AEROSPACE GKN Aerospace Global Technology Centre

Good neighbours

DOMINIC PERRY*, reports from the opening of GKN Aerospace’s new Global Technology Centre in Filton, UK on 18 October 2021.

Left: The centre’s opening ceremony. Right: GKN’s new Global Technology Centre. GKN Aerospace

GKN Aerospace has reinforced its presence in the UK with the opening of its new £32m ($44m) global technology centre (GTC) in Bristol. Located in Filton – the heart of the city’s historic aerospace industry – the facility has been part-funded by the UK government-backed Aerospace Technology Institute, which provided £15m.

Specialising in research and development into the technologies required for tomorrow’s low- or zero-carbon aircraft, such as advanced manufacturing techniques and hydrogen propulsion, the site will ensure that GKN retains its position as a key tier one supplier.

Celebrating the formal opening of the GTC on 18 October, David Paja, GKN Aerospace Chief Executive, said the centre is based around two ambitions: “developing industry-changing technology and creating a world-class ecosystem”.

The GTC was “created to be a partnership hub”, he said, creating a space where GKN and the wider industry and academia can collaborate “o integrate, connect and support our partners, our customers and our suppliers in a way that enables the very best capability from around the UK to have its greatest impact.”

An artist’s impression of the Eviation Alice electric aircraft. Eviation

Welcome to the neighborhood

While near neighbours of the GTC include aerospace giants Airbus and Rolls-Royce, GKN stresses that it is already working with companies from outside the industry, such as McLaren, Renishaw and Sandvik. Once fully operational, it will house 300 people from GKN and its partners.

Paja emphasises that research enabling the decarbonisation of aviation will be a core focus of the site. “The deployment of new technologies, such as additive manufacturing and composite materials, can deliver significant improvements in the efficiency of conventional aircraft and engines,” he says.

“‘The Airbus’ ‘Wing of Tomorrow’ programme, where our rear spar in composite materials is a critical building block, is a great example.”

Airbus

GKN handed to Airbus the first fixed trailing edge for that programme in September – one of the initial projects to be delivered from the GTC.

However, preceding that, GKN earlier this year shipped the first composite empennage, wings and wiring system for the Eviation Alice electric aircraft – a project that was begun while construction of the GTC was still under way. In addition, says John Pritchard, President of GKN’s civil aerospace business, “thanks to the site’s agile working, the structures for the Alice were designed, produced and delivered in around 12 months.”

“Tell me anywhere else in the traditional aviation industry where you could go from a clean sheet of paper to the delivery of parts that are going to fly in a year,” he says. “Take that to one of our more traditional manufacturing locations and you are looking at three years minimum if you pushed it.”

Next up for the team at the GTC is the design and development of the carbonfibre wing and wiring system for another zero-emission aircraft: the electric vertical take-off and landing VA-X4 being brought to market by fellow Bristol firm Vertical Aerospace.

While the initial prototype will fly with a wing built by a different manufacturer, GKN will produce the structure for all serial aircraft.

Novel power

Constructing The ‘Wing of Tomorrow’. GKN Aerospace

Although well known for its aerostructures work, GKN is also using the GTC to develop novel propulsion systems. Under its H2GEAR programme the company and its partners from industry and academia are developing a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain for sub-regional aircraft that could enter service by around 2026.

Total investment in the project is £54m, with the government contributing half.

The H2GEAR project “has only been possible with the support of the ATI”, says Paja, which is helping to “position the UK at the very leading edge of the zero-emission flight”.

He stresses his belief that “no one company has all the answers and no one company can go it alone”, which underlines the importance of facilities, such as the GTC.

“Tackling climate change will require unprecedented collaboration between industry, academia and government, working through these problems together and creating the right conditions for success.”

GKN already runs two similar sites in Europe, located in Trollhättan, Sweden and Hoogeveen in the Netherlands, respectively specialising in propulsion technology, and composite development and high-voltage wiring systems.

*Deputy Editor of Flight International