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Airframe test specialist IABG is preparing to begin construction in Dresden later this year of a new hangar to conduct full-scale fatigue testing of the Airbus Military A400M transport. The facility should be completed by 2007 in time for preparations for the start of A400M fatigue testing in 2009, says IABG Dresden aircraft structure tests manager Frank Eichelbaum. The test airframe will be delivered to Dresden in sections and assembled on site during 2008.
Although the A400M will have an almost all-composite wing, “our task in loading the wing and analysing the fatigue and damage-tolerance behaviour is not that different to current Airbus tests”, says Eichelbaum.The company is mid-way through fatigue testing of the A380 ultra-large airliner, having reached the 10,000 simulated flights milestone. The next phase involves introducing artificial damage by cutting structure or removing load paths.
Source: Flight International