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IABG inaugurates new A400M test hangar

Dresden, 10/28/2008. IABG officially inaugurates its newly constructed test hangar for the A400M major airframe fatigue test at the Dresden airport.

IABG was contracted to carry out a fatigue test at the airframe of the new military transporter A400M. The tests are accomplished at the IABG site Dresden. The setup of the test facility commences this year.

For this purpose IABG built a test hangar at the Dresden airport in direct proximity to the test hangar, in which the airframe fatigue test at the wide-bodied Airbus A380 is carried out.

The objective of the tests at the A400M is the investigation of the airframe regarding material fatigue, durability, damage tolerance behaviour as well as residual strength.

“We are pleased that we now have reached an important milestone on the way to the commencement of the A400M test operation with the completion of the new hangar”, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Schwarz, Managing Director of IABG stated on this occasion.

We use this occasion as an opportunity for a festive event which we host today on 28 October 2008 in the new A400M hangar in Dresden. As keynote speaker of this event, to which we expect numerous guests from the political and the economic sector, we managed to win the Prime Minister of the Free State of Saxony, Mr. Stanislaw Tillich.

The dimensions of the newly built hangar are adapted to the size of the test object. With a floor space of about 1.800 square meters the height is 21m. The test hangar has an anchor rail system with a total length of approx. 1.000m, embedded in the concrete floor at a depth of about 1m. It is hence able to absorb the enormous energies, which develop during this test.

The infrastructural systems such as electrical connections, oil hydraulics and pneumatics are accommodated in the attached building.

With the A400M tests a host of successful fatigue tests of many years within the aviation sector is being continued: Starting with the airbus A300 in the 1970s IABG tested all past Airbus models regarding durability. In the years 1998 to 2003 IABG accomplished the airframe fatigue test at the airbus A340-600 at its Dresden branch. IABG currently tests the Airbus A380 regarding its fatigue strength also in Dresden.

The fatigue tests at the A400M stand for a continued stabilisation of the IABG core business sector aviation and at the same time of the aviation region Saxony.

“For IABG this contract provides the chance to accompany the change in aircraft design from metallic structures to CFK structures “on the job” also within the qualification sector” commented Prof. Dr. Rudolf Schwarz, Managing Director of IABG. ”To guarantee structural integrity of future aircraft structures we research the non-conventional damage mechanisms of CFK aircraft structures generally and consistently. We develop material-compliant test procedures and advance the integration of damage detection and monitoring into the aircraft system (Structural Health Monitoring).“