Funding secured for innovate leap in aerospace composites manufacturing

A consortium involving Darwen-based aero-structures specialist Brookhouse Aerospace, has secured funding from the ATI SME Programme to support the next stage of development of an innovative composite manufacturing solution.

Bullfrog, designed to revolutionise quality control in composite manufacturing, has been developed to enable high rates of production while reducing waste.

In aerospace manufacturing up to 40 per cent of defects occur during the layup process, and 10 per cent during demoulding.

These often go undetected until late-stage scanning or even painting, which wastes time, materials and money.

Using active thermography and AI, Bullfrog detects defects earlier and faster – resulting in less waste, improved product quality and shorter production cycles.

Matthew Rossiter, chief executive at Brookhouse says the partnership will work in partnership with others 'to develop a solution that will enable high-rate, low-waste composite manufacturing'.

He added: “Collaborating together will ensure that the innovation is scalable, effective and ready for the aerospace requirements of the future.”

This project, led by Easol, is backed by the ATI SME Programme - a joint government and industry investment to support innovation in civil aerospace technology and manufacturing - and co-funded by Innovate UK (part of UK Research and Innovation) and the Department for Business and Trade.

Consortium partners include University of Southampton, Cranfield University and Brookhouse Aerospace, and support is provided by Createc.

The funding awarded will enable the consortium to continue to build, test and embed Bullfrog as a new standard in composite manufacturing, enabling quality control to be a key driver of efficiency and sustainability.

Lancashire Business View reported earlier this week that Brookhouse Aerospace has invested over £500,000 in additional machinery to support it's growth strategy.

The new CNC machinery will enable the aero-structures specialist to provide increased high volume, lights-out machining capabilities and deliver a wider range of products to high levels of accuracy, at speed.

The business will see further investment in machinery over the coming months.