A numerical study on the influence of the amount of internal fuel in a bird strike test for the external auxiliary fuel tank of rotorcraft

摘要

The main function of an aircraft fuel tank is fuel storage, but in an urgent situation, such as a crash, the integrity of the fuel tank is directly related to the survivability of the crew. Particularly, when the external fuel tank of the aircraft leaks due to a bird-strike, it is a serious threat to the survivability of the crew. For this reason, when an auxiliary fuel tank is installed outside the aircraft for the purpose of extending the range, robustness against bird-strikes must be demonstrated. The purpose of this study is to reveal the most vulnerable conditions using bird-strike tests. Numerical analysis is carried out using crash simulation commercial software (LS-DYNA) to analyse the influence of a bird-strike on a composite container used as an external auxiliary fuel tank. For the numerical simulation, the structure is modelled as a shell element and the fluid and bird are modelled using a particle method. Using numerical analysis, we calculate the maximum stress and failure index of the composite container in each analysis scenario. Finally, we propose the most vulnerable conditions from bird-strikes after a comparison of the results of each analysis condition.