{"585154":{"#nid":"585154","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Developing New Techniques for Repairing Composite Aircraft Components ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. announced plans to purchase scores of new airplanes from Airbus and Bombardier, the carrier made clear its focus was on remaking its fleet with lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAerospace manufacturers relied heavily on composite materials for this latest generation of passenger jets. While composite parts have been used for decades, today as much as half of all airplane components can be made of composites, including major structures such as wings and the fuselage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor airlines, the shift to composites creates an opportunity to rethink the repair and maintenance operations needed to keep jets in top form. Although the first of Delta\u0026rsquo;s new jets won\u0026rsquo;t enter service until fall 2017, the airline is already searching for better ways to maintain and repair composite aircraft parts \u0026mdash; which are very different from the metal parts it has been maintaining for years\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe airline is partnering with Georgia Tech to take a close look at current methods used to repair composite parts and identify ways to increase efficiency and bring down costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Airlines want to create their own know-how on how to fix these structures because it\u0026rsquo;s cheaper and probably faster,\u0026rdquo; said Chuck Zhang, a professor in the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. \u0026ldquo;But improved technologies are needed to help in the repair of composite parts. Much of it today is done by hand.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/composite-repairs-revisited\u0022\u003ERead the complete article \u003C\/a\u003Ein Research Horizons magazine\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. announced plans to purchase scores of new airplanes from Airbus and Bombardier, the carrier made clear its focus was on remaking its fleet with lighter, more fuel-efficient aircraft -- with more composite components.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is working with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on procedures for repairing composite parts."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-12-15 21:04:29","changed_gmt":"2016-12-15 21:07:39","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"585151":{"id":"585151","type":"image","title":"Sanding of composite parts","body":null,"created":"1481835460","gmt_created":"2016-12-15 20:57:40","changed":"1481835460","gmt_changed":"2016-12-15 20:57:40","alt":"Honeycomb pattern in composites","file":{"fid":"223089","name":"delta-composites-repair3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":968786,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/delta-composites-repair3.jpg?itok=AkJPIwqf"}},"585149":{"id":"585149","type":"image","title":"Maintaining aircraft composites","body":null,"created":"1481835259","gmt_created":"2016-12-15 20:54:19","changed":"1481835259","gmt_changed":"2016-12-15 20:54:19","alt":"Maintaining composites in aircraft","file":{"fid":"223088","name":"delta-composites-repair.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/delta-composites-repair.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1335950,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/delta-composites-repair.jpg?itok=JLlBlib5"}}},"media_ids":["585151","585149"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12178","name":"composite"},{"id":"173031","name":"aircraft composite"},{"id":"147861","name":"delta air lines"},{"id":"9323","name":"Repair"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJosh\u0026nbsp;Brown\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-385-0500\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["josh.brown@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}