Advance in Soft Tools and Tailor Blanks in Aerospace

Dear Colleagues,

Research in manufacturing processes in the aircraft industry is aimed at cost reduction. Many different principles can be addressed, together with an increasing focus on sustainability. Two principles that aim for cost reductions are discussed in this Special Edition: the application of soft tools in manufacturing processes and the use of tailored blanks as input for those processes. 

The tailored blank concept is well established in the automotive industry but can be applied in other industries, such as in aerospace, not only on metallic parts, but also on composite parts. The idea is simple: reversing the forming and joining sequence to create cheaper blanks and to skip production steps. 

Additionally, the application of soft tools is cost-driven: The soft tool is universal (applicable to multiple part geometries), so there is no need for expensive matching dies. However, there is more: e.g., soft tools are applicable to work with special materials such as coated sheets and tailored blanks. 

Both concepts can be applied to metallic and composite components, and today, there are many applications and plenty of research linked to these concepts. For this Special Edition, we invite researchers to share their results, whether these are experimental or numerical, developed for metal alloys or composites materials, but aiming at process improvement and providing innovative ideas.

Prof. Dr. Jos Sinke
Guest Editor

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• metal alloys
• composites
• tailor-made
• soft tool
• aerospace