PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Merged: Boeing Revises 787 First Flight and Delivery Plans- Again
Old 3rd Dec 2009, 08:23
  #142 (permalink)  
ozaub
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Wait for ultimate load test

Congratulations to Boeing if 787 has indeed cleared the Limit Load Test. About time too!
But 18 months ago, back at #31 on this thread I warned of difficulties in predicting capabilities of composites and of the criticality of the ultimate load test. That remains a big hurdle.
Few if any airplanes have failed static test at limit load, as the 787 did. Now that the first failure has been fixed, certification depends on proving that the whole airframe can sustain an additional 50% (i.e. design ultimate load). Since all structure was designed using analyses that have been proven defective by the wing to body failure, it will be pure good luck if the rest of the structure can sustain that extra 50% without premature failures somewhere else.
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