Some Good News From Alenia Aeronautica
After seeing its Global Aeronautica joint-venture with Boeing in
the news twice in as many days due to
production-related issues, Alenia Aeronautica
was ready for some good news. The company reported Wednesday it
successfully completed destructive testing on the horizontal
stabilizer of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The test took place at Alenia's Pomigliano plant in Naples with
Boeing engineers and representatives of the US Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in
attendance. The stabilizer is made at the Alenia Aeronautica plant
at Foggia in Italy's Puglia region.
Previous physical testing had shown that the horizontal
stabilizer meets its certification requirement to withstand 150
percent of the maximum aerodynamic load it ever could encounter in
flight. Once Alenia engineers proved that, they then pushed it to
the limit -- testing the horizontal stabilizer to see just much
load the horizontal stabilizer could withstand before failure.
In that test, the structure did not break until well in excess
of the required 150 percent of limit load. The destructive test was
the culmination of seven months of testing conducted by Alenia and
Boeing.
"This is quite an achievement," said Nazario Cauceglia, Alenia
Aeronautica's chief technical officer. "The test validates the
innovative multispar design concept and consolidates the spirit of
cooperation established between Alenia and Boeing engineers on this
difficult task, and on the entire 787 program."
"Successful completion of the 787
horizontal stabilizer failure test marks the culmination of an
innovative design and development activity," said Randy Harley,
vice president and general manager, 787 Engineering and Technology.
"Working together, the 787 team has once again confirmed the power
of an integrated partnership."
Previous tests at Pomigliano gauged the structure's capability
to withstand various extremes in aerodynamic pressures, such as
upward and downward deflection and extreme asymmetric loads.
With static testing complete, Alenia now will proceed to fatigue
testing. Alenia engineers at Pomigliano will subject a complete
horizontal stabilizer to repeated flexing, meant to demonstrate the
stabilizer's ability to carry repeated operational load cycles
representative of its design life.
To obtain certification, the tail will be tested to at least
three times its design life. The testing program is slated to
conclude with Boeing conducting a bird strike test at its
facilities in the US.