Abstract
Maximum loads acting on aircraft structures generally arise when the aircraft is undergoing some form of acceleration, such as during landing. Landing, especially when considering rotorcrafts, is thus crucial in determining the operational load spectrum, and accurate predictions on the actual health/load level of the rotorcraft structure cannot be achieved unless a database comprising the structural response in various landing conditions is available. An effective means to create a structural response database relies on the modeling and simulation of the items and phenomena of concern. The structural response to rotorcraft landing is an underrated topic in the open scientific literature, and tools for the landing event simulation are lacking. In the present work, a coupled sequential simulation strategy is proposed and experimentally verified. This approach divides the complex landing problem into two separate domains, namely a dynamic domain, which is ruled by a multibody model, and a structural domain, which relies on a finite element model (FEM). The dynamic analysis is performed first, calculating a set of intermediate parameters that are provided as input to the subsequent structural analysis. Two approaches are compared, using displacements and forces at specific airframe locations, respectively, as the link between the dynamic and structural domains.
Highlights
Landing event characterization is fundamental when aircraft structural assessment has to be performed
The structural dynamic response does not consistently affect the overall structural response, at least as far as the fuselage is concerned; it is shown that the same might not apply for the tail boom, which is more prone to dynamic excitation
A method for rotorcraft landing simulation was presented. This method fills a gap in the rotorcraft landing related open literature, providing an effective way to overcome a complex and challenging problem
Summary
Landing event characterization is fundamental when aircraft structural assessment has to be performed. Load spectra are inherently affected by landings, and their accurate determination cannot be pursued without considering the landing event itself. The definition of harsh landing is still neither clearly defined nor well-established and is generally considered as a phenomenon that occurs whenever the landing event induces abnormal operational conditions. Whether these conditions are related to the aircraft’s structural response only or involve the passengers’ comfort is a matter of debate. Harsh landing can be generally located in between normal landing operations and crash events. The same threshold is used in the Aircraft Crash Survival Design Guide (Volume 3—Aircraft Structural Crash Resistance) [3]
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