Simulation and Analysis of Crashworthiness of Fuel Tank for Helicopters

Crashworthiness requirement of fuel tanks is one of the important requirements in helicopter designs. The relations among the protection frame, textile layer and rubber layer of the fuel tank are introduced. Two appropriate FE models are established, one is for an uncovered helicopter fuel tank without protection frame, and the other is for fuel tank with protection frame. The dynamic responses of the two types of fuel tanks impinging on the ground with velocities of 17.3 m/s are numerically simulated for the purpose of analyzing energy-absorbing capabilities of the textile layer and protection frame. The feasibility of the current crashworthiness design of the fuel tank is examined though comparing the dynamic response behaviors of the two fuel tanks.     

Crashworthiness uncertainty analysis of typical civil aircraft based on Box–Behnken method

The crashworthiness is an important design factor of civil aircraft related with the safety of occupant during impact accident. It is a highly nonlinear transient dynamic problem and may be greatly influenced by the uncertainty factors. Crashworthiness uncertainty analysis is conducted to investigate the effects of initial conditions, structural dimensions and material properties. Simplified finite element model is built based on the geometrical model and basic physics phenomenon. Box–Behnken sampling and response surface methods are adopted to obtain gradient information.Results show that the proposed methods are effective for crashworthiness uncertainty analysis.Yield stress, frame thickness, impact velocity and angle have great influence on the failure behavior,and yield stress and frame thickness dominate the uncertainty of internal energy. Failure strain and tangent modulus have the smallest influence on the initial peak acceleration, and gradients of mean acceleration increase because the appearance of material plastic deformation and element failure.     

Crashworthiness analysis of aircraft fuselage with sine-wave beam structure

An integrated design concept for crashworthy fuselage using sine-wave beam and strut is proposed and investigated. The finite element model of aircraft fuselage is built first. The structures above cabin floor, occupant and seat are simplified as two rigid blocks. The fuselage frame is redesigned, and the sine-wave beam is arranged under the frame. The impact dynamic performance of the aircraft with bottom sine-wave beam structure is studied and compared with that of conventional type. To obtain better crashworthiness performance, different rigidity of strut is combined with the sine-wave beam bottom structure. Numerical simulation result shows that the proposed sine-wave beam bottom structure could not only dissipate more proportion of impact kinetic energy but also reduce the initial peak acceleration. The structure and rigidity of strut have great influence on the crashworthiness performance. To give a better fuselage structure, both of the strut and bottom structure should be properly integrated and designed.     

Effect of pitch angle on initial stage of a transport airplane ditching

Airworthiness regulations require that the transport airplane should be proved to ensure the survivability of the ditching for the passengers. The planned ditching of a transport airplane on the calm water is numerically simulated. The effect of pitch angle on the impact characteristics is especially investigated by a subscaled model. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations of unsteady compressible flow are solved and the realizable j-e equations are employed to model the turbulence. The transformation of the air-water interface is tracked by volume of fluid (VOF) model. The motion of the rigid body is modeled by dynamic mesh method. The initial ditching stage of the transport airplane is analyzed in detail. The numerical results show that as the pitching angle increases, the maximal normal force decreases and the pitching motion becomes much gentler. The aft fuselage would be sucked down by the water and lead to pitching up, whereas the low horizontal tail prevents this trend. Consequently, the transport aircraft with low horizontal tail should ditch on the water at an angle between 10 and 12 as a recommendation.