Bombardier is assembling a composite panelled, aluminium-framed aft CSeries fuselage section demonstrator at its Saint-Laurent facility in Montreal.
The plant will be responsible for full fabrication of the twinjet's forward and aft fuselage. Although the majority of the CSeries fuselage is fabricated from advanced alloys, the rear section aft of the cabin incorporates composite panels.
Sylvain Lajoie, CSeries programme director for the Saint-Laurent facility, says that the mixed material design avoids galvanic corrosion between carbonfibre and aluminium by inserting a thin film where the two materials meet.
 |
|---|
© Jon Ostrower/Flightglobal |
When completed, the test structure will be put through thermal stress tests to evaluate the differing coefficients of expansion of the carbonfibre panels and the metal structure.
Bombardier expects to achieve design freeze for the baseline 110-seat CS100 variant in July. The first flight is due in 2012, with deliveries beginning in late 2013.
Source: Flight International
