Safety of flight approach for fuel tanks ALM flanges for tiltrotor application

Abstract

Additive Layer Manufacturing (ALM) is a very promising manufacturing technology, which makes possible to produce components that would not have even been possible just a few years ago. Metal powder additive manufacturing produces three-dimensional parts layer by layer. This allows for almost a complete freedom of design and it overcomes the traditional limits of subtractive manufacturing techniques, such as CNC. The design process can also incorporate the use of topological optimization software, making it also possible to obtain higher integration with respect to machined parts, thus minimizing the number of components to be assembled, with advantages in terms of material waste and energy consumption. The present paper intends to be an overview of the approach which aims to guarantee the safety of flight of metal Additive layer manufactured parts of the fuel storage system of a Civil Tilt Rotor Technology Demonstrator under development in the framework of EU Clean Sky 2. Since the flight tests are already scheduled, the technologies that will be taken on-board will reach TRL6 at least. The parts under investigation are the metallic flanges, which connect the fuel hoses system to the fuel storage system (which are bladder tanks installed in the wing bays). A flowchart of the testing activities, aiming to guarantee the safety of flight, is presented, along with manufacturing, experimental and NDI results.