Mon, 08 September, 2025
An official YouTube channel has launched for the TWI-led PLEIADES project, a three-year project to address the need for advanced composite materials for the aerospace industry.
As aerospace manufacturers seek lightweight materials that are capable of withstanding harsh environments, while delivering improved performance and cost savings, the composites aerostructures market is set to grow to 116 billion Euros by 2030.
The PLEIADES project (‘Advancing Aerospace Composites through Induction Welding and New Vitrimeric Formulations Enhanced by Integrated Photonic Sensors, Providing Data to Digital Supply Chain, SHM, Maintenance’) seeks to assist in meeting the requirements of the aerospace industry by advancing composite aerostructures and promoting the digital transformation in aviation.
The project is bringing together 12 organisations from industry and academia, uniting a range of expertise and capabilities to formulate and characterise new composite materials, along with the automation of induction welding processes for composites via integrated sensing, as well as composite joint disassembly and maintenance schedules. In addition, the project team will develop passive PIC-based multi sensors and a unified QA-SHM methodology, along with extensive modelling for induction welding and the development of material, healing, damage propagation, and de-icing models.
The newly-launched YouTube channel provides a location for interested parties to keep abreast of the latest happenings with the project. You can see below for a project video that details the project basics, objectives, and partners:
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or [CINEA]. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
The PLEIADES project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101192721.