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Article: TRACKING THE TREND TOWARDS COMPOSITE AIRCRAFT PROPELLER BLADES.
- Article from:
- Advanced Composites Bulletin
- Article date:
- August 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 International Newsletters. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Composites have replaced metals in aircraft propeller blades on virtually all commercial propjets used by regional airlines, but penetration in the general aviation sector, for corporate and personal airplanes, has been limited to niche applications. The main reason is the higher cost of advanced composites, says Michael R. Disbrow, Senior Vice-president--Marketing, Applications and Customer Support for Hartzell Propeller Inc in Piqua, Ohio, USA.
Blades made by Hartzell, which specializes in variable pitch aircraft propellers, use prepregs of epoxy reinforced with Kevlar aramid and cost about twice as much as those made of aluminium alloy. Senior Engineer Mark ...