Redesign an aircraft windshield to improve its mechanical resistance against simultaneous bird impacts

Abstract

The bird impact on aircraft components is one of the most serious accidents which can happen in the aviation industry. Among the various parts of an aircraft, the bird impact on the windshield is more important due to the possibility of causing injury to the pilot. Standard windshields are designed to withstand a bird strike, however, in a group flight of birds, several birds can strike the windshield at the same time. The results of practical tests and simulations show that the current windshields are seriously damaged in the simultaneous collision of several birds and the possibility of birds penetrating the cabin is very high. In this research the mechanical properties of standard windshield constituent materials are obtained. Initially practical tests are carried out and simulation results are verified for single bird strike. Using these results, the simultaneous impact of three birds on a windshield is simulated. It was shown that the resistance of the standard windshield against simultaneous collisions is insufficient. So the thicknesses of the windshield layers are determined in such a way that the new windshield is resistant and bird penetration into the cabin does not happen.