Citation

Zheng J, Xiang J, Luo Z, Ren Y. Int. J. Crashworthiness 2011; 16(4): 375-383.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13588265.2011.593979

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An innovative crashworthiness subfloor design concept was developed for middle or larger transport aircrafts. Closed-cell Rohacell-31 polymer foam blocks were introduced into the aircraft subfloor to enhance the energy absorption capability and mitigate peak acceleration during crash. Eight different configurations of foam blocks? longitudinal distribution were considered. To provide a cost-effective method for assessing fuselage crashworthiness, compelling finite element models of an aircraft fuselage for these configurations were developed and vertical drops of the fuselage models were then simulated using the non-linear finite element code LS-DYNA. Impact responses, including failure behaviour, energy absorption and acceleration characteristics, were obtained and detailed effects of different foam block configurations on the crashworthiness was discussed. The analysis of the results showed that the optimal foam block length is 100?126 mm in our studied cases. The fuselage failure mode appeared to be symmetric, energy absorption by foam blocks became more efficient, peak acceleration transmitted to the occupants showed a remarkable reduction and the secondary impact was prevented.