Solvay provides material support for urban air mobility

Solvay is working with Italian city airline (UAM) Novotech and will provide access to its range of thermoset, thermoplastic composites and adhesives, as well as technical support for the development of a second prototype structure for the hybrid Seagull ditching aircraft
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The aircraft is scheduled to fly later this year
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The Seagull is the first two-seater aircraft to feature carbon fiber composite parts, which are manufactured by automated fiber placement (AFP) rather than manual processing
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Leonardo Lecce, CEO of Novotech, said: "The introduction of this advanced automated production process marks the first step towards developing scalable products for a viable UAM environment
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Novotech selected Solvay's aerospace-qualified, NCAMP-registered MTM 45-1 and CYCOM 5320-1 resin systems
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Both products have an aerospace genealogy system with large publicly available datasets, process flexibility, and desired product form factors that are necessary for rapid adoption and time-to-market
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CYCOM 5320-1 is a toughened epoxy prepreg system designed for vacuum bagging (VBO) or out of autoclave (OOA) fabrication of primary structural parts
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MTM 45-1 is a flexible cure temperature, high performance, toughened epoxy matrix system optimized for low pressure, vacuum bagging
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MTM 45-1 can also be autoclaved
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The composite-intensive Seagull is a hybrid aircraft with an automatic folding wing system that, thanks to its trimaran hull configuration, enables landing and take-off functions from lakes and oceans, thereby reducing the cost of sea-air maneuvering systems
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Novotech is already working on its next project - an all-electric eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft
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Solvay will be an important partner in the selection of suitable composite and adhesive materials
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The next-generation aircraft will be able to carry four passengers, with a cruising speed of 150 to 180 km/h and a range of 200 to 400 km
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Urban air mobility is an emerging market that will revolutionize the transportation and aviation industry
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These innovative hybrid or all-electric platforms will accelerate the transition to sustainable, on-demand passenger and cargo air transport
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