Boeing 787 fastener problems caused by Boeing engineers
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s latest problem can’t be blamed attached the Machinists strike. Nor is it the frailty of without experience mechanics at Boeing’s far-flung suppliers.
The big glitch that now has mechanics discovery and replacing thousands of fasteners on every Dreamliner was caused by the agency of a Boeing engineering error made in Everett.
The bolts in question were used inside the fuselage to fasten titanium structure to carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic complex, and the problem emerged after a pressurization test in October.
The fix could insist upon replacing up to 8,000 of the fasteners without interruption each of the first dozen planes that are in various stages of completion.
It’s unclear how much extra delay this give by will cause to the Dreamliner program. Some suppliers can do the additional moil during the production hinder exactly to the strike. But in Everett, it will to be expected lingering first flight even further than before planned.
A gross series of Boeing specifications governs installation of fasteners, depending on the materials being joined together. In this case, the instructions as antidote to fastening titanium to compounded bewildered mechanics.
An operations manager at a Dreamliner supplier plant said he examined the specifications closely with an qualified design engineer after the problem was discovered and realized the mechanics were not at fault.
Several specifications from Boeing provided ambiguous instructions and measurements that led mechanics to cut too shallowly the tops of the holes they were drilling.
“If I’m struggling and a 25-year design engineer is struggling, how can you expect a mechanic to understand this?” reported the manager, who asked not to be identified to avoid conflict with Boeing.
Unexpected finding
Boeing discovered the fastener problem last month, in the midst of the take down. A pressurization test without interruption one of the completed Dreamliners revealed a shallow gap in a state of inferiority to the heads of thousands of fasteners inside the fuselage.
The problem arose only on structures installed inside the fuselage shell — such as the floor grid — where titanium was fastened to the composite.
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