New project aims to make air travel more sustainable

A £20 million project to develop lightweight propeller blades that will help the UK aviation sector reduce its carbon footprint and noise emissions at airports is being carried out by composite researchers at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre as part of an industry-led consortium with two other members of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

The AMRC, along with the National Composites Centre in Bristol and the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, is supporting private sector partner Dowty Propellers for the Innovate UK funded Digital Propulsion project.

The consortium is tasked with growing the UK’s aerospace propeller manufacturing base by harnessing composite technology with industrial digitalisation to cut production costs and increase the performance of future propulsion systems in Europe’s aviation sector.

Elaine Arnold, Automation Technical Lead for the AMRC Composite Centre, said: “In a world of increasing passenger numbers, the demand for cleaner, cheaper, and more comfortable air travel has never been greater.”

“To meet this demand, it is vital that the UK maintains and extends its world-leading capability in sustainable UK aviation propulsion technologies.”

“The Digital Propulsion project aims to evolve technologies within a new digital infrastructure to realise innovations in propulsion performance and cost.”