Boeing 787 Dreamliner - Mark Wagner [44]
The AGVs transported parts to and from the autoclave which, at twenty-three by twenty-three feet in length and diameter, was one of the largest of its type in the world.
Although an automated layup machine was eventually installed, the first six shipsets were manually laid up. “We plan to finish work on putting in this machine around July, and will have it producing the first automated parts in the September time frame,” said Fuji Boeing Project General Manager Hideyuku Sano in June 2006. “We also completed a [subscale] half box in early manufacturing trials at Utsunomiya [another Fuji site], which we sent to Everett for EME [electromagnetic effects] testing in September–October 2005.”
Fuji, like the other partners, was discovering that the major challenge was not making individual composite components, but developing processes to make them consistently and at a rapid rate. Toi admitted that during the buildup and testing of the skins “we have had a few problems, as usual, but no showstoppers. The most difficult part is making it a stable product for large-scale manufacturing.”
The cavernous mouth of Kawasaki’s huge autoclave awaits its next load. Measuring 65 feet 6 inches in length and 26 feet in width, the “oven’s” pressurized interior is sealed tight with a vast interlocking, sliding door. Mark Wagner
The completed wing center box had “a lower part count and fewer holes in it than a conventional article. It also does not need the extra strengthening usually required to fight fatigue,” he added, unaware that weight-saving redesigns had already introduced potential weaknesses that would only later be revealed during structural tests. Fuji also had to deal with the added pressure of being first to manufacture any of the major structural parts—the wing center box being at the very heart of the airframe.
“Our part is the first and has the highest loads,” said Toi, who added that the wing box was “similar overall” to conventional metal alloy structures but that “the detail is more sophisticated” to take advantage of composite materials with tailor-made thicknesses to provide strength where needed. Measuring 17.4 by 19 feet, the initial lower skin, completed in about early June 2006, was followed within a week by the upper skin. Compared with the 9.8-foot-long main landing-gear door that Fuji made for the 777, “this is also the biggest [composite] piece for us,” he said.
A few miles away, Kawasaki was busy preparing its new fuselage Section 43 manufacturing sites for the 787. “We are working night and day preparing the factory with the first delivery near at hand,” said Hirokazu Komaki, Kawasaki 787 program manager in mid-2006. “The most remarkable thing is the development of the OPB [one-piece barrel] section. In terms of manufacturing concept and scale, this has never been seen here before—it is a big event for Kawasaki.” The OPB effort was also challenging in terms of time, he added, saying a formal agreement was not signed with Boeing until as recently as May 2005.
Kawasaki was responsible for the main landing-gear wheel-well assembly (Section 45), and the fixed trailing edge, which was assembled from sections supplied by subcontractors throughout Asia. The first of these mostly metallic subassemblies was completed over the July–August 2006 period. The large assembly site, which formally opened in early July 2006, was completed by February 28 that year and contained a 26-by-65-foot autoclave, a shear tie fastening machine, and a panel fastening device for OPB assembly.
Mitsubishi meanwhile underwent a similar site expansion, with several plants across Japan contributing to the 787 wingbox effort. The bulk of the work was undertaken at a newly expanded part of the Oye site, a section of which by the Nagoya dockside was formerly occupied by the Mitsubishi Motors group. The site also was adjacent to the original design offices and assembly site that produced the A6M5 Reisen or