SENSIA has been assigned to the design, development and installation of an innovative ground test environment, as part of the HITCOMP project, within the framework of Clean Sky 2.

Aluminum, steel, and titanium used to be predominant in the world of aerospace manufacturing, taking up 70% of the average aircraft. However, Heat and fire cause more damage on composites than on metallic counterparts. In order to improve the current epoxy based composites behavior under thermal affection, an alternative is going be addressed: thermoplastic composites. This is especially relevant because the sector is making a transition to a more electric aircraft, increasing the thermal affection on the structure since the number of potential heat & fire sources increases due to new equipment.

Under this framework, the research project HITCOMP of the European project Clean Sky, aims to characterize the behaviour, under fire and thermal affection, of new high-performance thermoplastic composites based on PAEK family resins.

In this project, developed in cooperation with LIR-UC3M and INTA, SENSIA’s will develop a solution based on infrared thermal imaging technology for monitoring the thermal map of the thermoplastic’s specimens under thermal/fire test. This solution must be able to get synchronized and spatially correlated measurement of the temperature map of both faces of the specimen under test.

SENSIA comfortably operates in the line of technology transfer to the industry of the latest scientific advances. The capability for thermal monitoring by infrared imaging is also the basis behind CALCIFIR RXF, SENSIA’s smart monitoring system for through-flame thermography. This system enables industry to ignore fire and obtain thermographic data of the other side. It is specially designed to get a clear view in industrial fields such as industrial furnace control, laboratory test on materials or emergency services and fire departments.

Project funded by program H2020-EU.3.4.5 – CLEANSKY2, Grant agreementID: 864713. Clean Sky public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry that coordinates and funds innovative, cutting-edge technologies aimed to deliver a more environmentally friendly aircraft while strengthening European aero-industry collaboration, global leadership and competitiveness.