Tue, Nov 22, 2011
Installing Second Unit Of One of World's Largest
Autoclaves
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is about to introduce a second
autoclave into the Fabrication Factory at its Oye Plant of the
company's Nagoya Aerospace Systems Works in Nagoya, Aichi
Prefecture, for use in forming the shape of composite-material wing
boxes for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The second autoclave, which is
being installed in response to Boeing's plans to boost production
of the 787, is the same type as the first - one of the world's
largest - in operation at the factory since 2006. The autoclave
performs curing and shape forming of the composite-material
prepregs that are layered into the shape of a wing box under high
temperature and high pressure.
The autoclave, cylindrical in shape, measures 26 feet in
exterior diameter and 131 feet in length and weighs 700 tons.
Indispensable for the production of 98-foot-long composite-material
wings, it can accommodate placement of either the upper or lower
half of a full-size wing box for cocuring, enabling stable
increases in high-precision production of uniform quality. The
autoclave was transported from Hiroshima by ship, arrived at the
pier adjacent to the Oye Plant on November 15, and was brought to
the Fabrication Factory today.
MHI undertakes production of the wing boxes for the 787 and
manufactures them at the Fabrication and Assembly Factories at its
Oye Plant. As production of the 787 has expanded, MHI has already
increased its installations of processing machines, including
water-jet cutting machines for the skin and composite-material
layup equipment. The addition of the second autoclave completes the
structure required to increase production to the needed level.
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