Leggett & Platt Aerospace Spécitubes was featured in Air & Cosmos Magazine!
Air & Cosmos is a French Aerospace magazine.
You can read the translated version of the featured article below.
THE LEGITIMACY OF SPÉCITUBES
With 62 years of experience in the manufacture and marketing of precision metal tubes for the Aerospace industry, Spécitubes was ideally placed to participate in Airbus' Oe (zero emission) program. "Since we already supply aeronautical tubes for all Airbus civil and military programs, we were the right choice to help define the future tubes between the hydrogen tanks and the power unit. The tubes, for which we have already delivered the first prototypes at the end of October 2023, are derived from those already used by ArianeGroup and Air Liquide. They differ only in the dimensions and thicknesses required. They will be used in two separate projects aboard a test A380 in the period 2027-2029: using hydrogen to power a fuel cell which in turn powers electric motors, and using hydrogen as a fuel," explains Antoine Delattre, sales manager at Spécitubes.
The main feature of these tubes, with diameters ranging from 12.70 mm to 76.50 mm, is their ability to withstand significant temperature variations, the extreme temperature being minus 253 degrees. However, Spécitubes, like other companies working in carbon-free aviation, is faced with problems of raw material supply.
"The steel used is 316L. It's not the easiest to source from production units located in Western Europe," adds Antoine Delattre. On this Airbus program, Spécitubes is working in close partnership with two other Hauts-de-France companies.
Somepic Technologies supplies connections, while Coredux supplies bellows and hoses.
At the same time, Spécitubes is expanding its workforce to keep pace with increasing production rates. The company is currently hiring around ten people, mainly welders and laminators, as production levels are close to pre-Covid-19 levels.
#Aeropsace #Spécitube #AirCosmosMagazine #FeaturedArticle
Aerospace Design Engineer with a Specialization in Aerodynamics, CFD & Structural Analysis
11moThis is an important issue that the aerospace industry needs to address. I'm glad to see Aerojet Rocketdyne taking steps to close the knowledge gap and ensure a strong future for the industry.