Gasdynamics of rapid and explosive decompressions of pressurized aircraft including active venting

Abstract

In this paper, a zero-dimensional mathematical formulation for rapid and explosive decompression analyses of pressurized aircraft is developed. Air flows between two compartments and between the damaged compartment and external ambient are modeled by assuming an adiabatic, reversible transformation. Both supercritical and subcritical decompressions are considered, and the attention focuses on intercompartment venting systems. In particular, passive and active vents are addressed, and mathematical models of both swinging and translational blowout panels are provided. A numerical procedure based on an explicit Euler integration scheme is also discussed for multi-compartment aircraft analysis. Various numerical solutions are presented, which highlight the importance of considering the opening dynamics of blowout panels. The comparisons with the results from the literature demonstrate the validity of the proposed methodology, which can be also applied, with no lack of accuracy, to the decompression analysis of spacecraft.