Air Traffic Management / Human Factors / Safety / Environment / Airport Processes

The world’s largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, landed at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for the first time at July 15th. The National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) had comprehensively tested GLARE, a new material that sections of A380’s fuselage are made of, while also conducting wind tunnel tests. NLR measured the aircraft’s wing deflections too.

GLARE
NLR performed extensive work on this new type of aircraft. NLR's contributions included conducting comprehensive qualification tests of GLARE. At the time of the A380’s development, GLARE was a relatively new material, not yet qualified for use in aircraft construction. Before a new material can be used in constructing an airplane, the material must first undergo a series of qualification tests, in order to determine that the material satisfies the most stringent safety requirements. NLR conducted these tests for GLARE, which involved testing small sections (coupons) and large panels of the material, including sections of the fuselage measuring 1 to 3 meters. In addition, NLR studied GLARE's material properties and collapse behaviour, as well as the joints between the various components comprising the fuselage.

GLARE is a 'GLAss-Reinforced' Fibre Metal Laminate (FML) composed of thin layers of aluminium, interspersed with glass-fibre plastic layers and bonded together with an epoxy. Using GLARE in aircraft construction - instead of traditional aluminium - accounts for a weight savings of 20 percent, which, for the A380, amounts to a difference of 500 kilograms and means the aircraft not only consumes less fuel but can also carry more passengers. 

Wind tunnel tests
In addition to developing GLARE, the DNW German-Dutch Wind Tunnels (in which NLR is a partner) also conducted wind tunnel tests on the A380. These tests involved studying the air flows around the aircraft – specifically with regard to the A380's take-off and landing properties. How is lift and wind-resistance affected when the aircraft banks, lands, and has its flaps extended?

Wing deflection
In the autumn of 2009, Airbus put the A380 through a series of flight tests aimed at measuring wing deflection levels. NLR developed the measurement equipment required for these tests, while first testing it on board the Fairchild Metro II, the NLR's laboratory plane, in a test procedure involving image correlation. NLR technicians placed a special high-resolution video camera in the A380's fuselage, while also attaching one speckle pattern to the wing and aileron. During the flight, the camera recorded the speckles’ movements. Software - specifically written for this purpose - traced the movements of the speckles, thus illustrating the exact extent of the wing's deflection and torsion rates.
To read more about wing deflection, click here

Watch the video (in Dutch) of the A380 at Schiphol

More information:
NLR
Ingrid Leeuwangh
020-5113663/06-13289669
Ingrid.Leeuwangh@nlr.nl