Airbus 380: an engineering marvel

Airbus recently developed the World’s largest airplane Airbus 380, capable of carrying 800 passengers- twice the capacity (of only 400 passengers) as compared to the present largest plane. The weight of the plane was a very major constraint while designing this gigantic plane, limiting concepts.

The problem of excessive weight for an airplane of such gigantic proportions was resolved due to the development of very large Carbon fiber composites. Carbon fiber composites are the same composites commonly used for tennis racquets. Such composites were so far available only in smaller sizes. The challenge to the Airbus designers was to develop very large size composites. This gigantic 7 story tall plane weighs barely 500 tons, as composites are used to knock 1.5 tons off the weight of the airplane's center wing box alone, an essential structure that binds the wings to the fuselage.

Compared to the Aluminum generally used in airplanes, these composites offer following advantages:

	Better stiffness compared to Aluminum
	No corrosion
	Ability to withstand higher pressures
	Ability to withstand frequent cycle of pressurizing and depressurizing
	Ability to provide larger windows
	Ability to withstand higher humidity level that provide better comforts to the passengers

To achieve composites of such large sizes, cost was a major hindrance. More than 30 global vendors - manufacturers of composites, developed an economic way of making large sized composites. This was possible only by seeking developmental help from the processors situated geographically away from France, (the headquarters of Airbus) where the development of this new airplane was undertaken.

In fact, Boeing has been using large sized composites in military planes. However, the higher costs of these military planes can absorb excessively higher cost. Airbus demonstrated that these composites can be developed at a lower cost for passenger planes.