South African Connection
Airbus has a global network of suppliers, so its R&D, R&T and innovation network is also global. And South Africa is part of that global network. South African institutions involved are the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of Stellenbosch (Stellenbosch) and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), as well as the Air Traffic & Navigation Service (ATNS), the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), South African Airways (SAA) and private-sector aerospace company Aerosud and major petrochemicals group Sasol.
Airbus regards R&T as being focused on emerging technologies and processes. In this regard, it is cooperating with the CSIR on the effects of fuel sloshing on flight stability, on developing and applying new computational fluid dynamics for engineering design and on possible uses of blended natural fibres for aircraft cabin furnishings and components. It is also working with the CSIR/National Laser Centre and Aerosud on the titanium powder additive manufacturing of large aircraft components. With CPUT, Airbus is working on biocomposites, with UCT, on the aerodynamics of aircraft flying in close proximity, and, with the UP, on fluid-structure interaction.
R&T projects with Stellenbosch encompass advanced flight control systems, automatic control for air-to-air refuelling, and (jointly with CPUT) smart actuation for wings. With Wits, projects concern friction stir welding, titanium processing and manufacturing and laser shock peening (a surface treatment process that can improve damage tolerance on critical metal aerospace components such as engine compressor blades).
For Airbus, R&D involves the development, industrialisation and commercialisation of new technologies. The company has cooperated with Aerosud in developing manufacturing with carbon fibre thermoplastics, a process that has been successfully industrialised at the South African company.
Regarding innovation, more generally, Airbus has worked and continues to work with ATNS on autolanding trials and related aeroplane software development (at OR Tambo International Airport, east of Johannesburg). Previous projects have included autolanding trials using differential satellite navigation systems (at Mmabatho Airport, in the North West province) and magnetic interference tests on navigation equipment of aircraft flying over the South Pole. Airbus also collaborates with ATNS, the SACAA and SAA to design new approach and departure navigation procedures (and related airspace management), with the initial project in 2013 being for Cape Town International Airport.
In addition, the airliner manufacturer is working with Sasol in regard to alternative jet fuels. This includes supporting Sasol’s continued participation in the European Union’s (EU’s) Alpha-Bird research programme and in securing EU research Framework Programme 7 (better known as FP7) funding for this research.
With SAA, there is cooperation to obtain approval from the aviation authorities for increased Extended [range] Twin [engine] Operations (ETOPS) for the A330-200. The ETOPS prescribes the distance en route that an airline’s twin-engined aircraft must maintain to suitable diversionary airfields in the event of a single engine failure. It is critical for transoceanic flights or routes over desolate terrain. With Airbus’s support, SAA has just become the first airline to achieve 240-minute ETOPS clearance for the A330-200. The practical bene- fit is that the airline can now fly its A330-200s across the South Atlantic on routes that were previously only possible with four-engined aircraft because of the lack of suitable en-route diversion runways.
Airbus has also set up a bursary scheme for South African postgraduate students. South African interns have also been taken by Airbus to work on projects related to the European company.
“In the past, there’s not been a lot of cohesion between the different South African agencies – the departments of Science and Technology, Trade and Industry, the CSIR, universities and so on,” VP: international cooperation Simon Ward tells Engineering News. “Over the past five years, we’ve seen them come together, making it easier and more pleasant working with South Africa on innovation. My concern is not so much with developing the technology – South Africa has good researchers – but in commercialising it. South Africa wants to make aerospace parts, but the aerospace industry is a relatively small industry – like Formula 1, it drives innovation. South Africa must think bigger. How about a ‘Titanium Valley’, producing titanium products for every sector, from aerospace to golf clubs? We’re not quite there yet. That could attract a lot of foreign direct investment to South Africa. For example, when I go to Turkey, they have Free Trade Zones, which are very successful – no import tariffs (for a defined period of time) and other special provisions. Something like this in South Africa would be very successful.”
“Innovation is about change,” pointed out Barbaux at the Innovation Days. “Innovation is not only about new technologies but also about new ways of working. This is what we do – we embrace change. Innovation is also about the future. We have done a lot. We have still to do a lot more.”
