Boeing 787 aft pressure bulkhead passes fatigue test for certification
By Staff | March 2008
Source: EADS Augsburg
The EADS facility in Augsburg, Germany, reported on Feb. 4 that the composite aft pressure bulkhead for The Boeing Co.’s (Seattle, Wash.) 787 Dreamliner had successfully endured 165,000 fatigue test cycles without failure (see photo), a significant milestone in the component’s certification process. The Augsburg aerostructures plant has been running the certification test on the bulkhead since April 2007. The fatigue test cycles simulate the pressure loads applied to the bulkhead during takeoffs and landings.
Certification for the bulkhead, which closes the end of the plane’s pressurized cabin, also includes static, damage tolerance and failure testing. Static tests — ultimate and limit load with positive and negative pressure — were successfully completed under surveillance of airworthiness authorities at a test facility near Munich. Certification testing was scheduled for completion in February.
While testing is completed, technicians at the Augsburg plant are readying bulkheads for incorporation into the 787 aircraft. EADS already has delivered 21 series-production units to its customer, Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. (Dallas, Texas). Vought is attaching the bulkheads to the 787’s aft fuselage sections at its facility in Charleston, S.C., and then delivering them by way of Global Aeronautica, a joint venture between Vought and Alenia Aeronautica SpA (Rome, Italy), to the 787 assembly line in Everett, Wash.
The bulkhead is infused and oven-cured via EADS’ patented vacuum-assisted process (VAP) technology. The Augsburg facility specializes in out-of-autoclave production of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer aerospace components. The VAP technique also is used to fabricate Airbus Industrie’s (Toulouse, France) A400M transport cargo door (see “Related Content” at left).
