FUTPRINT50 addresses the need to accelerate disruptive technologies in aviation to ensure Carbon Neutral growth commitment from FlightPath2050. It will develop tools, technologies and aircraft level analysis for key hybrid-electric technologies supporting the entry into service of a 50 seat class aircraft by 2035/2040. This type is at the locus of convergence of timeframe and technology, promising to open with improved costs new routes for point 2 point connection of smaller, interior cities and villages at lower infrastructure costs than rail or road transportation, fulfilling aviation’s higher goal of connecting people for the creation of wealth and societal good. FUTPRINT50 will focus on energy storage, energy harvesting and thermal management. Besides advancing the state of the art of these technologies, it will research and develop MDO design methodologies whilst considering uncertainty, models and tools to evaluate new configurations and integration at system and aircraft level. To attain the ambitious vision of an entry into service aircraft by 2035/2040, FUTPRINT50 will develop roadmaps to align future research on technology development but also the regulatory side, striving for market, technology and legal readiness for entry into service. For this FUTPRINT50 will use research developed within the project but also extend itself to other complementary projects and initiatives, besides engaging the main stakeholders in comprehensive workshops. Furthermore, open-source aircraft design tools, hybrid-electric aircraft designs, and reference data sets will be generated and shared openly with the community to accelerate the development of future hybrid-electric aircraft. Finally, FUTPRINT50 will be developed by an international consortium of diverse and highly competent partners, abridging the EU with USA and Brazil and supported by an Advisory Board including EASA and ensuring connection with Canada.

Currently, both maritime and aviation sectors are lacking a systematic approach to collect and assess Human Factors information in normal and emergency conditions. There is also a lack of agreed methodology to assess human-related risks with the aim of influencing design and operation of aircraft and ships. Therefore, the research question being addressed in this project is “How to fully capture human elements and their interaction with the other system elements to enhance safety in maritime and aviation operations?” It is important to address Human Factors aspects in relation to risk-based design of system and operations in a measurable manner by taking the variation in human behaviour over time and the non-flexibility of machines into consideration. The main aim of SAFEMODE project is to develop a novel HUman Risk Informed Design (HURID) framework in order to identify, collect and assess Human Factors data to inform risk-based design of systems and operation. These aims have not been achieved previously at a desirable level due to the unavailability of systematically collected data and lack of cooperation between different transport modes. The focus will be to reduce risks for safety critical situations, (e.g. mid-air collisions, grounding, evacuation, runway excursions etc.) through the enhancement of human performance. This will be achieved through investigation of past accidents, incidents, near-misses, reports, data from everyday operations, including previously unknown uncertainties such as increasing levels of automation and increased number of drones in transportation. This information will be incorporated the HURID framework and tools and into SHIELD, the open data repository and the living database, that will be maintained and continuously updated.

MASTRO Project aim is to develop intelligent bulk materials for the transport sector based on the novel concepts like self-sensing, self-deicing, self-curing, self-healing and self-protection methodologies to increase consumer safety, component life-span and performance while reducing maintenance and manufacturing costs. The functionality of the developed components will be demonstrated under relevant conditions at prototype level for the aerospace, automotive and transport transport networks. These developments will be supported by theoretical material models to capture the self-responsive functionalities. The outputs of the Project will consist of numerous applications in these sectors. The matrices addressed consist of lightweight polymer composites like glass/carbon fibre reinforced polymers and thermoplastic materials (including melt-spinning for textiles used in the transport sector) together with asphalt and concrete formulations incorporating electrical carbon-based conductive nanomaterials. These self-responsive functionalities are based on two physical phenomena: piezoresistivity and Joule effect. The aim of self-responsiveness properties can be summarized as follows: Self-sensing: to confer to the intelligent components the ability to monitor/store data about its own condition in terms of vibrations, defects, fatigue, creep and strain. Self-deicing: to avoid the ice layer formation or the loss of performance due to cold weather. Self-curing: to increase quality and durability while reducing manufacturing cost of the polymer composites and cement concrete formulations by improving the curing process step. Self-healing: to aid the repair of polymer composites and asphalt concrete formulations by healing those materials without the need of an external and expensive maintenance operation. Self-protection: to minimize the failure occurrence in case of electrostatic charge accumulation or lightning impacts by discharging the voltage through the smart component

In line with the European Green Deal target of reaching carbon neutrality in the aviation industry by 2050, breakthrough technologies related to direct (100% hydrogen) combustion systems will be researched, prototyped and integrated onto a modern donor aeroengine for ground testing (starting in late 2024) in Project CAVENDISH. This aeroengine test on liquid hydrogen will be a first of a kind in Europe and the cornerstone to further in-flight demonstration, eventually leading to product development aimed at meeting Europe’s and the industry’s ambition for the entry in service (EIS) of commercial, mass-transport, hydrogen-fuelled aircraft in 2035. CAVENDISH’s second objective will be to work on system and powerplant aircraft integration with several established airframers and a supplemental type certificate organisation to define certification pathways and formulate a route to permit to fly. This activity will directly benefit the flight test of the donor engine scheduled for the next phase of the Clean Aviation programme. CAVENDISH will also explore alternative enabling technologies in the form of a dual fuel combustor system (capable of operating on 100% hydrogen and 100% SAF) and in the form of a cryo-compressed tank system. Both these technologies will offer flexibility and could ease the introduction of hydrogen in aviation. CAVENDISH brings together expertise-leading European organizations in aeronautics, power and propulsion, combustion, fuel and controls systems and aircraft. It builds on multiple national technology programmes heralding from the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, and is in effect the marriage and acceleration of these technology pathways into an early demonstration and a first minimum viable product (MVP) of a liquid hydrogen combusting aeroengine. The project is also connected to activities in other Clean Aviation calls, on SMR and Certification activities specifically, notably project proposals HEAVEN and CONCERTO.

ReMAP will contribute to reinforcing European leadership in aeronautics by developing an open-source Integrated Fleet Health Management (IFHM) solution for aircraft maintenance. By replacing fixed-interval inspections with adaptive condition-based interventions, ReMAP will have an estimated benefit to the European aviation of more than 700 million Euro per year, due to a direct decrease in maintenance costs, reduced unscheduled aircraft maintenance events, and increased aircraft availability. ReMAP’s IFHM will be available for certification and reliable implementation on diverse aircraft systems and structures. ReMAP will realize this vision by addressing four main goals: (1) to leverage existing aircraft sensors for systems and mature promising sensing solutions for structures; (2) to develop health diagnostics and prognostics of aircraft systems and structures using innovative data-driven machine-learning techniques and physics models; (3) to develop an efficient maintenance management optimisation process, capable of adapting to real-time health conditions of the aircraft fleet; (4) to perform a safety risk assessment of the proposed IFHM solution, to ensure its reliable implementation and promote an informed discussion on regulatory challenges and concrete actions towards the certification of Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM). ReMAP’s IFHM solution will be tested in an unprecedented 6-month operational demonstration environment, involving more than 12 systems from two different aircraft fleets. Also for the first time, structural health prognostics algorithms will be tested in complex structural composite subcomponents subjected to variable fatigue loading. These demonstrations will be a unique opportunity to develop innovative concepts into higher TRL levels, moving towards industry adoption. ReMAP will define a common roadmap towards CBM, to be shared by the relevant aviation stakeholders represented in the consortium, Advisory Board and Support Group.