World’s largest plane takes off with plastic

The Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft, successfully passed its maiden flight last week. The aircraft has been made lighter and quieter with a host of plastic parts and assemblies.
The A380’s Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines, for instance, were developed to have the lowest possible noise levels and environmental impact. A polyamide 46, Stanyl, from DSM Engineering Plastics, is the first thermoplastic material to be used by Rolls-Royce in aircraft engines. Extensive testing had confirmed that that the nylon grade had the right balance between lightness and strength required for the infill panels on the engines. Infill panels are engineered with a highly complex shape. The panels are thin but largeup to 40 cm in length, and as thin as 0.8mm in places. The panels need to be able to withstand the impact of bird strikes at temperatures ranging from 50 degrees C to 150 degrees C.