Developping  new products and processes

Innovation

We develop a portfolio of innovations which offers its customers a solution suited to their technological choices.

We collaborate with our customers on defining our R&T strategy to better understand and serve their needs. Sonaca works with multi-skill collaborative platform, coaching, including external organizations expertise to achieve our development in short time-to-market.

Innovation revolves around :

  • Breakthrough manufacturing processes
  • Innovative products

Leading edge of the future

As a world leader of wing leading edges and slats, Sonaca develops the leading edge of the future aircraft wings.

As future aircrafts will have longer and thinner wings and must also be more silents,  we are developing slats able to cope with thoses requirements of higher wing deflections and noice reduction. Those innovations will contribute in future aircrafts emission reductions.

Integrated composite parts

Sonaca has an extensive knowledge in SQRTM processes combined with ATL to get integrated composite boxes. Sonaca has developed a one shot aileron and a two-parts composite flap  which involved significative cost and weight reduction.

The development continues with more automation, application of the integration strategy to new components and new materials.

Improved ice protection system

Ice protection systems is a major topic in our R&T strategy. As world leader, we mainly work on 2 subjects :

  1. Electrothermal ice protection systems (ETIPS). Comitted for a more electric aircraft future, we have built our own ETIPS for more than 10 years, reaching a maturity level of TRL5. This technology will soon be ready for commercialization.
  2. Low power electric IPS. Minimizing the power off-take is key. Our teams are developing new ice protection systems based on electro-mechanical property. This early technology shows already interesting perspectives.

New markets

Air mobility market is evolving fast. We develop technologies adapting to those new challenges.  For the future of Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicles (eVTOLs), we investigate ways to produce at low cost and very high production rates elements, thanks to optimization tools, and the semi-automated design and production of such structures.

Sonaca receives the supports of