Sat, Aug 25, 2007
Results Unknown... As Information Is Proprietary
In this case, we're really hoping that no news IS good news. In
its third and final such test, Boeing conducted crucial crash
testing Thursday on the new 787 Dreamliner to test how its
composite barrel fuselage would hold up in a crash situation.
The test was carried out Boeing's Apache helicopter
manufacturing plant in Mesa, AZ by dropping a 10-foot-long fuselage
section from about 15 feet onto an inch-thick steel plate. The
purpose was to determine how the carbon-fiber composite would hold
up against the vertical impact of an emergency landing on flat
terrain, according to the Associated Press.
It's unknown if the test can be termed a success or failure...
as the company won't release a detailed report, since it is
proprietary information, said Boeing spokesman Adam Morgan.
The Federal Aviation Administration had specialists on hand for
the testing. The agency told Boeing in June to prove the composite
material had similar crashworthy characteristics as aluminum, as
carbon fiber reinforced plastic is not as shock absorbent or as
tough.
The first of the three tests ordered involved crushing a section
of fuselage between steel plates and was performed last year. The
second involved a steel plate being shoved through a section of
inverted fuselage on the ground and it was conducted earlier this
year.
Those first two tests' results matched Boeing's computational
analysis, which showed the material to be crashworthy in such test
conditions, Morgan said.
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