Manufacture and properties of first industrial actuators APA® using carbon epoxy SHELLS

Future aeronautics will more often use electrical actuators in order to replace hydraulic actuators. Existing Amplified Piezo Actuators APA® with steel shell, delivering among the highest mass energy densities, are good candidates. Lighter carbon shells are developed to further increase their efficiency. For helicopters rotor blade application this evolution is almost unavoidable but is also very interesting for other domains. High modulus and high tensile strength carbon fibres shells have been produced by conventional filament winding, tested and compared.