5/18/2010 4:00:00 PM
Design Flaw for Frame-to-Aircraft Skin Fasteners Is Latest Delay for Dreamliner Production

Boeing Co. announced a five-week delay to allow parts suppliers “to catch up,” but Crain’s Chicago Business reported the slow down also involved a previously undisclosed deign flaw in fasteners.

The fasteners involved connect the frame of the aircraft to the plane’s skin, near the tail of the 787, according to Flightblogger.

“Shear ties, which affix the fuselage frames to the skin of the aircraft, now require replacement or rework, after the initial design failed to take into account thermal fatigue loading of the parts,” according to Jon Ostrover of Flightblogger.

Under repeated cooling and warming of the unpressurized Section 48 and 48 Aft, the aluminum shear ties can pull away from the skin of the fuselage, threatening the plane’s structural integrity.

Thicker shear ties or radius fillers will be used.

Boeing said “shear ties” fasteners in the tail cone design issue won’t postpone test flights for the four 787s already flying or delivery to customers by the end of 2010.

The Dreamliner is already two years late.
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