The reason why carbon fiber composites can be widely used in the aerospace field is mainly due to the significant economic benefits that its lightweight advantages bring to airlines in terms of fuel economy and aircraft range, coupled with the design improvements brought by advanced composites compared to traditional materials. Although military aircraft and spacecraft have led the development and application of carbon fiber composites, commercial aviation has a larger output and has commercialized the use of carbon fiber composite products.
At the same time, airlines are eager to improve operating costs and reduce the impact of maintenance expenses through higher payloads and more fuel-efficient aircraft. Airlines are also under increasing pressure to replace their aging fleets with more fuel-efficient and quieter aircraft to become more environmentally friendly. As a result, each new generation of commercial aircraft uses more and more advanced carbon fiber composites to replace metals and other materials , following previous developments in military applications.
The Boeing 767, one of the first commercial aircraft to make extensive use of composites , entered service in 1983 and has a composite content of approximately 6% , consisting primarily of internal secondary composite structures. Boeing's legacy 777, which entered service in 1995, has approximately 11% composites , including composite flaps/ailerons and landing gear doors .
The Airbus A380 was first delivered in 2007, with a tail structure made of composites, with a composite content of approximately 23% . The Boeing 777X has been redesigned with composite wings and composite-intensive engines, with a composite content of more than 30% . The Boeing 787 officially entered service in 2011, with a carbon fiber composite content of more than 50% , including composite wings and fuselage . The Airbus A350 XWB ("A350") was first delivered in December 2014, with a composite content of 53% .
Therefore, the future development trend is that newly designed aircraft will use more carbon fiber materials than older generation aircraft. In addition, large aircraft will use heavier composite materials than small aircraft .
As air travel recovers and demand for the latest generation of fuel-efficient aircraft increases, Airbus and Boeing will begin to increase the production rates of existing aircraft platforms in 2022; and as commercial aviation productivity increases, it can be predicted that the demand for carbon fiber composites will further increase steadily.
