Aer Lingus A-330 aileron castings

[RE Koyich]

Received some photos of broken A-330 aileron actuator castings, apparently removed from Aer Lingus aircraft at AA facility at ORD recently.

Nothing further heard or seen on this - anyone else?

REK

[tubby linton]

I found this
"I've also heard that A330-300 EI-ORD experienced turbulence on the descent into Chicago as EI125 on 11 May, possibly resulting in damage to the spoilers. This aircraft has not been monitored since that date, so it may also be temporarily out of action. Anyone know more?"

"Does anybody have any more details on EI-ORD?

It seems to be out of action at the moment with no movements since that flight on the 11th of May. The return flight was also cancelled that night.

Looking at the logs, they must have hit some pretty heavy turbulence with strong t-storm activity and cumulonimbus build up at the time of the descent and approach. They also did one of two circuits prior to landing, over central South western Michigan and again directly over the lake...

At around 6,000 feet, the airspeed also seems to have briefly dropped as low as 119 KTS, probably indicating a moment of significant turbulence. There were also, however, sharp fluctuations in speed at 20,000 Feet..

EI Premier"

[RE Koyich]

Thanks, Tubby - I'll see if I can post the photos somehow - huge castings totally broken off at one end.

Ron

[vickers vanguard]

REKoyich, can you post the pics when you get a chance ?

[Bearcat]

where are you getting the word castings? it was the inner and outer attachment brackets of an aileron servo control that cracked. Aircraft back in service not long after.

[RE Koyich]

Hi, Bearcat - the actuator brackets appear to be castings of some sort - eyeballing them.

I'll put the photos up on a web page somewhere - this forum doesn't seem to allow photos inside a message.

Ron

[RE Koyich]

Here are the photos of the actuator brackets said to be from Aer Lingus A-330 that declared and emergency going into ORD - perhaps milled from billets of metal - rather than cast - but fractures none-the-less (photos from a friend in the US)

Still no date on the event.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/RonKoyich/Koyich%20aviation/Aer%20Lingus%20A330/A330-1.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/RonKoyich/Koyich%20aviation/Aer%20Lingus%20A330/A330-2.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/RonKoyich/Koyich%20aviation/Aer%20Lingus%20A330/A330-3.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/RonKoyich/Koyich%20aviation/Aer%20Lingus%20A330/A330-4.jpg

[vapilot2004]

It could be those brackets were indeed cast as milling would have been a comparatively more expensive fabrication process. Cast items generally do require some small amount of milling.

As the hardness of the metal/alloy goes up, so does milling cost. It's an engineering decision based on design loads and the composition of the item I suppose.

These appear to be some sort of light alloy.

[RE Koyich]

Yes, VAPilot, and however they were made, their usefulness as attach points for the aileron actuators was seriously compromised. They are said to have supported an actuator at the outer end of the inner aileron on the right wing.

NDT on the fittings from the other wing is said to have found cracks in those two, as well.

So: is this a one-off, or is their a problem fleet wide? And if it's fleet wide, does that fleet include the A-340s?

The note included with the photos said the problem was not even noticed until the plane was flying more slowly - maybe the inner ailerons are not active until slower speeds.

[Flight Detent]

Hi vapilot2004...
quote
"It's an engineering decision based on design loads and the composition of the item I suppose.
These appear to be some sort of light alloy."
unquote

My response all along has been and remains...
"So does the rest of the aircraft,
and along with many other design decisions, is the reason I won't fly in any airbus!"

You know..."If it ain't....."

nuf said

Cheers...FD...:)

[lomapaseo]

I'm puzzled:confused:

What is the purpose of posting these pictures. The fracture surface tells the story which is obviously known to the designer.

I presume that the problem is being addressed. Typically you have lots of margin against overload and inspect for fatigue which may be the result of operating factors. If you don't inspect and replace often enough then one bracket fractures resulting in overloading of its mate. System redundancy after that takes you home. Not unique to the manufacturer or am I missing something?

[RE Koyich]

G'day, Lomapaseo - I thought the purpose would be clear - someone asked if I'd post them. And I did.

I had done some Googling after receiving the photos - trying to learn more - didn't find anything, so asked here.

Cheers - Ron

[SomeGuyOnTheDeck]

Aeroplanes: If you bend them hard enough (or often enough), they break.:eek:

Just because something makes a good photo, it doesn't make it any more dangerous. Actually, I'll revise that. If something fails and it makes a good photo, it is less dangerous than something that fails that nobody notices...

[RE Koyich]

You've got that right, SomeGuy! Like standing on the ground wishing you were up there, rather than being up there, wishing you were on the ground.

[Just a spotter]

Two quick questions if I may;

1) How many of these components are on each side of the aircraft?
2) What would have been the likely impact on aircraft control following such a break/failure?

Cheers

JAS

[tubby linton]

Would somebody be able to post a picture of a complete aileron casting ?

[Mr @ Spotty M]

My understanding is that a SB has already been issued for an inspection for cracks on these fittings.
The a/c if as reported is one of the oldest A330 flying, line number 059 delivered in March 1997.
I have been told however the SB is a one off inspection and not a repeat inspection.
In answer to the question on what would be the impact, l can not guess at that, but the authorities did not seem too worried, as it is not an AD.

[Sunfish]

It's not a casting. It's machined from a forged billet. Discoloured fracture surface on one side suggests their might have been a fatigue crack propagating. Still looks like an overload failure.

[tonytech2]

Hello, is it me or are people casually taking the fracture of primary flight control actuators attachments due to turbulence a bit lightly? Yes they had spoilers too but apparently from what I have read this crew had some hairy moments at low speed. Are we looking at a possible cause of the loss of the AF A330 over the South Atlantic? It too was in heavy turbulence - did it have all its aileron actuator brackets fracture? Forgings, casting, who cares, its what the designer used but it evidently isn't strong enough. Primary flight control structural components should not fail!!!

[twochai]

If this is the spoiler servo attacment bracket that has failed, then I would suggest there might be nothing preventing the spoilers from floating 'up'. the result would vary somewhat from type to type, but would likely present a significant loss of performance, through degraded L/D, and some lateral control assymetry.

[bearfoil]

Sunfish

Agree, but if fatigue, one would think it failed at less than designed for load?

bear

[Smilin_Ed]

Could someone provide us with a drawing of just how these broken pieces fit into the mechanism?

[glad rag]

Don't get why they are being paraded inside a cabin?:*:suspect::suspect::suspect::suspect:

[vapilot2004]

Yes, VAPilot, and however they were made, their usefulness as attach points for the aileron actuators was seriously compromised. They are said to have supported an actuator at the outer end of the inner aileron on the right wing.

NDT on the fittings from the other wing is said to have found cracks in those two, as well.

So: is this a one-off, or is their a problem fleet wide? And if it's fleet wide, does that fleet include the A-340s?

Apparently the fleet wide question has already been addressed RE K.

Before hearing about the SB regarding the manufacturing flaws or design deficiency errors, I was about to say how surprising it was to find flight control attach points failing completely due to turbulence.

[lomapaseo]

Agree, but if fatigue, one would think it failed at less than designed for load?

bear

I'm not sure what you mean:confused:

Fatigue starts accumulating damage at stresses far below the yield strength and if rapidly cycled load are applied (vibatory) there is a Goodman" diagram of fatigue life vs static stress coupled with vibratory stresses

Major aircraft structures often are designed with a 150-200% margin against design limit static overloads, but still will fatigue operating at only 20% of that load.

In the quest to make light weight planes that can carry large fuel loads over long distances, even static load fatigue is an expectation requiring either life limits or inspections for the rest of their life to detect cracks before they seriously reduce the design margin of 150-200% mentioned above.

Add in an abnormal vibratory stress (buffeting, severe turbulence, rough landings etc.) and you may have to inspect more often based on specific in-service experience. All this is captured under "Continued Airworthiness" actions and reflected in constant updating of Service Bulletins etc.

[bearfoil]

lomapaseo

My point is this: The failure cross section appears identical in each component, or there is a mirror behind one of them. The failure appears to have crossed the relieved area, indicating too much attention to weight relief, and the machined relic at the shoulder of the failure appears to be sharp, even uneased, concentrating a weak point at an already marginal support. Virtual testing should have identified this area, and even in a thirteen year old commercial a/c, this is a critical assembly to fail so unremarkably, even predictably.

Or this is an elaborate put up.

bear

[lomapaseo]

bear

Or this is an elaborate put up.


:). I doubt it

Your points of question above are nevertheless valid and a corrective action update is awaited

[glhcarl]

Both parts are machined forgings (not castings).

In the first picture:

The part on the left (in the mans right hand) failed due to fatigue. The beach marks on the fracture face are clearly visible in the photo.

The part on the right (in his left hand) shows evidence of fast fracture. Which would suggest it was over loaded when it had to take the load of the fatigued fitting. However, because there is not a real clear picture of the facture face, fatigue can not be ruled out.

[spannersatKL]

Looks like a 'fails safe' structure that has failed!!!
The Back to Back structure is a typical 'fail safe' design.....only one is meant to fail before discovery of the defect.
I would look back in the archives if I were EI....there was an issue with Aileron PCUs around 1995-1997 where the servo control valves were incorrectly machined, causing excessive loads on the PCU body, the ends used to come off if they failed. This may have caused the start of the fatigue failure? Who knows? Lots of ADs around that time on them....(used to assist with trying to control the replacements, when AI could produce spares)... And yes same problem on A340......

[Volume]

The Back to Back structure is a typical 'fail safe' designThe Actuator is mounted between those fittings, it is not a back to back design, it is not a fail safe design.

[John_Mc]

Interesting topic, thanks for everyones contribution.

Where can I find out more about the incident itself?

Thanks,
John

[renard]

I would second ghlcarl. One component has failed from a fatigue crack and the other failed in an overload situation.

[onetrack]

Maybe this following problem is starting to come home to roost?...

Degrees at RMIT 'dumbed down' for foreign students | News.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/national/foreign-students-cheating-or-receiving-special-treatemt-to-get-degrees/story-e6frfkvr-1225877694343?from=news+newsletter_rss)

Perhaps one of those "Middle Eastern students" who flunked aerospace exams... who was then was passed with "assistance", from Uni lecturers... has finally made his way into the design process??... :rolleyes:

Investigators from the Ombudsman's office are believed to have discovered the cheating during an investigation into other damaging claims against RMIT.

They found evidence suggesting a long-serving teacher handed out an exam paper to a Middle Eastern aerospace student several days before the exam.

The student allegedly allowed other Middle Eastern students to use the exam paper to cheat.

Telephone records of the teacher and several aerospace students allegedly reveal late-night contact in the days before a test on the stress on aeroplane components.

For an aeroplane component to fail from fatigue, seems to indicate, that at least some calculations were faulty.
It is possible, however, that manufacturing problems in the forging or machining, did lead to the failure.
We rely on good, skilled people to do the necessary engineering detective work, as to just exactly how the failure happened, and what needs to be done, to ensure it doesn't happen again, within regular use limits.

[SomeGuyOnTheDeck]

For an aeroplane component to fail from fatigue, seems to indicate, that at least some calculations were faulty.
It is possible, however, that manufacturing problems in the forging or machining, did lead to the failure.
We rely on good, skilled people to do the necessary engineering detective work, as to just exactly how the failure happened, and what needs to be done, to ensure it doesn't happen again, within regular use limits.
Or possibly, the loads encountered were greater than those the calculations suggested would be met.

'Detective work' should start with an open mind, not vague suggestions that engineers have cheated in their exams.

I've still seen sod-all in this thread about the immediate circumstances of his failure, or indeed about it's potential consequences. All we seem to know is that something big and photogenic broke - twice...

[glhcarl]

For an aeroplane component to fail from fatigue, seems to indicate, that at least some calculations were faulty.


Not necessarily, the part is a machined forging and there is a possibility that during its processing it were damaged. A small inclusion in the forging, a mis-cut during the machining, a corrosion pit? Or the parts could have been damaged during installation of the actuator. Just because it failed does not mean the design was faulty.

I am sure the parts were give an complete examination including metallurigic analysis and the source of the failure has been identified.

[bearfoil]

glhcarl

Suggesting a unique failure pattern for one of these hinges demands a similar artifact in the other. If inadvertent, it was repeated in its partner, quite unlikely.

By the same token, similar breaks in mirrored parts suggests rather strongly a shared defect, and most likely in design. A separate though similar component failing in virtually the same way, right?

The outstanding question, where is the aileron? In the Lake? We know they float.

[lomapaseo]

Suggesting a unique failure pattern for one of these hinges demands a similar artifact in the other. If inadvertent, it was repeated in its partner, quite unlikely.

By the same token, similar breaks in mirrored parts suggests rather strongly a shared defect, and most likely in design. A separate though similar component failing in virtually the same way, right?

The outstanding question, where is the aileron? In the Lake? We know they float.

The similar artifact could have been a faigue crack initiation in both (either static stress or vibratory stress). One progressed for a longer faitigue crack to failure while the other picked up the load and ending in a overload fracture from only a small pre-existing fatigue crack.

There seems to be enough of both hinge points left for an easy confirmation in a lab. Some engineer and metalurgist has no doubt seen similar in these parts and already is working out corrective action as we write these words.


We could be having this disussion in the technical session :)

[bearfoil]

Insofar as they are being shown aboard, methinks they were booked positive space back to TooLoose.

bear

[glhcarl]

Suggesting a unique failure pattern for one of these hinges demands a similar artifact in the other. If inadvertent, it was repeated in its partner, quite unlikely.

By the same token, similar breaks in mirrored parts suggests rather strongly a shared defect, and most likely in design. A separate though similar component failing in virtually the same way, right?


As said earlier, from the photos available IMO there were two different failure modes for the two parts, one fatigue, one overload. If we had the parts (or better photos) my theory could be proven.

The outstanding question, where is the aileron? In the Lake? We know they float.

The aileron is still attached to the wing, by the hinges and the other actuator/s.

[Volume]

For an aeroplane component to fail from fatigue, seems to indicate, that at least some calculations were faulty.Or some loads were different from the ones expected. As this AD (http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAD.nsf/0/04279d168d793294862569740045ccdd!OpenDocument&ExpandSection=-4) shows, there can be a problem with the two (or more) actuators attached to a control surface which can "fight" against each other, resulting in high loads between those leading to premature fatigue failure of the actuator attach fittings. For "traditional" aircraft this can result from misadjusted control linkages, stiff or seized spring rods, wrong wire tension etc. For "modern" FBW aircraft the actuators are electronically commanded, there could be a rare (and undetected) failure cases that result in two actuators fighting against each other. This could be a good explanation for such "one of" fatigue failure of an actuator fitting. The loads on an aileron of a long range aircraft (basically zero for most of the flight) compared to the loads actuators could produce against each other are extremely different. You do design such fittings for the static loads of such failure cases to "get home" and repair, but not for fatigue.

[lomapaseo]

Or some loads were different from the ones expected. As this AD shows, there can be a problem with the two (or more) actuators attached to a control surface which can "fight" against each other, resulting in high loads between those leading to premature fatigue failure of the actuator attach fittings. For "traditional" aircraft this can result from misadjusted control linkages, stiff or seized spring rods, wrong wire tension etc. For "modern" FBW aircraft the actuators are electronically commanded, there could be a rare (and undetected) failure cases that result in two actuators fighting against each other. This could be a good explanation for such "one of" fatigue failure of an actuator fitting. The loads on an aileron of a long range aircraft (basically zero for most of the flight) compared to the loads actuators could produce against each other are extremely different. You do design such fittings for the static loads of such failure cases to "get home" and repair, but not for fatigue

Hmm, sounds like the B747 Pylon to wing attachment and El Al (Netherlands)

[good spark]

i think its a wind up, those forgings are stronger than strong things but the broken area looks like its been deliberatley busted
put it another way, if there so much of an upset to snap the ends from these forgings there would be evidence of damage at the other end due to pivot action around the large centre bore
i await the abuse from experts


gs

[lomapaseo]

i think its a wind up, those forgings are stronger than strong things but the broken area looks like its been deliberatley busted
put it another way, if there so much of an upset to snap the ends from these forgings there would be evidence of damage at the other end due to pivot action around the large centre bore
i await the abuse from experts


gs

No abuse since it's a logical "what if" postulation :)

Possible answer is that the overload was so minimal as to not visibly upset the metal (to a mark 5 eyeball of a low resolution photo) pure fatigue looks that way)

[EI Premier]

A report into the incident has now been logged on the Aviation Herald.

Incident: Aer Lingus A332 over Iceland on May 11th 2010, broken aileron actuator castings (http://www.avherald.com/h?article=42cf7add&opt=0)

It would seem that the main turbulence encounter took place en route over Iceland:

I do, however, think that the pictures should not have been posted in the manner in which they were. Posting such images of broken components in the cabin of an aircraft, a cabin which is being littered by the maintenance staff as shown in the pictures, is less than professional to say the least, especially on behalf of the maintenance team.

I am sure that Aer Lingus will be aware of this.

Regards,

EI Premier

[glhcarl]

I was happy to see that the Aviation Hearld article agreed with me that one fitting failed due to fatigue and the other to to overload.

Not bad for a desk top failure analysis using only a picture if I do say so.

[lomapaseo]

Not bad for a desk top failure analysis using only a picture if I do say so.

yes, but only after you peeked at my exam answers first :p

[contractor25]

The "castings" as they have been referred to in revious posts are more than likely parts machined from billet in -0 state, after machining they are then heat treated in an oven at set temps and times to achieve for example T3 or T6. Most machined parts like the ones in this topic are generally treated to T6.

The material in T6 state is usually to hard to obtain a smooth surface after machining and thus stress risers are induced during production process.

It is a possibility that damage has occured to the involved parts due to incorrect removal/fitting of the actuator where one or more gouges occured on the part(s) involved. If such gouges are/were present they will result in fracture.

To my knowledge the big Airbuses use the spoilers to effect roll at high(cruise) speed (combined with inboard aileron). Outboard ailerons were present deflect only at slow speeds.

[PBL]

A colleague contacted the Irish accident investigators AAIU about this very incident. It is real, they are investigating, and a report will be published when they are finished.

PBL