Composite Structures
Composite aircraft [4]
New aircraft are now being designed using composite and nano-composite polymers for both the external and internal structure. This new material is set to replace aluminium which has been used for several decades. This is an improvement in many ways as composites are environmentally friendly, cheaper, and light weight. However most composites are more exposed to fire then aluminium as they ignite at a lower temperature and generally have a higher heat of combustion (this is a major factor in the heat release rate of fire). This means that the potential for more serious fires could increase with this change in design.
The problem is to understand this new fire risk. If this is not done new extinguishing systems could potentially end up basing their performance standards on old aluminium designs whereas the standards should be based on the potential for a composite fire.
The problem is to understand this new fire risk. If this is not done new extinguishing systems could potentially end up basing their performance standards on old aluminium designs whereas the standards should be based on the potential for a composite fire.