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The Consortium for Research and Innovation in Quebec (CRIAQ) has announced the launch of the official cooperative research and development program, in collaboration with Hamburg’s ZAL Centre of Applied Aeronautical Research, located in Germany.
The project aims to combine the competencies on both continents in the development of innovative new products. This initiative is part of CRIAQ’s international strategy from its 2016-2021 Strategic Plan.
Over the next three years, partners on both sides of the Atlantic will conduct joint research on quieter aircraft cabins and new fireproof composite fibre components. Plans are also underway for another joint research project.
A total of 20 partners are involved in transatlantic cooperation, including companies of varying sizes, universities and research institutions in both countries.
The Montreal-Hamburg partnership, which includes Hamburg Aviation, Aero Montreal, ZAL, CRIAQ and the Comite sectoriel de main-d’oeuvre en aerospatiale au Quebec (CAMAQ), filed the research and development component of the August 2016 agreement with the goal of initiating the development of three joint projects between companies, research centres and educational institutions in Montreal and the Hamburg metropolitan area.
Quieter aircraft cabins for tomorrow’s travels
Today, the noise level in an aircraft cabin is similar to that on a busy motorway. The engines themselves are getting quieter and quieter, but noise and vibration continue to be transferred to the inside of the aircraft via the outer skin of the fuselage, particularly at takeoff.
The performance limits of conventional insulating material such as glass, wool and foam have long since been reached. As a next step, German and Canadian researchers want to investigate the potential of new sound-absorbing insulation–so-called acoustic metamaterials–as a standard approach to in-flight noise reduction.
Test sites will include the Acoustics Lab at Hamburg’s ZAL Centre of Applied Aeronautical Research; the research infrastructure at this facility is amongst the most extensive in Europe.
The project is being led by ZAL and Mecanum. Other partners are 3M Canada, Airbus, the Ecole de Technologie Superieure, the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hutchinson Aerospace GmbH, the National Research Council Canada, and the Universite de Sherbrooke.
New fireproof composite components for the cabin
Modern aircraft are not only quieter than their predecessors, but they are also lighter and, therefore, significantly more cost-efficient. One essential reason for this is the increased deployment of lightweight composite fibre materials to replace the much heavier metals used in aircraft construction.
In the second German-Canada research project, current production methods of composite materials for the aircraft cabin are to be further optimized.
The transatlantic partners want to test new material combinations for their suitability in production and for flammability. The goal is to make composite materials used in aircraft even safer, more environmentally friendly and lighter.
The project is being led by the Comprisetec company in Hamburg and Canada’s Kruger Biomaterials. Further partners are Exakt Advanced Technologies, the Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg University of Technology, Pultrusion Technique, Polytechnique Montreal, and the Ecole de Technologie Superieure Montreal.
