Research on effects of composite skin on crashworthiness of composite fuselage section

Abstract

Crashworthiness design and certification have been and will continue to be the main concern in aviation safety. The influence of composite skin on crashworthiness of composite fuselage section was investigated in the paper. A finite element model of fuselage section was built, and the dynamic responding characteristics of composite fuselage section subjected to vertical impact velocity of 6.67 m/s were analysed by changing composite ply numbers and ply angles in the explicit finite element code LS-DYNA. The failure modes and acceleration response of fuselage section under different conditions were presented. The results show that the peak overload on the seat can be significantly reduced by selecting appropriate composite ply numbers and ply angles, and the crashworthiness of composite fuselage section can be efficiently improved.

Keywords:

• crashworthiness
• composite skin
• fuselage section
• dynamic response

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the science and technology item from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (NO. MHRD201010).