations, some of long duration. The strong
UK position in aircraft engines is emphasised particularly in a
separate review on engines and powerplant.
2.2 UK Strategies and Philosophies for

Military and Civil Rotorcraft
The UK has a long history in the design and manufacture
of rotorcraft and one that encompasses major steps in their
development, such as the modern composite blades.
The levels of investment required in manufacturing capability
and international in-service support coupled with international
competition have moulded the UKs position into that of a
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major international partner with all aspects of the industry

encompassed from investment finance, through on shoredesign, build and modification of military aircraft, to a major
position as the home of civil international operators. In terms
of the design and manufacturing output of rotorcraft there has
been a bias in the UK towards military aircraft for decades.
Traditionally, the drivers for improved rotorcraft technology
stem from the need to deliver profitably high performance
aircraft to the operators that are safe, reliable, efficient and
affordable. In the military field absolute performance tends
to have high priority. It has become accepted that it is
incumbent upon the manufacturer to service these drivers
with operators having minimal influence on research or
development in these spheres.
In terms of materials developments, the volumes consumed
in the building of new rotorcraft are too small to warrant the
specific development of any dedicated materials exclusively
for such applications; the rotorcraft manufacturers rely on
developments by major airframe manufacturers, testing and
adapting them as appropriate. Such restrictions do not apply
necessarily to structural designs or manufacturing techniques
and developments.
This philosophy leads directly to drivers for UK capability in
materials and structures comprising: Safety. Safety has been the first imperative for decades and
whilst this high priority can be effectively taken as read it
should be recognized that many research programmes on
improved materials or structural techniques for rotorcraft
are supporting this fundamental requirement and that more
will be identified as required in this review. In the military
context safety will include signature control, survivability in
theatre and crashworthiness.
Reliability. In this Review attention is drawn to reliability of
operation that is the need for any rotorcraft to be available
for daily use with minimal interruptions for inspection
or servicing and with optimized maximum service life.
Worldwide requirements for civil and military operations
have mounted for 24 hour operations and for yet longer
range aircraft, inevitably flying for longer periods non-stop.
Efficiency. Increased performance such as improved
range, time on station or payload whether achieved by
reduction in parasitic structural mass or the fuel consumed
for any operation are of great benefit to rotorcraft operation.
Affordability. Low specific fuel consumption and minimal

through life costs are critical for affordable operation but
initial costs of the airframe, engines and systems must not
be disregarded as these impact directly on the profitability
of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
2.3 Market Size and Its Importance to the

UK
The UK maintains design and build capabilities for military
rotorcraft via AgustaWestland with a supporting raft of
industrial concerns providing structural parts and systems
components. The value of this activity is estimated at 1000M
per annum. Some design work for rotorcraft built and
assembled offshore has also been provided, for example for
the AW149. Additionally the UK supply industry manufactures
specialized components for offshore manufacturers of both
military and civil rotorcraft worth an estimated further 250M.
The UK is competent in the design and manufacture of
rotorcraft structure across the whole spectrum of aircraft
manufacturing and into operational systems including
simulation and training aspects.
For operational aircraft, the UK has a specific activity
supplying, upgrading and maintaining AgustaWestland,
Boeing, Eurocopter and Sikorsky aircraft such as the Super
Lynx, the new AW159 Lynx Wildcat, Apache, the S61 Sea
King, AW101 Merlin, AS332 Super Puma and the Chinook.
Some of these are being deployed as military variants
by the UK armed forces; others are used in civilian roles
for surveillance, transport or search and rescue. Support
activities also include significant training roles. The value of
2.4 Market Trends

Whilst growth in the UK sales of military helicopters is
predicted as being sustained albeit subject to variations in
operational requirements and levels of funding available it
has been predicted that substantial growth will occur for civil
rotorcraft because of increased demands from virtually all
sectors including surveillance, surveying, search and rescue
and short range transport.
It may be argued that the UK could be better placed to take
advantage of these growth prospects potentially expanding
its onshore design and build capabilities.
2.5 International Issues

In the UK, the rotorcraft industry is principally represented
by AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica. Since
the merger of Westland and Agusta, UK effort in terms of
design, build and refurbishment has concentrated primarily
on military aircraft whilst Italian activities have a stronger civil
focus. Rotorcraft both designed and built in Europe such as
AW101 or built and equipped in the UK under licence such
as the Apache have been accommodated. Additionally
aircraft such as the Boeing Chinook have been maintained,
re-fitted and re-equipped on-shore to support the UK armed
forces in partnership with Boeing and whole systems such
as the maritime AW101 Merlin have been integrated into ship
defence systems with Lockheed Martin.
International competition is very strong particularly from
Eurocopter in European and export markets outside of
the USA. The huge US military market is dominated by
Bell, Boeing and Sikorsky and has proved very difficult for
European manufacturers to penetrate. However, AW and
Eurocopter are making inroads into the US civil market
particularly in the medium twin sector.
Environmental Impact. Minimising environmental impact

has to be implicit within developments. Research for
improved materials or structural designs addresses
reduced fuel consumption and consequential reduction
in environmental impact and reducing levels of perceived
noise will continue as an issue of great significance in
rotorcraft development. It is essential to consider the whole
aircraft life cycle since materials used may potentially
become prohibited, scarce in supply or difficult in disposal
and manufacturing processes may be high in energy
consumption or environmental impact.
this activity to the UK economy is estimated at 500m per

annum.
Recent History
3.1 Aircraft Configurations and Concepts
Rotorcraft designs can perhaps best be characterized by the

size and configuration of the aircraft. Thus in terms of the
military aircraft given preference here, aircraft span a range
from the ultra-light Gazelle to those of tens of tonnes with
heavy lift capability such as the Chinook. Configurations
include single, twin and triple engined variants with single
or twin main rotors, although aircraft with singular main
and tail rotors tend still to dominate. Additionally, these
configurations have been extended into tilt rotor capability.
Military rotorcraft have traditionally fulfilled many roles
including surveillance, communication, search and rescue,
maritime patrol and ship defence, ground and sea attack,
transport of troops and freight including heavy lift. Civil
variants parallel these roles with air surveillance of site
and traffic flows, surveying, search and rescue, passenger
and freight transportation including importantly those for
humanitarian aid and a heavy lift capability.
Obviously the unique ability of rotorcraft to deploy from
site to site with both very localized landing and hover
capabilities defines the nature of their many applications.
However, the larger payloads, speeds and range of fixed wing
aircraft coupled with lower operating costs has provided a
competitive incentive for the development of hybrid aircraft
such as the tilt rotor to attempt to combine the best of both
worlds.

Structural design tools based on finite element modeling
have traditionally been used in the rotorcraft industry for
design of airframe and component parts whilst dynamic
modeling has been applied to specific components of the
airframe prone to dynamic and vibration issues. Coupling
of aerodynamic models with structural response has been
achieved but has been limited whilst optimisation of the
rotorcraft as a whole system has yet to be achieved. System
performance modeling for the rotorcraft has therefore much
relied upon suites of disparate empirical models. Specifically,
dynamic modeling including high frequency vibration aspects
and heavy landing/ crashworthiness has also developed over
the last decade but much development is still required.
3.2.1 Fuselage Design

A rotorcraft fuselage may be seen as a rigid flat platform
or raft attached to frames that transfers lift from the rotor
overhead. The fuselage body around this platform and frame
may therefore be lightly loaded or virtually non-existent in
the smallest aircraft. Normally, however, the fuselage will be
subject both to loads generated by the rotor causing aircraft
accelerations and aerodynamically by the passage of the
aircraft producing lift and drag. Rotor downwash, gust and
buffeting will also occur.
The fuselage frames and floor platforms maybe constructed
from aluminium alloys including aluminium-lithium whilst
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fuselage skinning is likely to be a hybrid mixture of aluminium

alloy and composite materials locally supported by stiffening
stringers. Evaluation of highly damage tolerant hybrid
materials such as GLARE has been undertaken but little, if
any, use of such hybrids has been made primarily because
of minimum gauge limitations. Traditionally, metal skins
have been attached to their supporting structure by either
mechanical fastening using a mixture of aluminium alloy and
titanium rivets or by metal to metal adhesive bonding usually
the latter being reinforced by selected mechanical fastening.
For many years the tail structures, such as vertical fins
housing the tail rotor and horizontal stabilizers, have been
manufactured using composite materials for the skins with
internal stiffening, resulting in close to complete composite
structures. Engine cowlings and other fairings have exploited
composite technology for a considerable time although there
have been some difficulties with lightning strikes.
3.2.2 Engine and Rotor Design

On rotorcraft, main rotor(s) provide lift and control of aircraft
attitude to achieve vectored thrust for directional flight and
a tail rotor to react the torque of the main rotor and provide
control of aircraft heading.
In general terms a rotorcraft maybe powered by gas
turbine engines usually small single shaft variants of the
conventional aerospace powerplant described in a separate
Review. Single, twin and triple engine configurations may be
employed, in the latter cases requiring the use of combiner
gearboxes. These engines drive main and tail rotors through
gear boxes and transmission drive shafts with the gear boxes
reducing rotational speeds from those of the gas turbine.
Additionally engines that are normally mounted horizontally
must drive vertical shafts powering the main rotor requiring
right angle gear boxes. The main rotor is centred upon the
critical rotor hub where blades are attached with linkages
controlling pitch and drag and drive transmitted from the
main vertical drive shaft.
In addition to the mechanical and vibration loading of the

rotor, engine and transmissions, the blades themselves must
accommodate impact, ballistic damage and erosion whilst
transmissions and rotor heads also must be proof against
fatigue and corrosion. As with any blade design tip speeds
may be limited by the speed of sound and the onset of shock
induced drag.
Multi-layer coating systems based on ceramic/ceramic or
metal/ceramic combinations have been used to combat the
erosive effect of sand and other dusts. These systems can be
optimized for maximum performance by altering the number
and thickness of each layer and their chemical composition.
Whilst modern military and civil aircraft make use of fibre
reinforced polymers for rotor blades replacing the previous
Note should be taken of the British Experimental Rotor

Programme (BERP) which through successive phases has
developed the aerodynamic and structural design of rotor
blades to achieve world record aircraft speed and significant
advances in noise output. Attention having been paid in
particular to blade tip design.
3.2.3 Transmission Systems Technology

Much use is made of high strength steels in design of
transmissions shafts, gears, mechanical linkages and
the rotor head, the steel commonly being machined to
dimensions from solid bars or logs with low levels of
utilization. However, the very high stress levels imparted can
reduce critical crack sizes to very low values necessitating
a safe life methodology rather than a damage tolerance
approach for fatigue life management. Surface treatments to
impart resistance to erosion, fretting, wear and corrosion are
important and certain components of military helicopters may
be judged to vulnerable to battle damage and designed for
damage tolerance.
To save weight, improve damage tolerance by operating at
lower stress levels, and to introduce more flexibility in hub
designs progressively more use is being made of titanium
alloys, where volume constraints permit. However, the
significantly higher cost of titanium alloys and its relative
scarcity prohibit uptake somewhat. To overcome the low
utilization and hence high wastage of machining titanium
alloys from solid, closer to form manufacturing methods have
To add to these complexities the rotor blades themselves are

of variable pitch to accommodate demands for changes in lift
and aircraft attitude requiring the use of mechanical linkages
and flexible hub designs. The dynamic performance of rotors
is complex as individual blades develop variable levels of
lift and drag during a single revolution as they advance and
retreat against the direction of motion of a moving aircraft
or as they cross the body of the fuselage below them. Rotor
designs will continue to develop and here improved materials
such as polymer composites used in the blades or titanium
alloys within rotor hubs have already enabled advances in
rotor design whilst adaptive structures may provide designs
of the future. Stiffness in the blades is an obvious requirement
to resist lift induced loads and to avoid dynamic instabilities,
composite materials affording the ability to tailor the blade
whilst metal tip weights are also employed.
constructions of metal spar with attached metal pockets,

both types of blade remain in use today. Control of signature,
especially noise, is incorporated into rotor and blade design
for military helicopters but advantage of low noise designs is
also taken in current by civil variants.
Recent History
been sought including welding of logs, bars and attachments

to build up structure. More recently, additive manufacturing
processes are being developed and investigated by the
aerospace industry. Use of polymer composites in this
area has been minimal to date because of the high multidirectional stresses involved. As with most moving parts seal
and sealant technologies are critical and developments in
these areas should not be neglected.
3.2.4 Landing Gear and Flotation

Equipment
Rotorcraft may operate from the ground, from fixed and
moving platforms such as oil rigs, lighthouses or naval
vessels requiring a capability for surface movement, for
landing on fixed and moving surfaces including those that
are unstable and in extremis the aircraft must have floatation
capability. Crashworthiness and heavy landing remain
significant issues.
3.3 Manufacture
To date most aircraft fuselages have been constructed from
thin sheet aluminium alloys with extruded or cold formed
sheet stringers being pre-attached by rivets or adhesive
bonding. The sheet itself may well have been locally thinned
by chemical etching, machining or selectively built up by
additional layers. Manufacturing issues generally revolve
around automating the attachment of stringers, precision and
repeatability of processes, ease of assembly on to frames
or ribs, maintaining design tolerances etc., cold working
of attachment holes for fatigue resistance, if applied, and
any necessary surface treatments for enhanced corrosion
resistance.
Key metal fabrication techniques include cold and hot metal
forming of panels and extruded profiles, including shot-peen
forming techniques to correct machining distortion, plus
precision machining of close-to-form forgings using well
developed manufacturing practices. Here the handling and
recovery of scrap is an issue of significance to cost and to the
environment, a particular issue if proposing to use aluminiumlithium alloys. Mechanical fastening, welding and adhesive
bonding all feature for the manufacture of joints and modern
techniques of cold working of holes and surfaces may be
applied to critical components and in repair of damaged
items but in-service fatigue cracking problems persist in metal
structure and fatigue is still a significant issue.
Finally for the metal structures in particular, long-term
corrosion protection is essential and thus remains an issue
with attendant effects upon cost, efficiency and environmental
impact. Materials that replace cadmium and the hexavalent
chromium compounds contained in surface pre-treatments,
paints and sealants have been under intensive review since it
is uncertain how much longer aerospace manufacturers will
be granted special status for the use of these health hazard
materials.
For composite component manufacture there are two main
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types of material to be considered, namely thermoset and

thermoplastic, and their selection depends very much on
the property required of the component and its size and
shape. To date whilst thermosets have been more commonly
used, molded thermoplastic composite technology has
occasionally been deployed.
Composite product fabrication relies on embedding the
required long-fibre (glass, kevlar or carbon) arrangement
in a resin matrix, usually epoxy. This is done on a shaped
tool base so that when the resin system is cured the final
product form is produced. Common methods employed
are manual or automated lay-up of resin pre-impregnated
sheets or tapes and Resin Transfer Infusion (RTI) and Resin
Transfer Moulding (RTM) where dry fibres/woven fabrics are
used. In each case resin cure is completed by application
of heat and pressure either through the use of autoclaves
or heated tooling e.g. presses. It is evident that for Resin
Transfer Moulding tool design plays an important part in the
achievement of high quality composite products, the tools
required can be both complex and expensive.
The joining and assembly of composite parts is still
frequently accomplished by mechanical fastening however
the technology offers the opportunity to increase the use of
adhesive bonding (second cure cycle required) or to co-cure
using the resin cure cycle to concurrently join partially cured
parts. These techniques remove the requirement for drilling
which can significantly disrupt the inherent property of the
composite.
For composite structure the corrosion issue is clearly
removed for the component, however the effects of galvanic
corrosion between materials of differing electrical potential
3.4
Operational Issues
Historically, military and civil rotorcraft have remained in

service for decades and the safe reliable maintenance
of large fleets of aircraft has been developed and honed
to a very successful level of performance. Problems are
still encountered due to the severe fatigue and corrosion
environment in which rotorcraft structures operate, fretting
damage often being the precursor to fatigue and corrosion.
Rotorcraft designers specify high levels of corrosion
protection and also cold working of surfaces and holes, but
significant in-service husbandry is still required.
Damage developed in rotating machinery including engines,
transmissions and the blades of rotorcraft can be extreme
in hostile environments where fine sands, particulate matter
and sea water maybe swept up by the rotors and ingested
from desert and marine environments. Filtration systems
and surface coating techniques are vitally important. The
nature of operations of civil and military rotorcraft make the
issue of inadvertent damage by impact and/or weapon strike
a significant issue especially for blades, natural damage
tolerance in these structures is hard to achieve when rotating
parts may become out of balance. Wear and erosion of
composite blade leading edges has to be offset by the use of
thin metal strips, usually a nickel alloy.

Structural and transmission fatigue management techniques
have evolved from the traditional safe-life approach to
a combination of safe-life and intrinsic damage tolerance.
Simply put the early appearance of damage has major
operational and financial penalties even if intrinsically high
levels of damage tolerance enable any such damage to be
readily detected, repaired or contained. So long safe lives
are sought to maximize cost effective operation whilst intrinsic
damage tolerance delivers a safe aircraft.
Matching techniques for non destructive evaluation both
during manufacture and for in service situations, on-demand,
have also been thoroughly developed. Here again the
basic principle must be that the time-to-first inspection for
any aircraft structure must be maximized and intrusion inservice, for non destructive evaluation, minimized. Whilst
this philosophy applies both to metallic and polymer
composite structures, techniques are also being developed
for continuous health and usage monitoring whilst in-service
(HUMS). This stems from an initial need to establish levels of
strain seen in composite wing structures on combat aircraft
and from decades of close monitoring of the numbers and
amplitudes of cyclic loads seen in metal structures and the
consequent rate of consumption of fatigue life.
The purpose behind establishing data for the rate of
advancement of damage, in whatever form, is to substantiate
ever increasing precision in the prediction of residual life and
consequently confidence in life extensions. Ever increasing
understanding and precision in modeling has been a major
advance of the recent past but yet more is possible.
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have to be considered eg when using mechanical fastening

to join either composite/composite or composite/metallic.
This is the prime reason for increased use of titanium in
composite structures (titanium has better electrochemical
compatibility with carbon-epoxy matrix than aluminium alloy
or steel).
Current Trends - 5 Year Horizon

Developments current within a five year time frame aimed at both
military and civil rotorcraft are mostly refinements of current technology
with some notable trends.
4.1.1 The Uninhabited Autonomous

Rotorcraft.
In searching for autonomous air vehicles for surveillance,
monitoring and military engagement some systems have
been demonstrated based upon rotorcraft since such aircraft
have the inherent ability to loiter as well as their obvious
vertical take-off and landing capabilities. Even craft with
counter rotating main rotors and no tail assembly have
been launched. As with the fixed wing variants of such
uninhabited aircraft civil applications follow the military
in short order. It is not clear whether the systems already
demonstrated will see major application and further
development in a five year time scale but their future use
seems assured. For example, new programmes are being
sought in the United States to fulfill certain intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements with
a VTOL UAV for the US Army. The army is outfitting a US
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-owned Boeing
A160 Hummingbird with an autonomous real-time ground
ubiquitous surveillance-imaging system payload. It will also
carry wide-area surveillance and signal intelligence packages
and see active deployment as a prototype.
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Removing the human element of the rotorcraft payload

should have a significant effect on functionality of craft
engaged in surveillance or combat functions simply by
releasing usable mass but further refinements can be made
by simplifying the structure, removing canopies, possibly tail
assemblies etc. It would seem likely that the existing raft of
materials currently deployed in rotorcraft manufacture would
be sufficient for such novel craft and that development will
focus strongly on concept and structural design.
4.1.2 Diesel Engine Powerplant

For several decades rotorcraft have deployed gas turbines
as powerplant. Although perhaps simpler than civil aircraft
counterparts being typically single spool engines designed
to operate at constant rotational speed, the gas turbine is
not of necessity most efficient when aircraft motion and
consequent airflow into the engine is low. Light aircraft have
very successfully deployed relatively low cost high efficiency
turbocharged diesel engines and the rotorcraft community
is investigating possible applications. It is not currently
envisaged that such a development will give rise to structural
or materials difficulties or new requirements and powerplant
issues per se are considered elsewhere in this series of
Reviews.
Rotor designs may be subject to yet further improvements

to achieve greater aircraft speed, lift capacity and noise
suppression. Blade tip speeds that approach the speed
of sound limit blade length and rotor speed whilst the
use of more, shorter blades compounds the difficulties
caused by loss of lift as the blades wash over the body
and the difficulties inherent in controlling multiple blades
on a single hub. For example, current rotorcraft design is
critically dependent upon the need to tailor the attitude of the
rotorblade during one rotation to accommodate variations
in lift and drag experienced by advancing and retreating
blades as well as of course effecting controlled flight. Several
approaches loosely characterized as Smart blades are under
investigation to aerodynamically tailor the blade itself in flight.
It has been shown that blade shape may be modified or
morphed by internal electrical actuation at a sufficiently high
frequency to enable its aerodynamic characteristics to be
tuned or that trailing edge tabs can be physically deployed to
achieve much the same effect, trimming the rotor in rotation.
The key short term development goals are to improve

product competitiveness through reduced empty weight,
reduced cost of ownership, improved crashworthiness
and reduced vibratory response. To reduce structural
weight, manufacturing techniques which produce larger
single piece components are a promising avenue. These
techniques include more use of welded thermoplastic
structures or metallic sub-assemblies which have been
joined by friction stir welding. Reduced cost of ownership
is generally improved by the increased use of composite
materials. However, it is worth pointing out that installed
avionics equipment requires good structural electrical
conductivity which, with a composite structure, is achieved
by the addition of copper mesh layers these are themselves
subject to a significant corrosion risk. Automated addition of
metallic elements, in the form of thin layers or coatings are
being developed to provide conductive paths in composite
structures, for lightning protection, de-icing elements,
antennae and other uses.
Additionally and quite separately electromechanical actuation

is being studied as a means to replace mechanical and
hydraulic linkages, to reduce power losses and fatigue
problems or obviate environmental concerns respectively.
Electromechanical actuation is being studied including a
component of the European Green Rotorcraft programme.
Previously, monolithic composite skins with co-cured or

bonded stiffeners have not been widely used in helicopter
designs simply for reasons of weight. Such designs are
only competitive if designed as a post-buckled structure and
designers and Airworthiness Authorities have been reluctant
to adopt this approach with composites. This is due, in part,
to the difficulty in predicting the behaviour analytically, but
13
4.1.3 The More Electric Rotorcraft.
Current Trends - 5 Year Horizon
also because the buckling imparts high peel loads to the

bond between skin and stiffeners. In fact, for certification,
any bonded stiffener would require a mechanical fastener
to provide fail safe attachment in the event of a bond
failure which in turn would require a thicker skin or stiffener
which would further penalize the design. The adoption of
thermoplastic composites, which allow the use of welded
integral stiffeners and a post-buckled design philosophy (see
section below), may offer an opportunity for a paradigm shift
in this regard.
Reducing the dynamic response of the helicopter structure
is something of a holy-grail. The engineering problem
is highly complex with multiple dynamic and aerodynamic
forcings and multiple structural modes. The future will see
improved mathematical modeling, the more widespread use
of active vibration reduction systems and the increased use of
materials with higher damping.
Structural modeling and design tools for dynamic response
have been following two different routes namely in adapting
and deploying Euler based dynamic codes such as DYNA
and DYTRAN including those with coupled Euler/Lagrange
capabilities and the use of Statistical Energy Analysis (
SEA ) the analogue of Finite Element Analysis operating
in the frequency domain. The ever increasing capability
obvious in computer modelling based upon rapid increase in
computing power will make whole body dynamic models for
vibration analysis quite possible provided attention is given
to the specific aspects pertinent to the rotorcraft namely the
multiplicity of loadings and structural modes. Additionally this
increased capability will allow multi-disciplinary optimization
and performance modeling to be enhanced. Correlation of
such models with comprehensive test data will be required.
It must be clarified that at present the complexity inherent
in rotorcraft responses through the flight envelope requires
a large sustained effort to improve basic understanding
and modeling capability. For example, the rotor unsteady
aerodynamics are still beyond our ability to predict, the
fuselage response varies during manoeuvre as the load
changes, the blades pass through the vortices left by
14
preceding blades and their position and energies vary with

time, the rotor and fuselage dynamics are coupled, there are
other complex interactions between the rotor wake and the
airframe including shuffle and pitch-up. Significant effort
is anticipated in this area critical to support future design
capability.

It is thought that specific development in thin skinned
monolithic thermoplastic structures joined by induction
welding, designed as a post-buckled structure is required
in the UK following trends developed by European
manufacturers who are well ahead in this field.
For metal structure complex three dimensionally loaded
components are critical, the rotor hub providing a prime
example. Use is increasingly made of titanium despite its
relatively high cost and relatively long lead times. Processes
providing the means to build up and qualify such parts
perhaps by metal deposition, linear friction welding or friction
stir welding are under investigation and of immediate interest
especially when they enable the use of simple stock sections
rather than complex forged or cast sections.

Fatigue and corrosion damage remain persistent problems
for rotorcraft perhaps more so than for fixed wing aircraft.
This stems from the severe operational environment of
the rotorcraft particularly with its high frequency vibration
content. The use of cold working technology for fatigue
life enhancement tends to be only applied in retrospect for
repaired items being too difficult and expensive to apply
routinely over the whole airframe and its components, ab
initio. Vibration loadings tend to induce fretting damage in
joints that leads to breakdown of protection, jointing and
sealing at interfaces and the onset of corrosion. More
research and development is needed to understand the
root causes of such damage, modeling the loading sources

and subsequent fretting and corrosion damage with a view
to enhanced life prediction or design improvement and
enhanced surface treatments.
The issue of materials availability is going to become

increasingly important for example certain metals are in
scarce supply and are yet critical to aerospace, copper for
electrical/electronic components or rhenium in engines
for example. Secure provision or the identification and
qualification of alternatives may become the most acute issue
facing aerospace long term. Obviously affecting the more
exotic materials, this difficulty might also be seen in well
established materials types with subtle yet important changes
The same comments apply to materials that may become

unavailable through legislation designed to protect the
environment and personnel such as REACH. The rotorcraft
industry has traditionally made significant use of cadmium
and chromium for the protection of corrosion prone
components. Flexible, rapid insertion and approval of new
materials and techniques may well be key.
The tightening of legislation covering disposal will
progressively affect aircraft design and manufacture and
moreover pressures to recycle materials will increase
because certain metals critical to aerospace are becoming
more scarce in supply, copper for electrical/electronic
components or rhenium in engines. Secure provision or the
identification and qualification of alternatives may become an
acute issue facing aerospace long term.
As composite structures come of age disposal techniques
are being sought to recover value from obsolete structure,
in much the same way as metallic components can enter a
secondary recycling chain.
15
For Composite structures, repair is a major issue. Repair

methods for composite materials and structures have long
been a topic for research and development. One aspect is
the ability to be assured of the subsequent performance of
any repair, to avoid excess over-engineering of any such
repair. That is it is not yet permitted to employ adhesive repair
techniques on primary aircraft structure as the process is
difficult to fully assure in an operational environment. Today,
mechanical fastening remains the only acceptable repair
technique. This is an issue for composite structure as the
certification requirement to permit mechanical repair severely
impairs the low weight design potential.
in alloy chemistry being dictated by shortage of materials

supply or developments driven off-shore. It would seem that
a capability for rapid insertion and qualification of substitutes
whether metal or composite would be important and of real
intrinsic value.
Possible Future Scenarios - 20 Year Horizon
inaccessible locations.
Future military requirements will persist for rotorcraft

since no loss in role or function is envisaged. However,
developments in unmanned and autonomous flight may
extend beyond fixed wing versions into the rotorcraft field,
military demonstrators already existing. Such systems would
supplement unmanned fixed wing aircraft already used for
surveillance and ground attack providing hover capability.
Again hybrid designs such as the tilt rotor may prove of worth
in military deployment, particularly for larger aircraft capability
where currently fixed wing aircraft are deployed with
extremely short take-off and landing techniques but requiring
maintained landing strips. The position of UK industry in
this arena should perhaps be challenged being capable,
it is believed, of expansion particularly exploiting the UKs
capability in autonomous systems.
Within a twenty year timescale the nature of civil air

transportation may well have changed in its balance between
mass transportation of passengers and freight, and personal
air transportation including corporate business travel. For the
traditional major market of mass movement of passengers
and freight, paradigm shifts might be required to maintain
competitiveness with other forms of surface transportation,
especially for the shorter route lengths. A simple example
is the current uptake of ultra high speed trains connecting
modern hubs or terminals. It maybe that ground or surface
effect vehicles will gain credibility and concepts such as the
advanced tube trains, electromagnetic lift and propulsion
steadily displace the standard short haul air transport (and
rotorcraft) traditionally used in this role. For the rotorcraft
currently the tilt rotor is seen as potentially providing a
solution to some of these problems but other concepts may
well emerge.
However, whilst individual modeling capabilities have been

developed separately over decades, integrated modeling of
whole bodies for different functionality such as aerodynamic
drag and lift, control performance, structural response,
cost, environmental impact etc. etc. etc. has hardly been
addressed being previously limited by computing power
to individual disparate modeling approaches. Typically
aerodynamics might operate with large surface areas, whilst
structural modeling will require high grid densities in full
structure to achieve accurate prediction of local events.
Beyond increasingly potent links between say fluid dynamics
and structural performance, much more needs to be done to
include rafts of disparate modeling capability into the same
functionality. A simple metric might be the near eradication
of structural test for designs that can be optimized, realized
and proven virtually. For the rotorcraft the very pertinent issue
of dynamic modeling of multi-modal structural response to
complex loadings and forcings cannot be over-emphasised.
In any event, air traffic congestion and terminal passenger

throughput has to be much improved to improve the
competitive position of air transport, particularly over
shorter routes. It seems likely that the current trend towards
personalized forms of transport for the better financed
will persist with sustained growth in the private wings or
personal plane market. Rotorcraft should have a stronger
role to play in this arena because their prime advantages of
site to site flight, restricted take-off and landing areas and
hover capability will persist. Key technologies may prove to
be the development of autonomy in rotorcraft flight control
and navigation allowing de-skilling of the pilot and cheaper
designs overall.
It would seem that traditional civil roles for rotorcraft in
accessing remote fields, off-shore platforms and installations,
surveillance of borders and traffic etc will persist indeed grow
with the ever increasing use of marine and desert resources
for wind/solar and tidal power generation and exploration
followed by exploitation of natural resources in yet more
16
For the future it must be the case, that an area for intense
development will be the ability of designers and engineers
to model every aspect of the design, development, build,
proving and operation of a rotorcraft addressing the
fundamental issues of right-first-time for designs and
enhanced flexibility for adaption, modification and operation.
The next twenty years will see massive increases in
computational power that should be sufficient to revolutionise
the design, manufacture and operation of rotorcraft. In
particular there remain issues with the ability to predict
the performance of rotorcraft in flight stemming from the
complexities of rotor performance.
Enhanced rotor and blade designs are still sought many

possibilities exist such as the use of co-axial rotor drives hubs
and transmissions, counter rotating rotors and even multi
rotor systems. For example, miniature automated four rotor
systems have been demonstrated offering great precision
in positioning of the rotorcraft sufficient for the placement of
components in manufacture. One key issue for future designs
may well prove to be computer based multi-disciplinary
optimization and more work in this area both building and
applying capabilities is sought.
Yet further electric developments. In terms of concept,
architecture and structure one issue of some importance
might prove to be developing a more electric aircraft in
particular it may prove possible to make the coupling,
transmission and control of power from the engines into the
rotors more electric, basically coupling electrical generators
to electric motors. Whilst a reduction in the number moving
parts and complex linkages thereby achieved should be
advantageous, it is not clear whether such an arrangement
would be weight efficient and more or less damage tolerant.
The environment sustainability issue has begun to be a major

driver for material selection and development in the future.
It maybe that carbon fibre could be replaced by a naturally
grown fibre or that the need to recover/recycle materials
will cause the revisiting metallic solutions. If materials could
be produced that were inherently self-protecting, it might
prove possible to dispense with the use of large volumes of
chemical treatments.

For current and long term developments, the main drive
here is for greater flexibility and the ability to rapidly build-up
structures from common simple forms of stock rather than
the need for long lead-time specialised shapes or performs.
Thus metallic developments may well revolve around the use
of rapid deposition techniques that will enable complex three
dimensional components to be built precisely-to-form and
the use of developing techniques for welded or adhesively
bonded attachments and joints. Advances in composite
manufacture will continue to focus on the rapid and reliable
deposition and consolidation of material attempting to
minimise jigging and lay-up inefficiencies.

Looking at parallel engineering developments for example for
the automobile, it can be seen that vehicles are now offered
with whole life warranties or zero planned maintenance. It
would seem that within a twenty year timescale such very
high levels of reliability might be achievable in aerospace.
The use of structural health monitoring and advanced
non-destructive evaluation techniques linked to design
analysis tools could potentially provide sufficient data to give
prediction of component safe life, which in turn could be used
to give operators a more directed maintenance programme
for each of their aircraft, significantly reducing unscheduled
maintenance and time out of service. This data could also be
fed back to the design organization and be used to improve
subsequent derivatives design.
Future military operations are foreseen that will continue to
require the deployment of rotorcraft for transport of personnel
and equipment, for surveillance, ground attack and maritime
defence. It maybe that an improved heavy lift capability
will become a major issue requiring new designs to be
generated.
It would seem that improvements in the ruggedness of
rotorcraft deployed in very adverse military conditions will
be a driving force for equipment and system improvements.
Equipment and engines obviously feature strongly in the
matter of maintenance. Also simple issues such as the
performance of seals and sealants figure here just as much
as more traditional areas for concern such as corrosion in
metals or environmental degradation in composite.
Irrespective of the source of design and manufacturing
capability, it is predicted that the UK will maintain a healthy
business in the operation, maintenance and improvement of
rotorcraft operated in civilian markets.
Parallel development of real-time on-line process control

and inspection systems will also be required to provide the
Product assurances. Intelligent automated systems with
multiple degrees of freedom and high levels of precision and
repeatable performance can be seen as key enablers for the
above.
With rising energy prices, energy consumption will
increasingly become a major concern for the future OEM.
Demands for lower energy processes will drive materials
development, for example microwave curable composites
or structural adhesives, low energy laser treatments or other
technologies not yet recognized today.
As discussed previously jigging and tooling are a significant
17
On the materials front, the traditional metrics for high

performance aerospace materials must surely persist for the
coming generations in terms of the need for lower density,
higher strength, stiffness and damage tolerance etc. etc. to
produce low mass affordable structures that are safe, reliable
and readily sourced. However, it might be noted that the base
aluminium alloys currently in use are modified versions of
alloy systems that are between sixty and one hundred years
old whilst the current forms of fibre reinforced polymers are
at least half this age. Further refinement must be possible for
these materials but it may well be the case that a step change
in materials performance should now be sought at least when
this time scale is envisaged. It is restated that developments
for rotorcraft may well have to follow those adopted for the
fixed wing manufacturers.
cost in the production of aircraft. One possibility is that

fly-away jigs become a feasible in the future i.e. jigging
is designed and built-in as an integral part of the aircrafts
structure.
Requirements Perceived for Materials and

Structures Research and Development
These requirements are addressed by separating them, nonexclusively, in terms of the principal research drivers previously
identified.
6.1 Safety
Development of new tougher composite materials and of
composites with improved thermal and electrical properties
Full scale modeling and testing of crashworthy structures
Repair process assurance techniques (process control,

non-destructive evaluation)
6.3 Efficiency
Development of improved, damage tolerant, wear, erosion,

corrosion and fatigue resistant structures
Enhanced performance modeling for rotorcraft specifically

including development of more advanced rotor models
Developments of understanding and control of fretting

induced corrosion
Development of novel concepts for whole rotorcraft, their

structural and rotor design
Development of sensor systems for inspection, corrosion

and damage detection to be integrated within structural
health monitoring capabilities
Optimisation of combinations of material, manufacturing

and assembly techniques that meet performance,
environmental and cost requirements over the full life cycle
of the product
Modeling of included defects and damage events including

high strain and high strain rate loading and high frequency,
multi-modal loads
Structural techniques or materials to enhance ballistic
survivability
6.2 Reliability
Development of dynamic structural modeling including
coupled modelling of whole rotorcraft
Modelling of long term performance of materials and
structures to reduce certification testing.
Development of adaptability in design better to enable
enhancements, upgrades and modifications
Improved prediction of residual life including modelling of
fatigue loads specifically for rotorcraft
Modelling and development of techniques to suppress
fretting and corrosion/fatigue damage
Development of life extension processes and their
modelling
Advanced in-service inspection & evaluation tools including
enhanced analysis methods for damage identification, the
interpretation of its significance and self sentencing
Integrated structural health sensing and condition
monitoring
NDE Techniques for metallic and composite structures
particularly addressing rapid inspection of complex
geometries
Repair process developments:
Repair of composites including in-situ repair techniques
Reliability, self-healing material
Friction stir welding
18
Material developments in conjunction with other

manufacturers for Thermoset and Thermoplastic
composite that concentrate on high strength and stiffness,
preforms, fillers, alternative manufacturing routes and low
temperature curing systems.
Composites with improved 3D properties and improved
coatings with enhanced abilities for damage detection,
repair and disposal/recovery.
Possible long term development of morphing materials and
structures especially for active rotorblades.
Assessment of the impact of an increasing use of novel
lightweight metal alloys including aluminium-lithium alloys
and metal-composite hybrids
Assessment of developments for titanium alloys and
supporting processes and treatments
Assessment and development of multi-functional materials

with additional property attributes e.g. Electrical and
thermal performance of composites
Assessment and demonstration of the potential benefits
and opportunities to insert nano-technologies into materials
and process developments
6.4 Affordability
Strengthened virtual design and test techniques to enable
more rapid evaluation of options, more rapid detailed
design, reduced levels of testing, strengthen procurement
advice. Develop virtual structural test capability, decreases
time to market
Lower cost composite manufacturing developments
including woven fabrics with enhanced performance and
processability
Material developments for metals that address the high cost
and restricted availability of titanium, possibly alternative
manufacturing methods such as laser processing.
Assessment of the vulnerabilities introduced by use of
materials in critical supply and identification of alternatives
Assessment of alternative materials, materials options and
interchangeability of materials
Development of tools to enable composite materials
interchangeability at low cost without expensive requalification.
Continual development of metallic and composite
fabrication techniques, particularly to deliver net shape
product and thereby negate post-processing:
Joining technologies e.g. Welding, Adhesive bonding
and Laser processing
Thermoplastic welding and techniques to build up
stiffened thin panelled structure
Advanced casting or resin transfer moulding materials
+ techniques
Microwaveable curing
Composite to metal joints
Low energy laser treatments
Performance and process development for adhesive
bonded joints, composite to composite, composite to metal
and metal to metal.
High performance/quick assembly joints for CFRP/hybrid
structure
High performance/quick assembly joints for CFRP/hybrid
structure real-time quality assurance methods
Further development of automated manufacture and
assembly systems including intelligent systems for
accurate measurement and inspection, feature recognition,
process control, and tight tolerance performance.
Jigless assembly and forming including fly-away tooling
Machine/human interface technologies
6.5
Environmental Impact
Technology watching and its evaluation

Further design and development of noise/ vibration control
technology for rotorcraft
Alternative materials and surface engineering processes
to meet future environmental legislation requirements
or diminishing availability especially noting heavy metal
issues.
Development of Environmental impact models
Strengthening of virtual design, test and evaluation
techniques to include assessment of potential
environmental impacts including noise thereby enabling
more rapid evaluation of options and reduced testing
Studying the implications of non-national design and lifeing
techniques including design philosophies, for example
differing international attitudes to chromium and cadmium
based protection systems
Ultra low cost tooling - recoverable and flyaway tooling
Strong contribution to support rapid insertion of new

technology into existing designs to obviate environmental
impact (e.g. loss of use of cadmium.)
Surface engineering/coatings techniques
Low consumption cleaning and protection systems
3D woven composites
Materials recovery, re-cycling and/or re-use technologies
Automated lay-up and fibre placement, toroidal winding
Assessment of development of natural fibres for

composites or advanced fibres providing alternatives for
carbon.
Additive Manufacture - metallic or composite
Process simulation for fast resin transfer moulding

Low energy, high speed product processing
19
Structural optimisation and and analysis including

asymmetric lay-up in composites
Out-of-autoclave manufacturing techniques
Research Collaboration
Research is increasingly done via national and international collaboration
to minimize cost, broaden perspectives and enhance capabilities.
7.1 National Strategies for Collaboration

National collaborative programmes for industrially led
aerospace research and development can be identified under
the umbrella of the Aerospace and Defence Knowledge
Transfer Network as the National Aerospace Technology
Strategy wherein lies a strong element of advanced
materials and structures research including SMART
structures, Advanced Materials and Health Management
and Prognostics. Aligned subject matter such as advanced
design and manufacture, modeling and simulation are also
extensively accommodated. Technology developed under
this umbrella is fed into major demonstration programmes
which include future composite wing initiatives for example.
Other initiatives such as Greener by Design or OMEGA focus
more upon the environmental issues and challenges facing
the aerospace industry and growth within it.
Open, competitively won, Government funding supports
these and of course yet further programmes via a raft of
mechanisms such as the UK Technology Strategy Board
open competitions, the Research Councils responsive
research modes and specific focused support from
the Regional Development Agencies and Devolved
Administrations.
The Technology Strategy Board places a clear emphasis on
the need for research in advanced materials and structures
albeit encompassing a far broader field than aerospace
per se taking Transport and Intelligent Transport Systems
as themes for investment for example. The TSB, along with
Advantage West Midlands and East Midlands Development
Agency are supporting the creation of the Manufacturing
20
Technology Centre (MTC). This centre will address the gap in

capability in the UK of translating research and development
findings into useful production solutions for, among others,
airframe manufacture. Ministry of Defence, with its own clear
cut requirements, funds its own programmes including those
in materials, structures and health management for example
but taking cognizance of the content of these national
initiatives described above.
A key element in all these programmes is the involvement,
leadership, investment and up-take provided by UK
aerospace industry which is very substantial.
A parallel Network in Materials, Materials UK , accommodates
issues more pertinent to the materials supply industry on a
broader basis than aerospace.
7.2 International Collaboration

International collaboration is perhaps best exemplified by
participation in European Framework programmes although
the opportunities for international collaboration beyond
Europe continue to mount.
Current FP7 developments are focusing on very large
programmes set at a strategic level for example by the
inclusion of aerospace within more general transportation
themes. Whilst there is an inevitable dilution of the aerospace
technical focus within these large multi-national initiatives, a
myriad of individual opportunities exist within these structures
for individual participation. Frameworks beyond the closing
FP7 are perhaps now becoming more significant for research
considered within the 20 year timescale of this Review.
Summary
This review has been produced under the auspices of the

Materials and Structures National Technical Committee, an
integral part of the Knowledge Transfer Network in Aerospace
and Defence. The central requirement for the review to is
to provide informed opinion on the foreseen needs and
opportunities for capability in materials and structures for UK
air vehicles.
C J Peel
OBE, FREng, FRAeS
Prof Chris Peel
Advise Air Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1252 694 791,
Email: chris.peel4@ntlworld.com
The recent history and current trends in application of

structural technology and advanced materials for military
and civil rotorcraft have been reviewed and possible future
developments over two decades identified speculatively.
This leads to the identification of possible new research and
development projects in structures and materials set against
requirements for safety, reliability, efficiency, affordability and
environmental impact.
Principal Authors
Michael Overd
Head of Structures Design & Development
Tel: +39 033171 1779
Tel: +44 1935 702452
Email: michael.overd@agustawestland.com
Designer
Daniel Jones
Network & Communications Manager
Aerospace, Aviation & Defence KTN
Tel: +44 (0) 207 091 1123
Fax: +44 (0) 207 091 4545
Email: daniel.jones@aadktn.co.uk
21
Materials & Structures National Technical Committee

Members
22
Mike Hicks (Chairman)
Rolls-Royce plc
Geoff Armstrong
David Bond
Andrew Clarke
Andrew Clements
John Cornforth
Paul Curtis
Richard Freeman
Mark French
Patrick Grant
Ian Gurnell
John Haddock
Simon Harris
Goodrich
Messier-Dowty
QinetiQ Group plc
Cytec Engineered Materials
GKN
DSTL
TWI Ltd
QinetiQ Group plc
Oxford Materials
Advanced Composites Group
BAE Systems plc
Messier Dowty
Keith Harrison
Independent
Phil Harrison
Terry Hirst
Richard Jones
Ajay Kapadia
Nigel Keen
Dan Kells
Peter Morgan
John Morlidge
Michael Overd
Pete Murray
Chris Peel
Richard Pitman
Ken Poston
Malcolm Robb
Kam Sagoo
Colin Small
Iain Smith
Roger Thomas
Geoff Tomlinson
Paul Weaver
David Wilkes
Airbus UK Ltd
Goodrich
DSTL
National Composites Network
Materials KTN
BAE Systems plc
Corus Ltd
Technology Strategy Board
AgustaWestland
Aerospace, Aviation & Defence KTN
Independent
BIS
Bombardier Aerospace
BAE Systems plc
BAE Systems plc
Rolls-Royce plc
TWI Ltd
TIMET
University of Sheffield
University of Bristol
Ministry of Defence
23
About the Aerospace, Aviation & Defence Knowledge Transfer Network
The Aerospace, Aviation & Defence KTN is the single overarching network of Business, Government and
Academia fostering collaborative research and development across the sector furthering wealth creation in
the UK. The KTN is funded solely by the Technology Strategy Board and is hosted by A|D|S Group, the UKs
premier trade association across Aerospace, Defence and Security.
To connect with the Aerospace, Aviation & Defence KTN you can register for free
at www.aadktn.co.uk to access services, networks and to receive the weekly
newsletter. Email the KTN at contact@aadktn.co.uk for further information.
The views and judgments expressed in this report reflect the consensus reached by the authors and contributors
and do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation to which they are affiliated. Whilst every care has been
taken in compiling the information in this report, neither the authors nor the Aerospace, Aviation and Defence
KTN Materials and Structures National Technical Committee can be held responsible for any errors, omissions or
subsequent use of this information.
Images reproduced with the kind permission of: AgustaWestland.
www.aadktn.co.uk

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UK

A review by the Materials & Structures

This review has been produced under the auspices

The review has been mounted on the Aerospace,

Foreword by Dr Mike Hicks

4 Current trends 5 year horizon

5 Possible Future Scenarios - 20 Year Horizon

6 Requirements Perceived for

Materials & Structures NTC Members

About the Aerospace, Aviation & Defence KTN

Foreword by Dr Ruth Mallors

UK Aerospace and Defence is a success story by any

The sector delivers against the UKs highest level strategic

Foreword by Dr Mike Hicks

With collaboration being the irrefutable enabler

This review has been mounted on the Aerospace, Aviation

A review considering the materials and structural requirements for

This review is one of nine produced and upgraded progressively by

2.2 UK Strategies and Philosophies for

major international partner with all aspects of the industry

Affordability. Low specific fuel consumption and minimal

2.3 Market Size and Its Importance to the

2.4 Market Trends

2.5 International Issues

Environmental Impact. Minimising environmental impact

this activity to the UK economy is estimated at 500m per

3.1 Aircraft Configurations and Concepts

Rotorcraft designs can perhaps best be characterized by the

3.2 Structural Design and Materials Choice

3.2.1 Fuselage Design

fuselage skinning is likely to be a hybrid mixture of aluminium

3.2.2 Engine and Rotor Design

In addition to the mechanical and vibration loading of the

Note should be taken of the British Experimental Rotor

3.2.3 Transmission Systems Technology

To add to these complexities the rotor blades themselves are

constructions of metal spar with attached metal pockets,

been sought including welding of logs, bars and attachments

3.2.4 Landing Gear and Flotation

types of material to be considered, namely thermoset and

Historically, military and civil rotorcraft have remained in

thin metal strips, usually a nickel alloy.

have to be considered eg when using mechanical fastening

Current Trends - 5 Year Horizon

4.1.1 The Uninhabited Autonomous

Removing the human element of the rotorcraft payload

4.1.2 Diesel Engine Powerplant

4.2 Structural Design and Materials Choice

Rotor designs may be subject to yet further improvements

The key short term development goals are to improve

Additionally and quite separately electromechanical actuation

Previously, monolithic composite skins with co-cured or

4.1.3 The More Electric Rotorcraft.

Current Trends - 5 Year Horizon

also because the buckling imparts high peel loads to the

preceding blades and their position and energies vary with

4.3 Manufacturing Development

4.4 Operational Issues

root causes of such damage, modeling the loading sources

The issue of materials availability is going to become

The same comments apply to materials that may become

For Composite structures, repair is a major issue. Repair

in alloy chemistry being dictated by shortage of materials

Possible Future Scenarios - 20 Year Horizon

Rotorcraft and Rotary Wing Materials & Structures Review V1.0.0

Rotorcraft and Rotary Wing Materials & Structures Review V1.0.0