The European Programme Clean Sky has officially launched the Eco-Efficient Aluminium for Aircraft (ECEFA) project resulting from a Call for Proposal of the Eco-Design for Airframe Integrated Technology Demonstrator (ITD) coordinated by Dassault Aviation.

ECEFA will develop an advanced aluminium product primarily for civil aircraft fuselage skin applications. With a starting point of 10% density reduction compared to current solutions, this new product is expected to offer further weight savings through design re-optimisation. It also offers both physical and mechanical performances allowing for significantly reduced fuselage wall thickness, durability of the aerostructure and use of eco-friendly surface treatments. The project is conducted at Constellium’s Research Centre in Voreppe, France.

The overarching target of Clean Sky, through its €1.6 billion public/private research effort, is to provide solutions which minimise the impact of aviation on the environment.

“The ECEFA project represents a step change in terms of eco-efficient airframe,” stated Christophe Villemin, president of Constellium’s global aerospace division. “Aluminium can make the difference.”

Clean Sky-supported innovations are notably designed to meet recommendations from the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) to lower CO₂ emissions. In that specific regard, weight performance is considered a critical area of research and improvement.

“The ECEFA project is rightly seen as a benefit for OEMs, as it addresses increased eco-efficiency requirements while offering other significant advantages, such as the reduction of maintenance operations,” added Villemin.

ECEFA’s total budget amounts to €473,000 and is supported by Clean Sky at 50%. Following lab trials and two initial campaigns at industrial scale, ECEFA’s ambition is to increase proposed technology readiness. A series of tolerance tests shall be conducted in order to better understand its potential and ability to meet airframers’ requirements.

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