87 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 S. Pantelakis, K. Tserpes (eds.), Revolutionizing Aircraft Materials and Processes, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35346-9_4 Chapter 4 Thermoplastic Composites for Aerospace Applications Marco Barile, Leonardo Lecce, Michele Iannone, Silvio Pappadà, and Pierluca Roberti 1 Introduction to Thermoplastic Composites The use of composite materials in transportation sector has progressively increased over the last decades bringing a breakthrough point in the way vehicles are designed and built. With respect to traditional materials, in theory, composites offer unlimited fexibility in designing complex shapes, higher effciency in manufacturing pro- cesses, reduced operational costs and potential notable weight savings. Looking at the aviation industry, which constantly strives to reduce its impact on the environ- ment, the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and innovation in Europe (ACARE) aims for 75% reduction in CO 2 emissions per passenger kilometer com- pared to 2000 (Flightpath 2050 Europe’s Vision for Aviation n.d.). Therefore, the introduction and development of new materials together with related production processes will be one of the key elements to achieve this goal. Good evidence of this can be found in the current aerospace programs such as the Airbus A350 (Marsh 2007), Boeing B787 Dreamliner or Bombardier C-Series CS-100 (Marsh 2013) which have about 50–53% of their total structural weight (excluding engines) made of composite materials. The frst application of M. Barile (*) · L. Lecce NOVOTECH Aerospace Advanced Technology, Naples, Italy e-mail: marco.barile@novotech.it; leonardo.lecce@novotech.it M. Iannone LEONARDO Aircraft Pomigliano, Naples, Italy e-mail: michele.iannone@leonardocompany.com S. Pappadà CETMA—Engineering, Design and Materials Technologies Centre, Brindisi, Italy e-mail: silvio.pappada@cetma.it P. Roberti SOLVAY Aerospace Composite Materials, Milan, Italy e-mail: pierluca.roberti@solvay.com