In accordance with the MS-21-300 test program a composite tail fin box was delivered to the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI) on December 22^nd 2014. It was developed by the Yakovlev Engineering Center (part of Irkut Corporation and United Aircraft Corporation). The tail fin box was manufactured by ONPP Technologiya (part of RT-Chemcomposite, part of Russian Technologies State Corporation) and assembled by Aviastar-SP plant, press-service of Irkut Corporation reports.

The TsAGI’s specialists will check the compliance of the tail fin box with the requirements of Russian Federal Aviation Regulations. In the network of MS-21 program the institute has already tested a number of structurally similar composite components of the jet. The results obtained allowed verifying the simulation models and demonstrated good correlation between calculated data and results of the testing, the corporation noted.

The testing of the tail fin box will be carried out in three stages. First of all, the MS-21-300 composite tail fin box will be tested under conditions close to real flight taking into account fluctuations of material properties. After that the component will be delivered to CIAM (Turaevo, Tver Region) in order to carry out tests simulating a birdstrike. After that the tail fin box will be delivered back to TsAGI in order to study the component’s residual strength after sustaining damage during operation. 

«It is believed that composite components meeting the same criteria in terms of safety and strength as metal ones have significantly lower weight. This fact may generate some benefits for air carriers in terms of fuel consumption and payload,» head of TsAGI static and heat strength department, Alexander Dzyuba.

Irkut Corporation Vice-President on Aircraft Development – Director of Yakovlev Engineering Center, Konstantin Popovich, said that composite tail fin box is a unique component for Russian aircraft industry. Our industry has never developed or manufactured composite load-bearing components of such size before.