PSI - Issue 5

Sebastian Heimbs et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 5 (2017) 689–696 Sebastian Heimbs, et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2017) 000 – 000

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Position 7: Impact on downward-facing searchlight

Position 8: Impact on frame of downward-facing searchlight

Position 9: Impact on forward-facing searchlight

Fig. 6. Simulation results of bird strike on searchlight with variation of impact position.

Fig. 7. Plot of residual plastic deformation after impact on central part of searchlight pod (max. principal plastic strain PE).

6. Conclusion

The target of this study was the numerical assessment of the structural behavior of a metallic searchlight structure as external helicopter equipment under bird strike loading according to FAR/CS 29. The building block approach was used for the finite element model development in Abaqus/Explicit with step-by-step verifications and validations along the test pyramid from coupon level up to full-scale structural level. This method is the standard approach to assure maximum accuracy of the numerical predictions and is typically used in the framework of certification by simulation. Different load cases were defined and analyzed numerically with detailed evaluations of structural deformations, material fracture and joints failure. The structural performance under none of the load cases was critical by definition, without any critical detachment of the housing or the searchlight pod.