AeroComposit Company (part of United Aircraft Corporation) opened a new laboratory intended for testing of materials and components made of composites. At present parts of MS-21 wing are being tested at the facility, said in the joint press release of AeroComposit and UAC.
The laboratory’s compliance with the existing standards and qualification of its personnel are confirmed by the accreditation certificate issued by Aviation Registry of the Interstate Aviation Committee (AR IAC). «The opening of this new laboratory allows us to test our products at different stages of the production. It is a great advantage, because we no longer depend on third-party organizations. In order to solve new problems and start using new materials we are going to upgrade the laboratory in the course of the year,» AeroComposit CEO Anatoly Gaidansky said.
Laboratory started supporting the production of units and components of MS-21 and SSJ100 liners, testing parts and carrying out quality control of new materials. The laboratory is capable of testing upper and lower panels of the center fuselage section, front and rear wing spar, as well as upper and lower panels of the detachable part of MS-21 wing. The first wing of the new liner comprising 9000 parts should be manufactured in summer 2015.
The testing laboratory was established on the basis of Moscow branch of AeroComposit Company responsible for studies of composites, developing technologies and documentation, production of prototypes used by other enterprises. The amount of investments in the project was around 30 million rubles. Earlier in 2013-14 United Aircraft Corporation opened two new enterprises: Kazan-based KAPO-Composit (specializes in production of high-lift devices and empennage, elements of front and rear sections of the wing manufactured using autoclaving) and AeroComposit-Ulyanovsk (specializes in production of aircraft components made of composites using infusion technology), said in the press release.
The AR IAC certificate allows the laboratory to carry out the following tests: static ones, including the ones carried out under conditions of high and low temperatures, humidity and impact tests, as well as dynamic ones – climatic testing with thermal and humidity ageing, including situations with impact of corrosive environment.
The laboratory’s equipment includes different test benches and additional equipment: 1. Test benches (maximum load of 25 and 60 tons). They are used for shear tests, tensile tests, tearing tests, etc. 2. Impact testing machine. 3. Climatic chamber – designed to create a lasting environmental effect (temperature, humidity) before the testing of prototypes. 4. Test bench (load of 25 tons), which is able to simulate climatic effect (temperature, humidity) during tests. 5. Instruments used to carry out ultrasonic inspection with different measurement ranges.