During construction, the Airbus A380 enters the sky for its first flight. IGB analysed the temporary stairs for Airbus to be able to guarantee a safe Ferry Flight for its personnel.
The A380 new deck configuration, with an upper and lower deck, also implies that a stair is needed for access to the cockpit, located between both decks.
IGB has helped with the structural substantiation of the Ferry Flight* Cockpit Stairs, analyzing the lightweight aluminum construction subjected to the flight- and landing- loads, emergency conditions and abuse loads. The structural substantiation was done by analysis, removing the need for the (costly and time consuming) structural static tests.
Furthermore, the FEA model was also used to prove the stairs ability to cope with the static and fatigue SEI (Sustained Engine Imbalance = windmilling) requirements, using the latest criteria’s of Modal Effective Mass Fraction analysis for determination of the relevant Eigen frequencies.
* The ferry flight is the flight of the aircraft from the assembly line in Toulouse to Hamburg, where the interior will be installed and the exterior will be painted.