PIT-WINGS | Walloon Innovative Green & Sustainable aviation

Region:

Wallonia

Financed by

Download the PIT-WINGS project report

This report reveals the concrete results of the PIT-WINGS project, achieved over three successive phases and validated through demonstrators and rigorous testing.

Download the report here

Lighter, safer and smarter components

PIT-WINGS (Walloon Innovative Green & Sustainable aviation) is accelerating the transition to more sustainable, reliable, lightweight and energy-efficient aircraft components. This Walloon project brings together a wide network of industrial and academic players to address the critical challenges posed by new-generation engines and structures for short- and medium-haul aircraft. It focuses on concrete technological advances, validated by experimentation and supported by close collaboration between partners.

Context

To meet climate targets, particularly those set by the European Union, the aerospace industry needs to reduce the environmental footprint of its components while enhancing safety, performance and competitiveness.
This involves a number of challenges: lighter structures, optimised thermal management, reliability of assemblies, leak protection, integration of intelligent systems, durability of materials, advanced modelling and thorough experimental validation. These challenges call for multidisciplinary approaches and close cooperation between the fields of industry and science.
The PIT-WINGS project was launched to provide a coordinated response to these challenges, mobilising a Walloon ecosystem capable of designing, testing and validating innovative solutions for the aero-engines and structures of tomorrow.

Objectives & results

The overall aim of the project is to optimise the performance of aircraft components while validating new approaches to modelling, manufacturing and verification. For Sirris, the objective has been broken down into several aspects:

Development of more resistant thermal protection solutions.
Redesign of a locking system for hoods.
Optimised modelling of composite structures (draping, sandwich panels, flanges).
Automatic under-hood leak detection systems integrated into test benches.
Evaluation of overmoulded solutions in order to lighten specific components.

Key results:

Specification report validated and benchmarking for locking systems.
Modelling methods implemented in Samcef and validated by mechanical testing.
Proof of concept for leak detection validated on test benches.

Approach

PIT-WINGS unfolds in three phases.
The first two phases focus on exploring, modelling and validating several innovations for engine test bench components, such as thermal protection, cowl latching, draping, sandwich structures, composite flanges and fuel leak detection.
Phase III addresses two key industrial challenges:

Designing a robust encapsulation for a ferromagnetic sensor that can operate in harsh environments
Developing a lighter hybrid blade platform that simplifies assembly and reduces weight

These objectives rely on overmoulding techniques, detailed stress modelling, and experimental validation in simulated environments. Sirris contributes its expertise in simulation, material characterisation and advanced processing.

Target group

The PIT-WINGS project is primarily aimed at players in the aerospace industry, in particular engine manufacturers (such as Safran Aero Boosters) and structure manufacturers (such as Sonaca). It is also aimed at system integrators and suppliers of modelling and digital simulation solutions that want to make their predictions more reliable through validated experimental approaches.