A SEMINAR ON

AIRBUS A380

BY
BASAWARAJ
VTU No - 1BE04ME411
8th semester, mechanical

Department of Mechanical Engineering

B.M.S.C.E
Bangalore
 AIRBUS A380
SUPERJUMBO JET
ABOUT AIRBUS

AIRBUS is the aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS N.V.,

(European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company )
a pan-European aerospace concern. Based at Toulouse, France
with significant operations in other European states,
Airbus produces around half of the world's jet airliners,
INTRODUCTION
In the early 1990s, Airbus began to study the possibility of developing a
jet with passenger capacity over 500 to directly compete with the
Boeing 747. Engineering and design didn't begin until 1994, when the
plane was known as the A3XX. Airbus considered a wide-body, twin-
tailfin design but adopted a double-deck design instead. Eventually, the
plane was designated A380, which does not keep the usual numeric
sequence of other Airbus planes: The "8" was chosen because it reflects
the cross-section of the plane's double-deck passenger area.

A380 was launched in December 2000.

The aircraft entered production in January 2002.

It's the largest passenger jet ever built

The world's largest twin-deck

This jumbo aircraft has 555 seats.

AIRBUS A380 SIZE

The Airbus A380 is truly a giant.

wingspan
261.8 feet (79.8 meters),

length
239.5 feet (73 meters) and

weight
1.2 million pounds (540,000 kg)
SPECIFICATIONS

ENGINES

The aircraft is equipped with four 70,000lb thrust engines,

either the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or the General Electric / Pratt & Whitney

FUEL

There are ten fuel tanks with a capacity of 131,000Ltrs of fuel.

Refueling can be carried out in 40mins.

LANDING GEAR

The 22 wheels Goodrich landing gear consists of

two underwing struts each with four wheels,
two central under-fuselage struts each with six wheels and a
twin nose wheel. Each landing gear supports about 167t.
Messier-Dowty supplies the nose landing gear. The aircraft can complete a
180 turn within a width of 56.5m, which is within the 60m width
dimension of standard runways.
A380 INTERIOR SETUP
A380 cabin mock-up, upper-deck business class
A380 cabin mock-up, upper-deck social area
A380 cabin mock-up, main-deck economy class
MATERIALS USED

In order to minimize the unladen weight, the Airbus 380 structures

incorporate a range of new materials as used on the A318 and A340
families of aircraft.
The use of lightweight materials has helped to keep the weight down,
while extensive wind-tunnel testing has resulted in the optimum
aerodynamic shape for the A380.

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic

Roughly 25% of the plane's overall structure is made from

carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).
Carbon fiber, a strong, light but expensive material, is used on key parts
of the A380 like central box of the wings, Horizontal stabilizers of fin,
rear fuselage, construction of the panels for the upper fuselage and for
ceiling beams.

Benefits
Highly resistant to fatigue.
The aluminum and fiberglass layers of glare prevent cracks.
It is much lighter than conventional materials.
A new material, Glare

Is used in the construction of the panels for the upper fuselage.

It is highly resistant to fatigue

The aluminium and fibreglass layers of Glare

do not allow propagation of cracks,

It is much lighter than conventional materials

COMPARISON-A380 VS. BOEING 747

Parameter Airbus 380 Boeing 747-400

Measurement
Wingspan 79.8 m (261 ft 10 in) 64.4 m (211 ft 5 in)
Length 73.0 m (239 ft 6 in) 70.7 m (231 ft 10 in)
Height 24.1 m (79 ft) 19.4 m (63 ft 8 in)
610,700lbs 393,263lbs
Weight: Empty
(277,000 kg) (178,756 kg)
1,234,600lbs 875,000lbs
Weight: Max Takeoff
(560,000 kg) (397,000 kg)
Capacity/Layout
Crew 2 2
Passengers-three-class
555 416
arrangement
 Two decks, Two decks,
Seating configuration
two aisles per deck two aisles main deck
Miscellaneous
7, 260 nm
Range 8,000 nm (14,800 km)
(13,450 km)
Service ceiling 43,000 ft (13,100 m) 41,000 ft
Top cruising speed Mach 0.88 (299 m/s) Mach 0.79 (260 m/s)
Long-distance cruising
Mach 0.85 (289 m/s) Mach 0.76 (252 m/s)v
speed

4 Rolls-Royce Trent 900

turbofans
(initially 70,000 lb thrust;
cleared at 80,000 lb thrust
4 Pratt & Whitney PW4056
Power plant
or turbofans (56,000 lb thrust)

4 Engine Alliance GP7200

turbofans (approx. 82,000
lb thrust)
BUILDING THE A380

Just putting an A380 together presented Airbus with some problems.

There was no way it could create a manufacturing facility large enough to
build the entire plane in one place. Various parts are built all over Europe:

Wings from Broughton, Wales

Fuselage parts from Hamburg, Germany
Tailfin from Stade, Germany
Rudder from Puerto Real, Spain
Nose from Saint Nazaire, France
Fuselage and cockpit sub-assemblies from Maulte, France
Horizontal tail-plane from Getafe, Spain
Final assembly at Toulouse, France
Cabin installation and painting in Hamburg, Germany
Other parts are made around the world, including some in the United
States. Most of the largest parts are transported by barge.
The tail assemblies are the only major part that can be transported by
air (using the Airbus Beluga). A convoy of huge trucks carries the parts
from Langon, France, to Toulouse. To accommodate such huge
components, an entire infrastructure had to be created, including
special river and seagoing vessels that allow parts to "roll on and roll
off," customized port facilities and widened roads.
A380 wings carried on the Dee-Dee River Craft between
Airbus UK's Broughton factory and Port of Mostyn
A380 fuselage components on the Garonne river,
crossing the Pont de Pierre in Bordeaux, France
A380 forward and center fuselage components on
the floating transfer station in Pauillac, France
AIRBUS CLAIMS

It can pack in more passengers and cargo than any other

commercial airliner.

Increased efficiency.

Lower fuel burn per seat.

Lower operating costs per seat.

49% more floor space.

35% higher seating capacity.

Drop in per-passenger operating costs of 15 to 20%.

Generates less noise.

PERFORMANCE

Maximum operating speed is Mach 0.89 and the range is 15,000km with
the maximum number of passengers.

The turnaround time at the airport terminal, including passenger

disembarking, cleaning, restocking and embarking the passengers for
the next flight is a minimum of 90mins.

MAIDEN FLIGHTS

The first complete A380 was unveiled on January 18, 2005. Its
maiden flight was on April 27, 2005. The first flight with a load of
passengers occurred on September 5, 2006 and the second on March
19, 2007.
CUSTOMERS

Singapore Airlines (10),

Lufthansa (15),
Emirates (45),
Air France (10),
Qantas (12),
Malaysia Airlines (6),
Virgin Atlantic (6)
International Lease Finance (10),
Qatar Airways (2),
Federal Express (10),
Korean Air (5),
Kingfisher Airlines (5)
Thai Airways (6) and
Etihad Airways (4), have announced firm orders for
139 A380 airliners.

17 of these are for the cargo version.

REFERENCES

www.howstuffworks.com
www.airbus.com
www.airguideonline.com
www.airliners.net