Andrew Doyle/LONDON
AIRBUS INDUSTRIE IS pushing for an unprecedented level of co-operation between its partners and suppliers during the research-and-development (R&D) phase of the proposed A3XX ultra-high-capacity airliner. The new approach, under the so-called "3E Plan", is seen as crucial to the consortium's efforts to keep the aircraft's development costs, likely to be huge, under control.
The 3E (environment, economy, energy) Plan, a formal initiative involving Airbus partners Aerospatiale, British Aerospace, CASA and Daimler-Benz Aerospace, has been drawn up to focus on the R&D needs of future Airbus programmes, with the A3XX emerging as the immediate priority.
"The major focus for us and Airbus is suppliers," says Jeff Jupp, director of engineering at BAe Airbus, who also chairs the 3E technical directors committee. "The suppliers are becoming involved in R&D work much more," he adds.
Airbus wants to ensure that a wide range of advanced technologies is available when full-scale development of the A3XX begins, allowing engineers to take full advantage of modern, concurrent, engineering techniques. The consortium has already selected Computer-vision's CADDS electronic product-definition system for this purpose (Flight International, 2-8 August, 1995).
The work should also mean, that Airbus will be able to present the A3XX's configuration to airlines, having already demonstrated technical feasibility. "With step-changes in technologies, it is important to have demonstrated adequately that they are manageable and low-risk," says Jupp.
Airbus hopes that more coordinated R&D will also help to eliminate duplication, where, for example, several suppliers carry out similar research work in competition with each other.
Aerospatiale says that the work "...will initially be aimed at reducing the weight and maintenance cost of aircraft systems. This requires making computers more versatile, to reduce their number, standardising components, extending the use of aluminum electrical cable and designing servo controls capable of actuating the enormous horizontal tail surface."
Another 3E project is to look at harmonisation of aluminum-welding procedures and at how to cut the number of rivets used in aircraft construction. Other projects include studies into the use of titanium in the A3XX landing gear, carbon-composite primary structure in the outboard sections of the wings and laminar-flow-control around the engine nacelles.
Source: Flight International
