High-Performance Composites is read by qualified composites industry professionals in the fields of continuous carbon fiber and other high-performance composites as well as the associated end-markets of aerospace, military, and automotive.
Issue link: https://hpc.epubxp.com/i/101340
NEWS neWs Boeing ramps up 787 production to ���ve per month Build rate expected to reach 10 per month in late 2013 Source: Boeing source: Boeing T he Boeing Co. (Everett, Wash.) reported on Nov. 12 that it had rolled out the ���rst 787��Dreamliner��built at the new rate of ���ve airplanes per month. The airplane is the 83rd 787 to come off the line. Boeing earlier this year increased the rate from 2.5 to 3.5 airplanes per month and is on track to achieve a planned 10 per month by late 2013. The program production rate accounts for airplanes built at Boeing South Carolina (North Charleston, S.C.) and Everett, including the Temporary Surge Line that was activated in Everett earlier this year. Boeing reports that about 500 employee involvement teams across the 787 program are actively seeking ways and means to meet quality, safety and production-rate goals. Among the new tools Boeing has deployed to improve productivity in the Final Assembly areas are Orbital Drilling machines by Novator (Stockholm, Sweden). The machines are used to drill holes for the fasteners that are used to attach the wings to the center fuselage section of the airplane. The drilling technique is unique in that the cutter rotates in a circular motion to carve out the hole, rather than a conventional drill that cuts straight into the material (for more about the technique, see http://short.compositesworld.com/rpWQR5bG). The bene���ts of the machines include improved precision and time savings for mechanics. A third bene���t is improved safety because the machines require lower thrust and torque. ���This accomplishment, doubling our production rate in one year, is the result of the combined efforts of thousands of men and women across Boeing and at our partners,��� says Larry Loftis, VP and general manager of the 787 program. ���The entire 787 team is focused on meeting our commitments. They���ve gotten even smarter in how they build this airplane and applied real ingenuity in making our processes and tools more ef���cient.��� At HPC press time, 35 787s had been delivered to eight airlines, and the program had more than 800 un���lled orders with 58 customers worldwide. airbus a350 XWB program begins static airframe validation A irbus (Toulouse, France) reported on Nov. 23 that its A350 XWB static test airframe had been moved into the facility where it will undergo testing to validate the structural design of the composites-intensive, midsized, twinaisle passenger jet. In mid-November the airframe rolled out of the A350 XWB ���nal assembly line at Blagnac Airport in Toulouse and was transferred to the L34 static test hall situated across the airport in the Lagard��re industrial zone ��� also home to the A380 12 | ���nal assembly line. This cleared the way for the A350 XWB airframe to be integrated into a test rig for a testing campaign that will submit the airframe to nearly a year of evaluations, including limit load and ultimate load validations, along with residual strength and margin research. The L34 static test hall covers an area of 10,000m2 (107,639 ft2) and is supported by 200 workers during peak testing activity. It houses a massive test rig that incorporates 2,500 metric tonnes (5.5 million lb) of steel framing and 240 jacks/loading high-performance composites lines that are used to induce structural loads. The testing is recorded by 12,000 sensors. The static test airframe was the ���rst to be built on the A350 XWB���s new Roger B��teille ���nal assembly line in Toulouse, and it was the focus during Airbus��� inauguration ceremony for this production facility in October. The airframe is sized to represent the A350-900 version of Airbus��� newest jetliner family, which is the intermediate aircraft of the three fuselage-length versions: the A350-800, A350-900 and A350-1000.