Simulations of airborne collisions between drones and an aircraft windshield

Lu, Xiaohua; Liu, Xinchao; Li, Yulong; Zhang, Yingchun; Zuo, Hongfu

doi:10.1016/j.ast.2020.105713

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…1-3, and Eq.9. The initial impact velocity of the sUAV is v i = 154.8 m∕s , according to [17]. The timestep size for numerical integration is set to Δt = 10 −6 s.…”

Section: Calculation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We compare these results with drone strike FEA data on a commercial airliner windshield from Lu et al [17] (Fig. 12).…”

Section: Impact On a Stationary Rigid Target With Varying Flight Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11 Calculation results for sUAV impacts with an inclined rigid target for varying flight orientations (0°, 15°, 30°, 45°) Fig. 12 Comparison of calculation results with FEA simulation data of drone strikes from the literature [17] the FEA, whose influence is unrepresented in the analytical model. Furthermore, the analytical model lacks strain rate hardening effects.…”

Section: Impact On a Stationary Rigid Target With Varying Flight Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…16 Calculation results for sUAV impacts with perpendicular, elastic, moving targets for varying flight orientations Fig. 17 Calculation results for sUAV impacts with inclined, elastic, moving targets for varying flight orientations distribution is multiplied by the square of the velocity, which leads to this influence. At the time of the highest total force ( 166.8 kN ), the burst load has a share of 41.4 kN (24.8 %).…”

Section: Influence Of Various Parameters On the Impact Forcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to their research, a commercial plane cannot safely continue its flight after a drone strike. Lu et al [17] investigated the collision safety between an aircraft windshield and five different drones. They performed simulations and compared the results with full scale collision tests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An analytical model to determine the impact force of drone strikes

et al. 2021

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In addition to the well-known threats of bird and hail strikes, small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV) pose a new threat to manned aviation. Determining the severity of collisions between sUAVs and aircraft structures is essential for the safe use and integration of drones in airspace. A generic analytical calculation model needs to be developed to supplement the existing test and simulation data. This paper presents an analytic model for drone collisions with perpendicular and inclined targets. The targets have a rigid or elastic material behavior. The aircraft impact model, which is used for the design of nuclear reactor structures, is transferred and adjusted for sUAV impacts to calculate the impact force. A mass- and a burst load distribution are needed as input parameters. Both distributions are determined for an sUAV design depending on the flight direction. Compared to previous calculations, the new approach is to consider a moving target structure, which produces more realistic results. We compare the calculation results with simulation data from sUAV collisions with a commercial airliner windshield from the literature. The calculations show plausible results and a good agreement with literature data. Subsequently, the influence of the input parameters on the impact force is investigated. We see that spring stiffness, target mass, burst load distribution and damping have minor influence on the overall impact force. The impact velocity, mass distribution and flight orientation on the other hand have a major influence on the impact force. Further tests are needed to validate the impact model.

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“…1-3, and Eq.9. The initial impact velocity of the sUAV is v i = 154.8 m∕s , according to [17]. The timestep size for numerical integration is set to Δt = 10 −6 s.…”

Section: Calculation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We compare these results with drone strike FEA data on a commercial airliner windshield from Lu et al [17] (Fig. 12).…”

Section: Impact On a Stationary Rigid Target With Varying Flight Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact On a Stationary Rigid Target With Varying Flight Orientationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Influence Of Various Parameters On the Impact Forcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An analytical model to determine the impact force of drone strikes

et al. 2021

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Insights on the potential of vibratory actuation mechanism for enhanced performance of flapping-wing drones

et al. 2021

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A novel reduced order model for drone impacts with aircraft structures

2023

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Small unmanned aerial vehicles are a threat for manned aviation. Their increased use by hobby pilots and within the commercial sector has been accompanied by an increase in incidents involving manned aircraft. The problem is that current aircraft structures are designed to resist collisions with birds. They are not designed to withstand drone impacts. The composition of drones differs significantly from previously known load cases. Drones consist of several components with various materials. This means, that there is no analytic model to determine the impact force of such drone strikes with aircraft structures. Within this work, a novel reduced order model for drone impacts is developed. It is validated with high velocity impact test data and explicit finite element simulations. The impact of fragmenting components of the drone are modelled with the aircraft impact model. The impact of non-fragmenting components like motors are described with a spring-mass model. The results show that the approach of superimposing a spring-mass model with the aircraft impact model leads to good results. In case of a rigid target only minor deviations occur within the validity range of the model. Damage and degradation of the target is not included in the model what leads to larger deviations in case of an impact with deformable structures. Nevertheless, the model is very well suited for rapid load estimation and can qualitatively reproduce contact force curves. It can be used for preliminary design of aircraft structures without conducting time and cost intensive tests and simulations.

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Simulations of airborne collisions between drones and an aircraft windshield

Cited by 37 publications

References 11 publications

An analytical model to determine the impact force of drone strikes

An analytical model to determine the impact force of drone strikes

Insights on the potential of vibratory actuation mechanism for enhanced performance of flapping-wing drones

A novel reduced order model for drone impacts with aircraft structures

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