IASS is a Level 1 Collaborative project funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme. The project focuses on overcoming the existing drawbacks related to technical targets required for aeronautical composite materials through the development of new multifunctional self-healing reinforced composites. These multifunctional composites can reduce the effects of accidents and the operating costs of aircrafts through the reduction in fuel consumption due to development of new cost- effective lightweight materials, leading to significant improvements in transport safety.
The improvement in the aircraft safety by self-healing structures and protecting nanofillers is a revolutionary approach that should lead to the creation of novel generation of multifunctional aircraft materials with strongly desired properties and design flexibilities. An aircraft with inherent self-healing and protective abilities could help to significantly extend the inspection intervals, thereby increasing aircraft availability. Alternatively, existing inspection intervals could be maintained with significantly thinner structures, thereby saving airframe weight and hence reduce fuel burn, in-service cost and the environmental impact.
The IASS project binds together Universities, Research Organisations, Airframe manufacturers, large Industries and SMEs from 6 European countries. The IASS Consortium consists of 10 partners and is coordinated by the University of Salerno. The challenge in this research project is to develop and apply a multifunctional autonomically healing composite for structural applications.
Starting from September 2012, the project is expected to be completed by August 2015.
