Design for bird strike crashworthiness using a building block approach applied to the Flying-V aircraft

The Flying-V aircraft concept promises better fuel-burn performance over conventional tube-and-wing configurations, integrating the passenger cabin and cargo volume into the lifting surface. However, the wing-fuselage and cockpit windows of the Flying-V are exposed to the flight direction, posing a new challenge to the design and...

Crashworthiness Analysis of An Aircraft Subfloor Structure using Artificial Neural Networks

The goal of this thesis is to build an artificial neural network(ANN) surrogate model, that predicts the crashworthiness performance of a structure. The structure used in this research is a thermoplastic fibre-reinforced composite aircraft subfloor section which is part of the SmarT multifUNctioNal and INteGrated thermoplastic fuselage (STUNNING...

Experimental and numerical investigation on the crush behavior of composite Formula One structures

The state-of-the-art design approach of composite structures in Formula One (F1) rely on expensive full-scale crash tests and simple models that cannot describe the underlying physical phenomena during crushing. Although the models can describe the crush forces and resulting accelerations, their predictive capabilities are poor, and several...

Analysis and optimization of thermoplastic fuselage struts under crashworthiness requirements

The safety of a commercial aircraft is a factor to consider from the early stages of its design to guarantee that this one's structure can protect the occupants inside in a low-speed crash. In an aircraft's primary structure such as a fuselage, where the occupants and cargo should be protected, the design regulations imposed by the EASA have...

Design of a crash energy absorber for a composite aircraft fuselage using a combined analytical-numerical approach

This thesis aims to provide more insight into the crashworthiness behaviour of a composite aircraft fuselage. This is achieved by studying both analytically and numerically the crushing behaviour of composite energy absorbers. The analytical model, which is based on energy dissipation rates, generalises previously derived analytical models to...

Impact forces on bridge piers in the event of ship collisions

The aim of this thesis is to propose a simple technique to estimate the maximum impact forces acting on bridge piers in the event of ship collisions. This technique is determined for Dutch commercial inland waterway ships (CEMT classes) and set up to be applied by bridge engineers to determine the required bridge pier strength. Many collision...

Optimization of Composite Structures for Crashworthiness

Structural optimization for crashworthiness in composite structures has become an important topic of research in aerospace, attributable to its proven benefits to the occupants' safety in an aircraft during a crash event. This thesis provides a comprehensive investigation on LS-DYNA modeling and design optimization of composite square tubes for...

Energy Absorption of Monolithic and Fibre Reinforced Aluminium Cylinders

Summary accompanying the thesis: Energy Absorption of Monolithic and Fibre Reinforced Aluminium Cylinders by Jens de Kanter This thesis presents the investigation of the crush behaviour of both monolithic aluminium cylinders and externally fibre reinforced aluminium cylinders. The research is based on analytical work, numerical work and...

A review of crashworthiness of composite aircraft structures

A review of major research activities in North America with respect to the crashworthiness of composite aircraft structures was performed with the goal of identifying potential Canadian contribution to R&D areas where effort would be required to complement the on-going programs in the United States. The areas reviewed included the...

A review of research and development in crashworthiness of general aviation aircraft: seats, restraints and floor structures

A literature search has been conducted to determine the status of knowledge of the crashworthiness aspects of general aviation aircraft. Research and development work relating to seats, restraints, and floor structures of general aviation aircraft has been selected for review. The primary goal of crashworthiness studies has been the reduction of...