NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · 1976 · 52 citations · 0 references
Impact SurfaceEngineeringImpact (Mechanics)Structural CrashworthinessAerospace SimulationImpact LoadingAccelerometerSafety ScienceAerospace SystemFull-scale Aircraft CrashSystems EngineeringModeling And SimulationKinematicsFlight DynamicsAircraft NavigationStructural Health MonitoringTest ParametersFlight TestingSeven Twin EngineAviation SystemsAerospace EngineeringAir Vehicle System
The IDRF uses a pendulum swing method to crash full‑scale general aviation aircraft into an impact surface under free‑flight conditions, enabling controlled flight paths and velocities. The facility achieved flight paths up to –60° and velocities up to 27 m/s, successfully crash‑tested seven twin‑engine aircraft with all systems functioning, and demonstrated data acquisition and parameter control accuracies of 8 % for flight path, 6 % for velocity, 4.25° for pitch, and acceptable roll/yaw under 4.5 m/s wind.
An impact dynamics research facility (IDRF) was developed to crash test full-scale general aviation aircraft under free-flight test conditions. The aircraft are crashed into the impact surface as free bodies; a pendulum swing method is used to obtain desired flight paths and velocities. Flight paths up to -60 deg and aircraft velocities along the flight paths up to about 27.0 m/s can be obtained with a combination of swing-cable lengths and release heights made available by a large gantry. Seven twin engine, 2721-kg aircraft were successfully crash tested at the facility, and all systems functioned properly. Acquisition of data from signals generated by accelerometers on board the aircraft and from external and onboard camera coverage was successful in spite of the amount of damage which occurred during each crash. Test parameters at the IDRF are controllable with flight path angles accurate within 8 percent, aircraft velocity accurate within 6 percent, pitch angles accurate to 4.25 deg, and roll and yaw angles acceptable under wind velocities up to 4.5 m/s.