Coating the wings of the Airbus A380

Citation

(2005), "Coating the wings of the Airbus A380", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 77 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2005.12777cab.002

Coating the wings of the Airbus A380

Coating the wings of the Airbus A380

Keywords: Aerospace technology, Aircraft, Coatings

Hi-Tec Spray, the Maidstone, Kent- based surface coatings specialist, has been working in conjunction with world paint systems technology company Durr and Airbus UK to supply and install equipment to coat the wings of the new Airbus A380 – the biggest and most advanced passenger jet ever conceived.

Owing to the novel design of the Durr booth air supply system and ergonomic studies resulting in a complete no-step process over the wing and integrated access for underwing preparation – features believed to be unique to the A380 wing facility – Hi-Tec Spray carried out extensive trials with Airbus application engineers and operators to determine the most suitable application equipment.

Hi-Tec Spray also worked to find a portable paint feed system for the gantry and trolley access systems designed by Durr to eliminate the need for operators to walk on the wing.

Hi-Tec Spray supplied Graco 30:1 Merkur Pumps on custom-built portable mounting frames together with Graco Xs4 Electrostatic Air Assisted Airless Spray Guns to overcome the problems of portability and application criteria.

A full training programme was integrated into the installation of the equipment for all operators, covering set- up, operation and cleaning/maintenance of the equipment at Airbus UK's site at Broughton, North Wales.

Working to the designs by Airbus UK's main contractor, Durr, Hi-Tec Spray was also asked to supply and install equipment for a “paint kitchen”. The kitchen features mix sets and feed equipment together with Graco ProBatch Electronic Dispense systems which give process repeatability and mix/ratio accuracy on the range of materials used to coat the A380 wings.

The Airbus A380 has a large wingspan of nearly 80m – about the width of a football pitch – and it takes about 6h to apply one of three coats of Decothane to the wings. With a surface area of 845m² – twice that of the largest Airbus wings previously made, the A340-600 – it takes about 50l to cover just one wing.

The paint, specially formulated by PPG Aerospace, contains a hardener to make it more resilient and will reportedly last up to 20 years, depending on the conditions to which it is exposed. Aircraft wings can be subjected to temperatures as low as -35°C at altitude and the wing metal can heat up to more than 100°C on the ground. The wings also flex by several feet during flight, all of which can affect the paint's durability.

The A380 wing assembly began at Broughton in June 2003. The first wings left the Airbus factory on 5 April last year, loaded on to a special transportation “jig” on a 96-wheel powered trailer, or MPV, on the first leg of their road, river and sea journey to the assembly facility in Toulouse, France, where they arrived in May.

Many major airlines have already placed orders for the 555-seater super- jumbo, the world's only twin-deck, four-aisle airliner, including Virgin, Qantas, Lufthansa and Air France. The aircraft will enter airline passenger service in 2006.

Details available from: Hi-Tec Spray. Tel: +1 (0)1622 663444; web site: www. hitecspray.co.uk