World's Largest CFRP Aircraft Fuselage Segment Joined

Welding World's Largest CFRP Aircraft Fuselage Segment Joined

2025-08-25 Source: Press release | Translated by AI 5 min Reading Time

Employees of the Fraunhofer Society, together with international project partners, have manufactured the world's largest thermoplastic CFRP aircraft fuselage segment as part of the EU-funded Clean Sky 2/Clean Aviation project Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA). Instead of relying on previous riveting methods, the CFRP half-shells were welded dust-free.

The MultiFAL assembly research platform with scaffolded thermoplastic fuselage shells of the MFFD. Clearly visible are the yellow hexapod robots for holding and precisely adjusting the form and position of the upper shell.(Image: Fraunhofer IFAM) — The MultiFAL assembly research platform with scaffolded thermoplastic fuselage shells of the MFFD. Clearly visible are the yellow hexapod robots for holding and precisely adjusting the form and position of the upper shell.
(Image: Fraunhofer IFAM)

To conserve resources, climate-friendly solutions are needed for the production and operation of passenger aircraft. Alongside new propulsion technologies, structural weight and manufacturing effort are also in focus. Both can be reduced through new construction methods: thermoplastic CFRP materials are one solution. As part of the EU-funded Clean Sky 2/Clean Aviation project Large Passenger Aircraft (LPA), project participants have, for the first time, manufactured a full-scale fuselage segment using thermoplastic CFRP materials to comprehensively evaluate the feasibility as well as the ecological and economic advantages and disadvantages.

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