Fatigue Life Analysis of the Hoist Bracket for Rescue Helicopters

Helicopter rescue has become an important way of life and property relief in modern society.The structure and parameters of the helicopter hoist bracket influence the convenience,safety and reliability of the rescue operation for the lifeguard and hoistman.Based on fatigue analysis theory and ANSYS workbench software,the fatigue life analysis of the hoist bracket is carried out.First,the structure of the hoist bracket is modeled according to the body standard of the hoistman and lifeguard.Then an approach is presented to obtain the S-N curve of the hoist bracket by modifying the S-N curve of the bracket material based on Goodman curve while considering the influences of the shape,size,surface state,loading conditions and the average stress.Further,based on the ANSYS workbench analysis,the life and safety nephogram of the bracket under the fluctuating cyclic load can be obtained.Finally,the designed bracket is analyzed with the proposed method.The cycles number of the bracket is greater than 107 under the extreme conditions of the pulsating cyclic load,which may be considered as the unlimited life and meets the requirement of the fatigue strength.

Topology Optimization Design and Strength Analysis of the Hoist Bracket for Rescue Helicopters

The hoist bracket links the rescue hoist with the helicopter cabin, and its structure design greatly affects the operation convenience and safety of the hoistman and lifeguard in the rescue process with a helicopter.This paper firstly builds the force model of the hoist and bracket, and gives five kinds of typical working conditions as the design ones of the bracket. Then this paper puts forward a design process of the hoist bracket based on the topology optimization and strength analysis with the 3D modeling and finite element analysis. This design process can make the bracket's structure lightweight by achieving the optimal material layout under the conditions of maximizing the static stiffness or minimizing the compliance of the bracket. And this improves the dynamic performance of the helicopter, and reduces the fuel consumption and cost under the strength constraints. Finally,taking the design of the hoist bracket used in a rescue helicopter as an example, this paper illustrates the proposed model and method. The analysis results show that the mass of the hoist bracket decreases by 12.5% while the static stiffness of the hoist bracket is achieved. The optimization design results meet the strength requirements of the hoist.