A $48 million grant has made Spokane/Coeur d’Alene the global location for the thermoplastic development of aerospace parts, with all players located at the Center.
Industry collaboration has never been stronger. With a common goal of reduced cost, weight, and rapid development of new aircraft in the U.S., the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene region, along with massive partnerships, has developed and been selected to receive money for an American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center (AAMMC) – otherwise known as the Tech Hub grant.
The aerospace industry is forecasting mass production of single-and-twin-aisle aircraft in the short term. Boeing forecasts 40,000 single-aisle and widebody airplanes over the next 20 years, which means a production rate of 70-100 new aircraft per month. The consortium said there is an opportunity for American suppliers, specifically aerospace suppliers, to catch up to global competition. It also encourages technology and tooling using environmentally friendly materials.
The solution is thermoplastic composites. These composites are different from thermoset composites in that they can be used and re-used in different forms. They are also lightweight and strong and can be used in large-format aircraft production.
The Center where the AAMMC Tech Hub will reside is being retrofitted from an earlier business with Triumph Composites at that location. The Center’s goal is to bring together all key partners in the grant to develop and purchase new equipment and to work together to create the initial prototypes and products that will become large-format commercial aircraft parts.
Lakeside Companies, led by John J. Hemmingson, CEO, owns the building housing the Center and is one of the leading consortium members.
“This partnership has worked for two years on this plan to enable this region to lead the country and the world in the next generation of aerospace parts and reverse the trend toward foreign manufacturing. By establishing this capability in the Inland Northwest at the heart of the I-90 aerospace corridor, we are bringing together the right resources in the right region to create a critical capability for our country.”
The coalition of partners expressed excitement about what this means for the region and the country. “Our coalition looks forward to filling this building with equipment unlike any of its kind in the world, bringing our top industry and NASA engineers together under one roof, and ensuring the pipeline of aerospace talent stays in the Pacific Northwest.”
Partners include education, industry manufacturers, government, chambers of commerce, OEMs, and materials manufacturers. All partners will play a role in the scientific, technical, and material development of aircraft parts using a massive investment in large-format equipment.
Center leadership said, “The AAMMC is industry-led by Boeing, Collins, Spirit, ‘Toray,’ and Syensqo, plus local composites suppliers in the region. These local and global aerospace companies worked together with federal labs at NASA, the Air Force Research Lab, supply chain, and other key industry contacts to collaboratively develop a detailed plan for proving advanced composite manufacturing methods and part families through Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) six through nine to bring them to market much faster.”
One such partnership is with Syensqo’s Trevor S. McCrea, thermoplastic composites platform manager North America TPC Applications Development. He shared, “It is all a web that works together and takes the thermoplastic composites use to the next level. It’s where we want to be, where large OEMs like Boeing, Collins, and military companies like Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman have a place where we can work with them on larger and larger structures, which enables them when they launch their next aircraft.” He added that Syensqo and ’Toray,’ both raw materials producers, often in competition with one another, will work side-by-side at the Center in the pursuit of meeting the goal of the Center.
He said that while they have focused on thermoplastics, ‘Toray’ has concentrated on thermoset materials in aerospace. But now they are both in the thermoplastic space, like ATC Manufacturing, in the creation of small-and-large format components — for both the fuselage and wings.
“The piece we bring, along with our competitors, is how to use our specific materials. It is a common goal to bring thermoplastic composites where they belong in an aircraft. As a whole, there will be synergies at the macro level of thermoplastic composites,” he said.
Regarding intellectual property (IP) developed at the Center, McCrea added, “Yes, now we will have a common place to meet. If I want this material to be successful, we need to meet, and we can leverage the place and work together.” He envisions working spaces and the potential for IP development while sharing the same equipment.
Steve Cease, Global CTO/US Managing Director, ‘Toray’ Advanced Composites, said, “There are unique advantages to thermoplastic composites. There is no reaction chemistry; you don’t need freezers, there is no cure cycle, (it) can offer more rapid fabrication methods, and assembly methods are lower cost.”
He noted that while thermoplastics are not as “mature or broadly adopted as thermosets,” there is an opportunity to develop their use at the Center. He considers how to replace metallic aircraft — made mostly from aluminum — to rapidly increase production volume using thermoplastics on more parts than commonplace latches and bins.
At this time, he said they make 10 to 15 twin-aisle 787, 777 and A350 aircraft monthly, but to rapidly increase to 80 aircraft a month for Airbus and Boeing, they need to retool the method and manufacturing which thermoplastic offers.
The Center will be a key location for developing new technologies on large-scale equipment that will allow for fabrication and product certification. It is both a testbed and a training center to be leveraged by industry and educational facilities, allowing for new product development and a ramp-up of trained personnel. Cease said the personnel will include everyone from technicians to engineers to scientists. He added, “Building this will create entrepreneurship. Pulling everyone together is a collective education and industry awareness. Bringing this large-scale equipment will foil the naysayers.” He added that this work would bring in Boeing, NASA, and the big players, like ‘Toray,’ which has 50,000 employees worldwide. He thinks it will portend further aerospace-related industries, such as urban air mobility, as “an eco-system as opposed to a competitive base.”
“I am so pleased that the efforts of the AAMMC leadership have yielded this fantastic funding result,” says Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh. “We have been confident from the beginning that the Spokane-North Idaho Tech Hub holds tremendous potential for developing advanced technologies, manufacturing and production that will help meet critical demand for aerospace components. We are committed to pursuing additional funding to support educational programs and workforce development that will be essential to the success of the Tech Hub.”
Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray have shared their involvement in securing funding for the Center. They are counting on the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene regions to create new technologies through research and development to solve challenges in American manufacturing.
For business organizations looking at economic development — like Greater Spokane, Inc. — Gary Ballew, VP of economic development, said, “Two important elements are visibility of the capabilities here, putting us on the national and international stage, and being known as a center of excellence around advanced thermoplastic composites.” He expects economic growth in the region with new manufacturers and talent moving into the area.
The timeframe for bringing advanced composites via thermoplastics is five years, and they hope to have demonstrator parts by next year.
Want to get involved?
Small and regional manufacturers can check out the website at www.aerospacetechhub.com or email at inquiries@aerospacetechhub.com
Parts to be developed at the Center
This testbed and training center will develop a class of next-generation lightweight composite parts like ribs, beams, doors, bulkheads, and stiffened skins in preparation for high-rate manufacturing techniques. The Hub will advance these methods through Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) six through nine for defense and commercial applications.
Contact
Lakeside Companies
Maria Lusardi
AAMMC Communications
T: 509-474-1928
M: 573-289-0714
E: mlusardi@aerospacetechhub.com
