Life cycle assessment of an integrated upper skin wing box for next generation civil tiltrotor

Abstract

The Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor (NextGenCTR) will be one of the main flying demonstrators to be developed in the Clean Sky 2 Research Programme for the Fast Rotorcraft Innovative Aircraft Demonstrator Platform (IADP). Technology demonstration activities will be addressed to provide significant improvement with respect to current state-of-the-art Tiltrotors technologies. One of the key enabling feature of a civil Tiltrotor will be the advanced wing architecture having high level of integration able to minimize number of components, junctions and masses. Such optimization is mandatory to avoid the related structural weaknesses induced by its size, different operational configurations and unconventional/challenging flight conditions. Within Fast Rotorcraft (FRC) IADP Work Package 1, the T-WING project is aimed at developing, manufacturing, testing, and qualifying an Innovative Composite Wing for NextGenCTR. Specific T-WING new design and production techniques are fully relevant to the wider scope of Eco-Design Concept Implementation (FRC-IADP WP3) aiming to demonstrate the greening of rotorcraft production processes. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method defined for T-Wing complies with standard rules for assessing the environmental impact of the life cycle of a generic product (ISO 14040, 14044) from the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing and assembly processes (i.e. following a ‘cradle-to-gate’ approach). The use of such standards has been recognized as an effective way to assure a systemic and robust assessment. The standardized general rules drive a fruitful and effective approach to compare info, data collection criterions, data tracking methods and for result reporting. The life cycle inventory describes, in a detailed way, the wing box part characteristics, processes and the impact contributions referring to one single wing box with related air emissions, discharge in waters and soils through the full manufacturing process. Preliminary LCA results, will be presented in order to identify, quantify, and evaluate environmental differences between a conventional structural concept and the innovative highly integrated upper skin wing box designed in the T-WING project.