5 Apr 2005
From Wing to Wing & Nose to Tail, GE Materials Technologies Bring High-Performance to Broad Range of Critical Aircraft Applications
BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — GE Advanced Materials has designed high-performance engineering resin and sheet materials that help to enable development of next-generation aircraft interior components. Beyond interiors, GE also offers an impressive portfolio of plastics, silicones, quartz, and ceramic products that deliver critical properties in aircraft applications ranging from windshields, structural components, door and engine gaskets, seals for passenger window assemblies, and brake systems to weather stripping, fuel cell coatings, and lighting and wiring components.
The increasing use of GE’s plastic, silicone, quartz, and ceramic materials in the aircraft industry is being driven largely by the products’ ability to help the industry meet its key challenges of weight reduction; resistance to impact, chemicals, and heat; flame retardancy; outstanding smoke and toxicity properties; and overall high-performance. Supported by the exceptional depth and breadth of its renowned global research and development organization, GE is able to offer highly specialized materials that have been engineered with the specific combinations of properties required by different interior, exterior, mechanical, and systems components.
“GE provides a superior array of advanced materials solutions to the aircraft interiors industry and almost everywhere else on the plane,” said Melanie Cook, GE Advanced Materials’ global marketing director, Transportation & Outdoor Vehicle Programs. “By addressing the critical challenges of weight reduction, safety, and performance under high-stress conditions, as well as offering the latest materials innovations, GE can provide targeted products that help give our customers a competitive edge.”
GE’s Thermoplastic Resin and Sheet Products
GE’s Ultem* and Lexan* resin-based materials are finding ever-expanding use in aircraft interiors. Ultem 9075 and 9076 amorphous thermoplastic polyetherimide (PEI) resins, in particular, offer excellent properties, including inherent flame resistance with low smoke emission, high strength, and broad chemical resistance. These high-performance materials are already widely used in interior applications, such as personal service units, retractable video displays, window trim, and air valve panels. They are available in custom colors.
Here at the Aircraft Interiors Expo, GE is displaying several applications featuring Ultem 9075 resin. These include a two-person passenger service unit and a two-person gasper air valve panel from the Airbus 340 aircraft, an air nozzle assembly, window trim, and an all-in-one personal service unit panel. The use of GE’s Ultem 9076 resin in aircraft interior extrusions is also being highlighted.
GE’s extruded Ultem PEI sheet provides design flexibility, outstanding mechanical properties, and excellent flame, smoke, and toxicity performance. At the expo, GE is showcasing Ultem 1668A sheet, which can be thermoformed, pressure-formed, twin-sheet formed, or used in flat or cold-formed applications. In aircraft interiors, this material is used to mold aircraft window reveals, air ducts, seating and flight deck components, galleys, stow bins, and sidewalls. Ultem 1668A sheet meets commercial aircraft interior requirements, including FAA smoke and flammability testing and toxicity standards BSS7239 and ABD0031, and has an OSU heat-release rate below 65/65. This material is paintable and is available from GE in a range of colors.
Boeing selected GE’s Ultem 1668A sheet for use in its C17 jetliner. For this application, the thermoformed Ultem sheet forms the aircraft’s entire cockpit. Boeing chose the material for its flame, smoke, and toxicity performance; light weight; and exceptional impact strength.
Another popular GE material for aircraft interiors is Lexan polycarbonate sheet. An extremely durable material based on GE’s tough, virtually unbreakable Lexan resin, this GE sheet product offers unmatched impact strength, outstanding dimensional stability, excellent aesthetics, and high stiffness for a range
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About GE Advanced Materials
GE Advanced Materials (http://www.geadvancedmaterials.com) is a world leader in providing materials solutions through engineering thermoplastics, silicon-based products and technology platforms, and fused quartz and ceramics. Among its businesses are:
• Plastics – which is a global plastics materials supplier and distributor, serving customers in a variety of industries including aerospace, appliances, automotive, building and construction, data storage and optical media, medical, electrical and electronics devices, telecommunications, computers and peripheral devices, outdoor vehicles and devices, and packaging (www.http://www.geplastics.com).
• Silicones – which includes GE Toshiba Silicones in the Pacific region and GE Bayer Silicones in Europe, offering silanes, specialty silicones, urethane additives, adhesives, sealants, resins, and elastomers for a variety of industries such as personal care, automotive, tire and rubber, construction, healthcare, electronics, household and institutional, agriculture, textiles, appliances, bedding and furnishings, foam control, and consumer (http://www.gesilicones.com).
• Quartz – which provides high-purity quartz and advanced ceramic materials for the semiconductor, telecommunications, lighting, electronics, personal care, water purification, and various other industries (http://www.gequartz.com).
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology, media, and financial services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming, and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.ge.com.
About GE Advanced Materials’ Specialty Film & Sheet
GE Advanced Materials’ Specialty Film & Sheet business is a leading supplier of high-performance engineering film and sheet products to global industry. Through this business, GE Advanced Materials offers a variety of film materials for display films, graphic films, coated products, electrical and electronics applications, specialty products, and a range of others. The company’s sheet product line includes an array of high-performance structures – from single- and multi-wall sheet, corrugated materials, and coated sheet products to laminates and combinations of each – to serve customers in several key global sectors.
* Ultem and Lexan are trademarks of General Electric Company.
* AZDEL is a trademark of AZDEL, Inc., a 50/50 joint venture of General Electric Company and PPG Industries.
Related images
Uses of GE Advanced Materials’ Plastics, Silicones, Quartz, and Ceramic Products for Aircraft Applications
From wing to wing and nose to tail, GE’s materials technologies bring high-performance to a broad range of critical aircraft applications. The increasing use of GE’s plastics, silicones, quartz, and ceramic products in the aircraft industry is being driven largely by the products’ ability to help the industry meet its key challenges of weight reduction; resistance to impact, chemicals, and heat; flame retardancy; outstanding smoke and toxicity properties; and overall high-performance. Supported by the exceptional depth and breadth of its renowned global research and development organization, GE is able to offer highly specialized materials that have been engineered with the specific combinations of properties required by different interior, exterior, mechanical, and systems components.
Goodrich Hella Aerospace Lighting System’s New Passenger Service Unit Using Ultem* Resin
GE’s Ultem* amorphous thermoplastic polyetherimide (PEI) resin offers an excellent range of properties, including inherent flame resistance with low smoke emission, high strength, and superior chemical resistance. This high-performance material is widely used in interior aircraft applications, such as personal service units, retractable video displays, window trim, and air valve panels. GE’s high-tech Ultem resin is available in custom colors.
Aircraft Seating Using Lexan* F6000 Sheet
GE’s Lexan* F6000 sheet is an exceptionally durable material based on GE's tough, virtually unbreakable Lexan polycarbonate (PC) resin. This high-performance GE sheet product meets the aircraft interiors industry's standards for unmatched impact strength, outstanding dimensional stability at elevated temperatures, aesthetics, and high-heat, flame, and UV resistance. It is available from GE in a broad color palette for aircraft seating components, window tracks and reveals, and emergency doorlight fairings.
Vaupell Industrial Plastics Aircraft Video Display Molded from Ultem* 9075 Resin
A custom-colored aircraft video display from Vaupell Industrial Plastics uses Ultem* 9075 resin from GE Advanced Materials. This high-performance polyetherimide (PEI) resin is an excellent material option for interior applications in the aircraft segment due to its superior flame, smoke, toxicity, and heat-release performance vs. alternative products, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It also provides excellent thin-wall moldability and surface aesthetics.
Boeing Aircraft Panel Molded from Ultem* 1668A Sheet
Boeing has selected GE’s high-heat Ultem* 1668A sheet for use in its C17 jetliner. Thermoformed by Texstars, Inc., Ultem 1668A sheet forms the plane’s entire cockpit. Boeing chose the material for its flame, smoke, and toxicity performance and exceptional impact strength. Ultem 1668A sheet meets commercial aircraft interior requirements, including OSU heat-release rate below 65/65, FAA smoke and flammability testing, and complies with toxicity standards BSS7239 and ABD0031. The high-tech GE sheet product is paintable and/or available from GE in a range of colors.
GE’s Silicone Encapsulant Being Applied to Protect Electronic Components
GE’s silicone products, with their exceptional resistance to stresses and harsh conditions, have long played a major and growing role in commercial aircraft environments. Silicone encapsulants, for example, are a top choice when it comes to protecting delicate electronic components from moisture or contamination. GE’s silicones products are widely used throughout the plane, due to their outstanding performance properties, including the ability to withstand exposure to UV light, ozone, heat and cold extremes, moisture, and severe vibration.
GE’s Silicone Adhesive Being Used to Bond and Seal an Air Filter
GE’s silicone adhesives and sealants are used to seal and protect doors, wings, fuel tanks, wing edges, vent ducts, electrical wiring, and black boxes from the elements. They help seal passenger window assembly units and absorb noise-producing vibration. They are also used in galleys to seal countertops and maintain cleanliness. Because these products are inert, silicone sealants are effective for sealing air circulation ducts and for bonding and sealing air filters throughout the aircraft cabin.
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