In the first of these, the spar is
made in three sections, the largest of which is 10m long. The process uses carbon fibre tapes up to 25mm wide and pre-impregnated with M21E resin from Hexcel laid up using the TORRESFIBERLAYUP automated fibre placement (AFP) machine from MTorres. This is the same production equipment which is used by Spirit AeroSystems in its Kinston, North Carolina facility for the manufacture of the front spars. In the second, fixed trailing edge
assembly operations are accomplished using Brötje robotic machining centres where the major components are drilled off. Two of these are required: one for the mid and outer sections, and one dedicated to the inner section which is more complex as it has to incorporate the landing gear main pintle. The whole major assembly is completed and fully equipped by GKN including all installation brackets ready for the systems fit at Airbus Broughton.
Moving in a line As with other parts of the extended A350 manufacturing capability, both within Airbus itself and within its supply base, the production concept is one of a moving line rather than a focus on dedicated tooling. This has been designed with production rates of 12 or 13 aircraft a month in mind, and provides additional flexibility as a consequence of digital tooling for other similar products to be manufactured within the same facility.
Winged wonder: The A350 rear spar demonstrator Messier-Dowty has also participated
in this plateau process, working through changes in the concept of the airframe from its original configuration combining aluminium/lithium frames and composite skin panels to the final version which is a mostly composite design in which only a relatively few frames will be metallic. The detailed design of the airframe has direct impact on the main landing gear and it is exactly this type of design evolution which the plateau process with its rolling DMU has been conceived to accommodate. The main landing gear had to be redesigned from the original A350 configuration with a double side-stay and revised attachment structure to split the loads more evenly between the centre box and the wing. The Airbus extended enterprise still
Structural CAD design packages: Involves Catia V5 and other Dassault Systèmes products
stops short of extending to lower tier detail part suppliers as this message is already being transmitted through the tier ones. There is evidence that this doctrine is reaching these parts of the supply chain, with actions from the likes
REGISTER FOR YOUR FREE COPY OF AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING BY VISITING: WWW.AERO-MAG.COM
of GKN in developing the capability of its own supply chain in very much the same manner as primes have done in the past.
Although it involves a significant
proportion of US component manufacturing particularly in systems fields, the A350 supply chain is in stark comparison with the Boeing 787 supply chain which has recently shown itself under considerable strain. The supply chain for the 787 has been criticised for not having the technological and managerial capabilities to deal with the amount of work it was allotted. Boeing has scaled back its exposure on the stretched 787-9 variant and is likely to continue along these lines in upcoming programmes such as the 737 and 777 replacements. According to Boeing’s CEO Jim
McNerney, “We have to regain the capability to manufacture what we invented.” This is going the other way, by contracting rather than extending the
enterprise. y
www.gknaerospace.com
AEROSPACEMANUFACTURING | SEPTEMBER 2010 27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52