If we talk about composite material then it is the combinations of two or more different material characteristics, which we cannot get from a single constituent. It has been a long time since the fiber transformed sports accessories in the racing car, helicopter and commercial aircraft. The aerospace industry began to move towards the entire composite plane along with carbon and glass fibers after the 1950s.
As a result, Boeing and Airbus have started incorporating the composite material into the part of their material to the aircraft. In order to increase safety and strength and reduce weight and fuel consumption, the aerospace industry has started using carbon composite material instead of aluminum materials.
Future Composites Material Graphene
Graphene has been introduced by Andre Geim and came into circulation in 2004 when Nobel defeated konstantin Novoselov. The Graphene of 0.345 nm atom thickness is 100 times stronger than the strongest steel. It is almost transparent and can conduct heat and electricity.
Graphene has the feature of high conductivity as compared to carbon which helps to protect a plane from lightning strikes. Current airplanes are also safe from the lightning strike because of including copper mesh in its wing. But replacement of copper mesh by Graphene make the plane lighter and more fuel efficient. The high conductivity of Graphene acts as a de-ice plane that reduces the equipment cost with today’s chemical de-icing technology.
Graphene seems to be just as revolutionary as the Carbon Fiber technology. It would be interesting to see if Carbon Fiber materials coated with graphene are used in the Aviation industry which will substantially increase the safety and also reduce the weight of the aircraft without compromising with the strength of the composite.
We can conclude that application of Graphene for aerospace and defense industry as:
- Graphene has Anti-fog Crystals that helps in de-icing.
- It can replace steel because of having lightweight and stronger.
- Protect from the lightning strike with anti-electric shock coating.
- Increase efficiency with lower consumption of fuel.