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Heads up on those new composite airframe connectors from a job in Wichita

Three years ago we started seeing these lightweight composite connectors on a regional jet mod in Wichita. Last month, I had a bird strike repair where the composite housing on a main bus connector cracked from vibration, not the impact. It caused an intermittent power loss to a whole comms rack. The tech manual torque spec was fine for the pins, but the housing material couldn't handle the local flex. We ended up adding a custom support bracket. Has anyone else run into these composite parts failing in ways the old metal ones wouldn't?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_lopez485d ago

Progress means your bracket fixes their bad design.

nathan_patel4d ago

Read an article about this exact problem in a trade magazine last month. They said the vibration fatigue on composite connectors is a known issue the manufacturers are still working out, which kind of proves @faith_lopez48's point. Makes you wonder what else they're swapping materials on without enough real world testing.