NASA recently announced that they had awarded funding in the amount of $1.9 million to Cessna Aircraft Company in order to further research the possibility of wrapping an aircraft in a composite skin. The funding is part of NASA’s N+3 program which is researching a variety of methods that can be used to design and build more technically advanced aircraft with superior capabilities. The program consists of three other teams that are working on separate types of research. Those teams are from Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These teams are working on designing new types of wings, designing a new fuselage layout, and creating a super efficient sub-sonic aircraft. NASA is hoping that the research that comes out of this project will be put to use in aircraft which are manufactured around the year 2035. The project awarded to Cessna Aircraft has an ambitious plan to start building test units late in the summer of this year.
The design that Cessna Aircraft has come up with would utilize various types of composite materials that would be applied to the aircraft in layers in order to make a very strong, smooth, and intelligent exterior. They have not decided on a final design or what type of materials will be used for the project. They anticipate that this will require between two and four layers on the outside of the aircraft with a final layer which would be similar to a skin that would fit tightly over the entire exterior of the aircraft.
The first layer would likely be a type of foam that would provide some structural strength but would mostly be used for impact absorption in the event of a crash or impact with foreign objects. The next layer would consist of composite materials, likely in a honeycomb or similar shape, in order to provide structural strength and rigidity. Engineers working on the project have not decided upon where the sensors and other components will be located. The final layer is the skin that would stretch to fit snugly over the previous layers and provide a super smooth exterior surface. The goal is to provide a surface that is more smooth than existing surfaces and this will hopefully reduce drag.
When Cessna Aircraft Company started this project they had been given parameters by NASA for the project which are named STAR C2. This stands for the following: smoothness, thermal insulation, absorption, reflection of ultra-violet radiation, conduct electrical current, cosmetically appealing. With these attributes in mind they need to make a product which will conduct electricity in order to withstand lightning strikes. They also are hoping to design a system that shows when the surface or structure has been compromised.
With many composite materials you will not see any signs of damage even when the strength is considerably reduced. This aims to fix that problem by showing some visible sign of damage, likely to be a change in color similar to when you get a bruise on your body. The system will also have multiple sensors that would allow the pilot to detect any problems by viewing the data provided by the sensors. This is a very ambitious project that should result in some very interesting designs and possibly future products.
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