GKN Aerospace is leading a new UK industry consortium to develop more sustainable composite material for the UK aerospace and automotive industries.
During a three-year period, the £39.6 million Aerospace and Automotive Supply Chain Enabled Development (ASCEND) consortium, funded by government and industry, will aim to increase the adoption of composite technologies, the industrialization of new technologies, and aerospace production rates to meet future high-volume requirements. Plans are to design more lightweight structures to make the air mobility, aerospace and automotive industries more sustainable.
The consortium includes Assyst Bullmer, Airborne, Cobham Mission Systems Wimborne, Cygnet Texkimp, Des Composites, FAR-UK Ltd, Hexcel Composites, Hive Composites, LMAT, Loop Technology, McLaren Automotive, the National Composites Centre, Rafinex, Sigmatex (UK) and Solvay Composite Materials with investment support from Axillium Research. According to GKN, the project aims to create more than 700 UK roles by 2035.
The project will be based in GKN Aerospace’s £32 million Global Technology Centre in Bristol, UK.
‘Accelerating the next-generation of lightweight, cost effective advanced composite technologies is critical for the aerospace and automotive industry and its move to more energy-efficient aircraft and vehicles,’ said John Pritchard, president of civil airframe at GKN Aerospace.
This story uses material from GKN, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
