The scaling laws of cabin structures subjected to internal blast loading:Experimental and numerical studies

This paper presents a combination of experimental and numerical investigations on the dynamic response of scaling cabin structures under internal blast loading.The purpose of this study is to modify the similar relationship between the scaled-down model and the prototype of the cabin structures under internal blast loading.According to the Hopkinson’s scaling law,three sets of cabin structure models with different scaling factors combined with different explosive masses were designed for the experimental study.The dynamic deformation process of the models was recorded by a three-dimensional digital imaging correlation(DIC)method and a 3D scanning technology was used to reconstruct the deformation modes of the specimen.In addition,a finite element model was developed for the modification of the scaling law.The experimental results showed that the final deflection-to-thickness ratio was increased with the increase of the model size despite of the similar trend of their deformation processes.The reason for this inconsistency was discussed based on the traditional scaling law and a modified formula considering of the effects of size and strain-rate was provided.

A deformation criterion of pressurized non-circular cross-section cabin and its effects on cruise performance of BWB civil aircraft

Blended-Wing-Body(BWB)aircraft is promoted as one of the most possible layouts to achieve more sustainable civil aviation.Due to the non-circular cross-section of the center-body,a bulge deformation forms over the upper surface of the body under the coupled loads of the internal pressurization of the cabin and the aerodynamic bending moments of the wing,which reduces the lift-to-drag ratio of BWB aircraft.Under a limited deformation,the relationship between the aerodynamic performance and the structural weight needs to be studied.In this work,the effects of stiffness constraints on the center-body deformation,structural weight of the airframe and aerodynamic performance were investigated by using an analytical model of the Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure(PRSEUS)for the airframe and the computational fluid dynamics method,respectively.The results show that as the stiffness constraint increases,the spacings between the rod stringers and the frame stiffeners decrease,and the structural weight increases inversely.A 5.2% reduction of the lift-to-drag ratio is encountered at cruise for a medium deformation design of 42.8 mm/m.A higher aerodynamic penalty is suffered when the stiffness constraint is further released.The final deformation criterion is different when the weight vector of the aerodynamic performance and structural weight is different.