26-05-2012, 05:25 PM
AIRBUS A380
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INTRODUCTION
In the early 1990s, Airbus began to study the possibility of developing a jet with passenger capacity over 500 to directly compete with the Boeing 747. Engineering and design didn't begin until 1994, when the plane was known as the A3XX. Airbus considered a wide-body, twin-tailfin design but adopted a double-deck design instead. Eventually, the plane was designated A380, which does not keep the usual numeric sequence of other Airbus planes: The "8" was chosen because it reflects the cross-section of the plane's double-deck passenger area.
LANDING GEAR
The 22 wheels Goodrich landing gear consists of
two underwing struts each with four wheels,
two central under-fuselage struts each with six wheels and a
twin nose wheel. Each landing gear supports about 167t.
Messier-Dowty supplies the nose landing gear. The aircraft can complete a 180° turn within a width of 56.5m, which is within the 60m width dimension of standard runways.
MATERIALS USED
In order to minimize the unladen weight, the Airbus 380 structures incorporate a range of new materials as used on the A318 and A340 families of aircraft.
The use of lightweight materials has helped to keep the weight down,
while extensive wind-tunnel testing has resulted in the optimum aerodynamic shape for the A380.
Carbon fibre reinforced plastic
Roughly 25% of the plane's overall structure is made from
carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).
Carbon fiber, a strong, light but expensive material, is used on key parts of the A380 like central box of the wings, Horizontal stabilizers of fin, rear fuselage, construction of the panels for the upper fuselage and for ceiling beams.
Benefits
Highly resistant to fatigue.
The aluminum and fiberglass layers of glare prevent cracks.
It is much lighter than conventional materials.
BUILDING THE A380
Just putting an A380 together presented Airbus with some problems. There was no way it could create a manufacturing facility large enough to build the entire plane in one place. Various parts are built all over Europe:
Wings from Broughton, Wales
Fuselage parts from Hamburg, Germany
Tailfin from Stade, Germany
Rudder from Puerto Real, Spain
Nose from Saint Nazaire, France
Fuselage and cockpit sub-assemblies from Méaulte, France
Horizontal tail-plane from Getafe, Spain