Effect of sustainable/durable composite materials on dynamic performance of aircraft shelters.

Abstract

Aircraft shelter technology has been evolving over years along with the global technological revolution. They first appeared in the 20th century with the main purpose of protecting parked aircraft. Recently, they are considered a globally important topic in the aerospace field, especially for shielding military aircraft. On the other hand, the civil revolution nowadays is extremely unsustainable. The world is facing vital problems due to the massive consumption of non-renewable resources and pollution of the environment and atmosphere. Sustainability development is not an option anymore; it is the only choice to survive. Therefore, there is a demanding need to push the boundaries of sustainability and go through a green revolution by using Eco-friendly materials and searching for alternatives for non-renewable resources. In this study, sustainable composite materials that are probably used as impact shields in aircraft shelters that are cheaper than typical ones were studied. The applicability of utilizing silica fume and steel slag as partial and full replacements for non-renewable resources in the composite mixture was established. Fiberglass and steel meshes were also implemented as reinforcing elements. The performance enhancement of using such materials in composite mixtures was investigated. Results showed that utilizing silica fume and steel slag enhanced the compressive strength of sustainable composite mixtures by about 9.38%. Similarly, superior dynamic performance was achieved by approximately 800% using different reinforcement techniques.