What to expect in 2018 if you are an Aerospace manufacturer?
2018 is going to be an exciting year for Aerospace Industry. Here are five reasons why:
- Zero-Fuel Aircraft
These aircrafts will use photovoltaic solar panels to use the solar energy to produce the necessary thrust to power an aircraft’s engine. This concept has gained a lot of traction in both civil and commercial aviation sectors.
In attempts to alleviate the stress aerospace industry puts on the environment, this revolutionary idea does light up hopes.
- Structural Health Monitoring
To improve upon our ability to analyze and determine the health status of an aircraft, advanced health management systems like monitoring, prognostics and self-healing, are being innovated in. These are in use in Airbus and Boeing aircrafts and are being adapted for others.
- Advanced Space Propulsion Technologies
VASIMR (Registered) (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) has been developed by NASA in collaboration with Department of Energy and Oak Ridge /national Laboratory, which is a new plasma based rocket propulsion technology.
If all goes as planned, this technology will result in lower fuel consumption and will enable long-term space missions in the future.
- Advanced Materials
New materials like graphene and carbon nanotubes are revolutionizing manufacturing of aircrafts. Lighter and stronger wings are just one of the many possible applications of these materials.
- Smart Automation and blockchain
Technologies such as blockchain networks are being used to infuse transparency and automate transactions among supply chain partners. The factories of the future are being equipped with smart technology.
For example, technicians will be able to scan a surface with a tablet like device and determine the correct size of bolt which will make the bond strongest among the respective surfaces and will fit; the information will then be conveyed to a robotic arm which will perform the task. It’s being implemented in the Airbus ‘Factory of the Future’.
The future of aerospace industry is here and it will be interesting to watch the above mentioned technologies attain their prime.
