Improvement of the fire resistance of Discontinuous Long Fiber Thermoplastic Composites for gas turbine engine applications

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) is interested to further investigate the use of novel Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC’s) technologies, in order to improve their products by reducing weight and increasing performances of their engines. Current applications of PMC’s in P&WCs engine are mostly limited to cold section parts (< 100°C), nonstructural external components, and nacelle skin panels. Most of the parts are manufactured using a traditional hand lay-up process, and are consolidated using autoclaves, which involves high cost and long manufacturing time. Thermoplastic composites are an interesting alternative to reduce the processing time, and manufacturing costs of complex engine parts. Recent development showed that thermoplastic composites with Discontinuous Long Fibers (DLF) manufactured by compression molding can lead to significant weight and cost savings. TO BE CONT"D

Faculty Supervisor:

Pascal Hubert

Student:

Gilles-Philippe Picher-Martel

Partner:

Pratt & Whitney Canada

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

Aerospace and defense

University:

Program: