Bird strike analysis of new composite inlet for tilt rotor aircraft

Abstract

Bird strikes are an important phenomenon to consider when designing and servicing aircraft structures. Most major bird strike incidents result in aircraft propulsion damage. Because an engine is the sole thrust-providing system of an aircraft, the effect of bird strikes on engine inlets and systems must be investigated and mitigated to the maximum extent. Especially in the case of (vertical take-off and landing) VTOL aircraft, such as an aircraft with tilting rotors, this effect is critical from the point of view of the operation, from the point of view of flight mechanics and the overall control of the aircraft. This work aims to propose the proof of resistance of a new composite air inlet for a new tilting rotor aircraft, which is experimentally verified and supported by numerical simulations performed on flat and simple curved test panels. The new, very effective method was used to calibrate the composite material model, which is further used in the following numerical simulations.