2023年2月27日

航空航天和國防工業仍然是創新的溫床，其活動受到先進技術的吸收以及高超聲速和先進材料等技術日益重要的推動。根據GlobalData的《航空航天、國防與安全創新:超聲波無損檢測》報告，僅在過去三年裏，航空航天和國防工業就有超過17.4萬項專利申請和授予。然而，並不是所有的創新都是平等的，也不是一直都有上升的趨勢。相反，它們的進化采取了s形曲線的形式，反映了它們從早期出現到加速采用的典型生命周期，最後穩定下來並達到成熟。確定一個特定的創新在這個過程中的位置，特別是那些處於新興和加速階段的創新，對於理解它們目前的采用水平以及它們可能產生的未來軌跡和影響至關重要。根據GlobalData的技術預見(Technology foresight)，該公司利用基於262,000多項專利的創新強度模型繪製了航空航天和國防工業的s曲線，有180多個創新領域將塑造該行業的未來。在新興的創新階段，粘接纖維層壓板、熱塑性彈性體層壓板和振動抑製裝置是處於早期應用階段的顛覆性技術，應密切跟蹤。離心風機葉輪、陶瓷複合材料層壓板和燃氣渦輪發動機測試是一些加速創新的領域，在這些領域的采用一直在穩步增加。在成熟的創新領域中，保護葉片塗層和葉片合金焊接已經在行業中得到了很好的建立。超聲波無損檢測是航空航天和國防領域的一個關鍵創新領域，可以通過將超聲波穿過物體來檢測材料的缺陷或表征材料。 Ultrasonic waves are high frequency sound waves. This is classified as a non-destructive testing technique. This technique is important for testing the viability and safety of platforms and their parts. GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established aerospace and defence companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of ultrasonic non-destructive testing. Key players in ultrasonic non-destructive testing – a disruptive innovation in the aerospace and defence industry ‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators. ‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’. Boeing is one of the leading patent filers in ultrasonic non-destructive testing. Boeing has been filing multiple patents relating to remote-controlled ultrasonic non-destructive testing methods. Some other key patent filers in the industry include Airbus, Halliburton, and Gecko Robotics. In terms of geographic reach, Halliburton leads the pack. JFE and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of application diversity, Halliburton held the top position, followed by Saudi Arabian Oil, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, and Gecko Robotics. Ultrasonic non-destructive testing has had a number of patents filed by companies with a primarily commercial market focus. Defence companies are also filing patents in this area, with those doing so including Rolls-Royce, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, and Airbus all submitting patents related to ultrasonic non-destructive testing. To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the aerospace and defence industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Defence . Subscribe to our Newsletter