Abstract:

Starting from the evolution of the application of composites to military and civil aircraft, this article provided a survey of the application of composites in aircraft structures, especially in the main structure of Boeing 787. The specific issues in applying composites to fuselage components and the dispute between Boeing and Airbus were presented. The competition between Boeing and Airbus in applying composites was analyzed and their respective strategy was discussed using Boeing 787 and A380 as an example, which dealt with the manufacture technology of monolithic fuselage composite components and the technology of using large-scale composite panels to assemble a fuselage. The new measures of Airbus in coping with the pressure of competition were presented, which was using composite paneled fuselage skins and increasing the amount of composites on A350 XWB to 52%. Finally, the uniqueness and complexity of composite component design and manufacture were summarized, which could shed light on China’s development of large-scale aircraft.

Key words: composite materials, aircraft manufacture, Boeing 787, Airbus A350-XWB