Industry: ENEA awarded a project with Fraunhofer IFAM on safe components for aeronautics

ENEA has been granted 400 thousand euro under a European project coordinated by Fraunhofer IFAM, to develop advanced technologies for improved safety standards and higher energy efficiency of aircraft components. The COMBONDT project is part of the Horizon 2020 programme ^[1] and involves the major European research centres and aeronautic industries, including Airbus. COMBONDT (i.e., Quality assurance concepts for adhesive bonding of aircraft composite structures by advanced NDT) is a three-year project funded with 4617226 euro, 398125 of which granted to ENEA.

The ENEA technology, developed at Portici Research Centre, is dedicated to ‘intelligent’ detectors capable of identifying, classifying and detecting any possible contaminants upon the surface of aircraft components before being assembled. The presence of contaminants is a risk for safety since they cause faults in the bonded joints and, consequently, possible alterations in their mechanical characteristics.

The availability of mature intelligent detection technologies on the market permits a larger use of composite panels for aircraft components so that the lower the overall weight of aircrafts, the higher the energy efficiency of aircrafts, thus making the European aviation industry much more competitive.

With COMBONDT, ENEA continues its European experience dedicated to developing electronic detection devices for the aerospace sector, with possible applications also to engine diagnostics, emission monitoring and analysis of air quality in the cockpit.

Thanks to the joint collaboration of sensorial technology and ICT experts , the ENEA Portici laboratories represent a European excellence in the development of multisensorial chemical and artificial olfaction technologies applicable to aeronautics, biomedicine, smart cities and energy efficiency.

Source: Saverio De Vito, Portici Research Centre, saverio.devito@enea.it

[1] – Mobility for Growth Competitiveness of European Aviation through cost efficiency and innovation