Airbus A350 - General Discussion (2016)

Fatigue tests for the A350 XWB, conducted at the purpose-built IABG test house near Munich since 2014, have recently concluded. This was achieved after the test specimen, referred to as “EF2”, had effectively flown three times the design life of the aircraft. While the official requirement is for two times the nominal design life to be simulated, the EF2 specimen simulated 86,400 flights. This was not only to validate the design and predict maintenance requirements over the life of the aircraft and beyond, but also to gain an even deeper understanding for future development margins of the structure. EF2 represented the A350’s centre fuselage, two wings and the belly fairing. With 4,000 measurement channels on EF2, the component teams tracked the performance of the structure over time through physical inspections. The data was analysed and the results shared with the aviation authorities for use in the aircraft's maintenance programme. Following dismantling, the specimens were sent to the original site where they were manufactured for ‘tear-down’ analysis.

The fatigue test simulates the conditions an aircraft experiences throughout its operational life, including a range of flights. A simulated 'flight' starts off at the gate in the airport, is pushed back, taxis out to the runway, makes its take-off run, reaches cruise altitude and then towards the end of the flight, makes its landing approach and experiences a bump as it lands, then ‘travels’ back to the gate. A range of loads are applied to the aircraft using hydraulic jacks to simulate a statistical mix of conditions – such as smooth flight or turbulence during each mission. Overall the two and a half years of testing was equivalent to 72 years in service.