Last September 10, at the headquarters of the company Innerspec in Madrid, took place the meeting for the justification of the 2023 annuity and closure of the R&D project ACTIVAL (“Towards a more sustainable and competitive aviation through the implementation of active protection technologies and ultrasound-based sensors in aluminum aerostructures”) (PTAP-20211004) in which M&M Group participates together with the aforementioned Innerspec, Titania and Chemplate Materials.
The general objective of the ACTIVAL project is to actively protect aluminum aerostructures through the development of environmentally sustainable treatments and the use of acoustic sensors as early detection systems against corrosion. In addition, to develop an innovative method of repairability and monitoring of the same to solve corrosion problems detected in service.
The specific objectives of M&M, established at the beginning of the project and which have been fulfilled at the end of the project, were as follows:
- To manufacture aeronautical prototypes of complex geometry based on aluminum alloys, which have been used as demonstrators of the Cr(VI)-free process at the end of the project.
- To develop and validate an innovative repair method (MRO), a key aspect for the acceptance of the coating by the aeronautical industry.
M&M Group was represented at the closing meeting by its R&D manager, Marta Escanciano Igualador, who wanted to highlight the great work carried out by the companies involved in the project, achieving all the proposed milestones.
Escanciano was accompanied by Álvaro Pallarés, R&D&i Manager for Europe at Innerspec; Andreu Ruiz and Antonio Montoliu, R&D Project Manager and surface treatment technician at Chemplate, respectively; and Raúl Páez and Ana Belén Lara, head of Technical Management of R&D projects and R&D technician at TITANIA, respectively.
The next step, says the head of innovation at M&M, is “to continue working to achieve a real alternative to the processes currently used in the aeronautical industry”.
