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 Composite Wing Skin
Saves Time And Money
Lockheed Martin used an automated fiber-placement process to demonstrate substantial cost and schedule savings in production of the composite upper wing skin for the JSF. The process is part of the Airframe Affordability Demonstration program the JSF team is performing in concert with the construction of two concept demonstrator aircraft. Fiber-placement technology used for this skin is projected to save twenty-five percent in labor and twenty-eight percent in material costs over traditional manual fabrication methods. The skin was produced at Alliant Techsystem’s Utah Composites Center using its proprietary seven-axis, large structure fiber-placement machine, which can produce parts up to sixteen feet in diameter. The wing skin is a complex shape that attaches to the wing carry-through assembly. It is made of carbon-epoxy material, measures approximately twelve feet by fourteen feet, and weighs 350 pounds. |
