Tier 1 supplier GKN Aerospace recently opened an innovation hub for lightweight composites and high-voltage, high-power electrical wiring interconnection systems in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands. The new Global Technology Center (GTC) is part of GKN Aerospace’s €80 million ($87.54 million) investment in the Netherlands and complements other GTCs in Bristol, UK; Trollhättan, Sweden; and Fort Worth, Texas.
According to GKN, the Netherlands facility’s primary focus will center on advancing lightweight thermoplastic composites for next-generation narrowbody airliners and spearheading an extensive R&D electrification program in collaboration with GKN Fokker sites in Hoogerheide and Papendrecht. Thermoplastics research programs at the new hub will focus on pioneering new lightweight composite materials and processes that are scalable and cost-effective at high-volume production rates.
Advanced thermoplastic composites weigh at least 10 percent less than traditional aircraft materials and possess “superior production efficiency, excellent fire safety characteristics, and high recyclability,” according to GKN. Thus, the company said the materials “present an affordable and sustainable solution” for aircraft structural components.
“This center will accelerate the adoption of lightweight and cost-effective thermoplastic aerostructures, further propelling aviation toward electrification, underscoring our unwavering commitment to sustainability,” concluded GKN Aerospace president for civil airframes John Pritchard.