BMW and Boeing to collaborate on carbon-fiber materials
Two heavyweights in the automotive and aerospace industries are joining minds on lighter materials. BMW and Boeing on Dec. 12 announced they would do joint research on carbon-fiber recycling and share knowledge about the material and its manufacture. As part of the collaboration agreement, the two companies will also share carbon-fiber manufacturing process simulations and ideas for manufacturing automation. BMW in 2013 plans to introduce two models from its new i brand (i3 battery-electric and i8 plug-in hybrid) featuring bodies made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner aircraft is made up of 50% carbon fiber. The collaboration is the first ever between the two companies.
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The bodies of BMW's i brand models will use carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. (Patrick Ponticel)
Algae.Tec, Lufthansa agree to build biofuel production facility in Europe
Algae.Tec and Lufthansa signed a collaboration agreement for the construction of a large-scale algae-to-aviation biofuels production facility. The site will be in Europe adjacent to an industrial CO2 source. Lufthansa will arrange 100% funding for the project. Algae.Tec will receive license fees and profits from the project, which will be managed by Algae.Tec. As part of the agreement, Lufthansa commits to a long-term offtake agreement of at least 50% of the crude oil produced at an agreed price. The agreement forms the base for a long-term cooperation between Algae.Tec and Lufthansa for the industrial production of crude algae suitable for conversion into aviation kerosene and conventional diesel fuels.
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Algae.Tec’s Shoalhaven One algae production facility in Bomaderry, New South Wales, Australia, is shown.
Magellan Aerospace announces contract with Boeing
Boeing awarded Magellan Aerospace Corp. a contract for the continuation of the production of complex, hard metal structural assemblies for the next-generation 737, 747-8, 767, 777, and the production of such assemblies for the new 787 Dreamliner airplanes. These integrated assemblies will be manufactured and delivered from Magellan's New York, NY, and Kitchener, Ontario, operating facilities beginning in 2013. Magellan's core aerostructures expertise is in the provision of complex, machined components for large commercial platforms. Boeing and Magellan have an established relationship and have benefited from working together to develop improved efficiencies using Boeing lean and value engineering tools as well as the Magellan Operating System.
Boeing awards composite aerostructures contract for 777 and 787 Dreamliner
Boeing and Mubadala Aerospace signed a 10-year direct contract for Strata Manufacturing, Mubadala Aerospace's advanced composite aerostructures facility in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, to produce commercial composite aerostructures for the 777 and 787 Dreamliner. In addition, the companies announced a strategic agreement that positions Strata to be a future supplier of the vertical fin for the Dreamliner, a major composite assembly. In Boeing's first direct composites supplier contract in the Arab world, Strata will manufacture empennage ribs for the 777 and vertical fin ribs for the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has already begun to provide tooling, operational early training, and other support for those work packages, and Strata's deliveries of those components are scheduled to begin in 2013.
MacLean-Fogg forms Engineered Plastics Company
MacLean-Fogg Component Solutions has announced the formation of the new Engineered Plastics Company (EPC)—a merger of its Polymer Technologies business in Whitewater, WI, with EPC of Menomonee Falls, WI. EPC, which has been in operation since 1981, is a plastic injection molding supplier. The new Engineered Plastics Co. will be aligned under the Engineered Components Group of MacLean-Fogg Component Solutions. MacLean-Fogg supplies engineered components, fastener components, and linkage and suspension components to a range of industries including automotive, heavy truck, aerospace, appliance, wind, and mining. Engineered components include cold formed and machined components, horizontal hot-formed components, and engineered functional plastics. Fastener components include Securex and Decorex brand wheel fasteners, high-temperature Lockthread bolts, ESNA locknuts, and a variety of internally threaded fasteners such as Whiz-Lock, Clinch-Lok, and Step-Lok nuts. Linkage and suspension components include aluminum control arms, ball studs, housings, plastics, and PogoStik linkages.
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners begins construction on new facility
Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners has begun construction on the company's new facility at Singapore's Seletar Aerospace Park. The new, approximately 15,000-m² manufacturing facility and office building will be the latest addition to Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners' comprehensive suite of businesses in Singapore, with an office area housing production management, various support functions, and Global Services Engineering–Asia, which provides aftermarket repair design innovation to provide airline customers optimum air-worthy, high-quality, cost-effective material reuse solutions. The new facility is expected to be ready for initial occupancy during the first quarter of 2013. Pratt & Whitney is United Technologies Corp.’s largest aerospace employer in Singapore, and is home to the most comprehensive Pratt & Whitney aftermarket presence in one location with five facilities.
Magellan Aerospace to supply aluminum and titanium structural components
Magellan Aerospace (U.K.) Ltd. and GKN Aerospace signed a contract extension to deliver aluminum and titanium components from Magellan's Bournemouth and Chalfont St Peter divisions. This contract is projected to generate revenues in excess of £200 million through December 2017. The components are destined for GKN's Filton facility, which manufactures and assembles wing structures. To support this program, Magellan will make further investments in high-speed five-axis machining technology.
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