Exploring Biomass‐Derived Engineering Thermoplastics for Aircraft Manufacturing

ABSTRACT As part of the NASA Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) portfolio, the Sustainable Manufacturing of Aircraft (SUMAC) project aimed to explore sustainably derived thermoplastic composites to minimize environmental impacts on an aircraft full lifecycle. For this purpose, three different potential high‐performance bioderived thermoplastics including polylactic acid (PLA), poly‐3‐hydroxybutyrate (PHB), and polyamide‐11 (PA11) were fully characterized using multiple techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). For each resin, thermal properties (e.g., thermal decomposition characteristics, melting and glass transition temperatures) as well as viscoelastic properties (e.g., storage and loss moduli) were measured and their potential material merits for aerospace applications were investigated. Lastly, the recyclability of the resins was evaluated through multiple melting/remelting cycles and their DMA performances were compared against the initial baseline materials. Each polymer demonstrated distinct advantages for aircraft manufacturing. For instance, PHB offered high damping, PLA exhibited high stiffness, and PA11 provided strong recyclability. Overall, this work aimed to highlight a new material perspective for aerospace manufacturing by exploring biomass‐derived engineering thermoplastics.