After its successful maiden flight the new European Airbus military transporter A400M is now being fatigue-tested in the course of a series of required qualification tests. In this context, the A400M will undergo about 25,000 simulated flights in IABG’s test facilities at the Dresden site. On 5 January, the first segment of the test specimen for the necessary fatigue test was unloaded at Dresden airport. The module was transported via transport aircraft A300-600 ST “Beluga” which was specially developed for high-volume loads. All delivered parts were transported on 7 and 8 January from Dresden airport to IABG’s nearby A400M test hangar. Here the sections are integrated into the test set-up by IABG. The complete airframe is finally assembled by a team of the manufacturer Airbus Military.
The subsequent fatigue and damage tolerance tests cover the flight-by-flight simulation of 25,000 flights and contain static measurement campaigns as well as a residual strength tests. Testing is supposed to commence before end of this year.
“Aircraft development currently undergoes a fundamental change towards the use of the lighter CFRP structures within selected areas”, states Felix Schwarberg, IABG project manager. “The Airbus A400M fatigue tests enable us to accompany this change within the sector airframe qualification.”
Starting with the Airbus A300, IABG has tested all Airbus model components with regard to fatigue life and endurance characteristics. Among other things, the company already carried out fatigue tests on the Airbus A340-600 in Dresden between 1998 and 2003. At present the technology enterprise IABG also carries out fatigue tests on the Airbus A380 in Dresden. At the same time, tests for the life extension of the Airbus A320 are performed at headquarters in Ottobrunn.
About the A400M: The military transporter A400M has a length of 45.1 meters and a wingspan of 42.4 meters. Compared to other transport aircraft it is particularly characterized by its extreme versatility and efficiency: It can vary its speed from up to 850 km/h to extremely slow speeds for low height load drops. It loads up to 37 tons and has a reach of 6,600 kilometres with 20 tons of freight. It is suitable for unpaved runways and can be re-fitted as tanker aircraft within a short time. The aircraft meets the increased requirements in the military air transport sector. At the same time its development and mass production secure jobs all over Europe. At present, eight countries have ordered a total of 184 aircraft, 60 thereof are destined for the German Federal Air Force.
