JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #141 - July/August 2021 - 29

COMAC displays its ambitions in both conventional and green aviation industries
Focus
COMAC announced a successful test flight
of its Lingque-H hydrogen fuel cell demonstrator
(source: COMAC)
terms of performance compared to the ARJ
21, which cannot fly outside China.
" But certification by other authorities such as
EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency)
or FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)
is by far not a given. Beyond China, where it will
have for sure a role, without eliminating Airbus
or Boeing, it might be purchased by airlines in
countries where China has a strong geopolitical
influence. But the domestic Chinese market is a
big enough one and beyond certification, COMAC
still has to establish the aircraft reliability
and industrial performance, which are big steps
that will take years " , Pascal Fabre said.
As for the long-range wide-body airliner
CR929, its development has been from the
start extremely complex from a program
management and governance perspective
between Russians and Chinese stakeholders.
Its entry into service is not planned before
the end of the decade.
Domestic carbon fibre parts
China has been developing aerostructure
capabilities for a couple of decades, working
initially for Western OEMs including Airbus
and for domestic programs. China expanded
its in-cabin capabilities with the acquisition
of several suppliers (Thompson Aero Seating,
AIM, FACC,..) and set them up under
AVIC cabin systems. But, according to Pascal
Fabre, " the engine remains a field with extremely
high barriers to entry - only a handful
of players globally master the architecture
and materials with best-in-class technology. "
As the trade war between Beijing and Washington
has morphed into a battle for tech
supremacy that has spilled over into the
aviation sector in the past two years, recent
initiatives do indicate China's willingness
to achieve self-sufficiency. Among them,
Zhongfu Shenying recently launched an
R&D and manufacturing project designed
to develop carbon-fibre solutions for aviation
applications. Zhongfu Shenying (Shanghai)
Technology Co., Ltd. was established within
the Shanghai Yangshan Free Trade Zone at
the beginning of 2021. The new company has
a registered capital of 200 million yuan (30.4
million US$), and a planned investment of
515 million yuan (78.4 million US$) to focus
on the research, development and manufacturing
of aviation resin, aviation carbon
fibre intermediates and finished products.
According to the parent company Zhongfu
Shenying, owned by Chinese state-owned
group CNBM, " after the project is put into production,
it will further enhance the company's
strength in high-end carbon fibre application
technologies, extend the downstream industrial
chain, and make positive contributions to accelerating
the localization of domestically-sourced
raw materials for large aircraft. "
Same starting green line
On the other hand, green aerospace is a new
battlefield that China has entered early. In
March 2019, COMAC announced a successful
test flight of its Lingque-H hydrogen fuel
cell demonstrator. The Lingque H aircraft,
with a wing span of six metres and supplemented
by lithium batteries, can have different
tails and types of landing gear. Developed
as a proof of concept, the aircraft has completed
ten test flights since January 2019, and
the latest success means substantial progress
has been made in developing new-energy
civil aircraft, according to COMAC. Lingque
H is jointly developed by COMAC in cooperation
with the State Grid, Shenzhen-based
Gree and the School of Aeronautic Science
and Engineering at Beihang University.
According to Pascal Fabre, this breakthrough
does not necessarily prove that China's aviation
industry is ahead of its Western counterparts
in terms of hydrogen fuel cell development.
" It's difficult to comment on their
maturity versus other initiatives - their demonstrator
is a small one and we don't have full clarity
on the progress. Many Western OEMs and
start-ups are working on hydrogen use in aviation,
including via fuel cells, some targeting applications
before 2025 like Universal Hydrogen,
and some like Airbus aiming to mature technologies
by then, with a target new green aircraft
entering service by 2035 " , he said.
As observed in the automotive sector, maybe
China will eventually fail to lead in the conventional
aviation industry, but will have all
opportunities in the green aviation industry.
" It's true they have a chance on the green aviN°
Composites
are an integral part
of the sustainable aircraft of the future
According to JEC Observer's Overview
of the global composites market 20192024,
composites are growing faster
than other materials in the aerospace
industry and have reached a penetration
rate of around 15%. However,
there is an uncertainty whether the
next generation of airplanes will
integrate high levels of composite
materials or not. Notably, engine
improvements are a driver for fuel efficiency,
competing with the usage of
composites. In any case, researchers
now include composite materials in
the green technology challenge. Last
year, the joint China-Europe project
ECO-COMPASS was completed. The
project aimed to evaluate the potential
applications of ecologically-improved
composite materials in the aeronautics
sector through international
collaboration. Among the 19 participating
organisations, the Chinese
coordinator is Yi Xiaosu, a Li Dak Sum
Chair Professor in Advanced Materials
and Composites at the University of
Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC).
Yi Xiaosu and the project partners
adopted ramie, a specialty plant
resource in China, and successfully
developed a ramie fabric-reinforced
composite, which was proven to have
excellent mechanical properties.
" Its application may accelerate the
upgrading of the flax industry, and
contribute to global technology development, "
he said. " Our research and
technology should have international
competitiveness. "
ation front as everyone is on the same starting
line and they have clearly identified hydrogen as
a strategic priority " , Pascal Fabre commented.
The last five years have seen increasing regulatory
support for the hydrogen industry in
China at both the national and local levels.
From 2015, the State Council has listed hydrogen
as one of the key technologies in the
Made in China 2025 Initiative, a national
strategy to strengthen and upgrade the country's
manufacturing sector.
More information:
www.comac.cc /
141 July - August 2021 / jec composites magazine
29
Feature Aerospace
http://www.comac.cc
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #141 - July/August 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #141 - July/August 2021
