A380 wing ruptures in stress tests

[BoeingBoy]

"Airbus said a wing of a 550-seat A380, the world's biggest commercial aircraft, snapped during factory stress tests at its headquarters. The company said the incident won't delay the first deliveries due by the end of the year."

Article

Jim

 

[whatkindoffreshhell]

Thanks for the article.

I'm no Airbus champion, but isn't breaking a wing a normal part of the certification process?

There was a book that chronicled the development of the 777 and I seem to recall they intentionally broke a wing in similar fashion.

(bonus question: why can you pour water on steel but not pour steel on water??)

 

[BoeingBoy]

I'm no Airbus champion, but isn't breaking a wing a normal part of the certification process?

(bonus question: why can you pour water on steel but not pour steel on water??)

I've seen video of the same - loading the wing to the breaking point. My assumption, since it's not specified in the article, is that this time the wing broke before reaching the required load.

(bonus answer) - I thought you could. Of course the molten steel would instantly vaporize the water it contacted, so I guess you'd really be pouring steel on steam....

Jim

 

[SilentWarrior]

Hi all,

Here is an article that offers a bit more depth into what numbers are being looked at during a stress test.

After completing “limit loadâ€￾ tests (ie the maximum loads likely to experienced by the aircraft during normal service), progressively greater loads have been applied to the specimen towards the required 1.5 times the limit load. Engineers develop finite element models (FEM) to calculate the load requirements.

“The failure occurred last Tuesday between 1.45 and 1.5 times the limit load at a point between the inboard and outboard engines,â€￾ says Airbus executive vice president engineering Alain Garcia. “This is within 3% of the 1.5 target, which shows the accuracy of the FEM.â€￾  He adds that the ultimate load trial is an “extremely severe test during which a wing deflection of 7.4m (24.3ft) was recordedâ€￾.