A Statistical Analysis of the Fuel Tanks＇ Corrosion Loss over Some Aged Bulk Carriers

This paper deals with modeling corrosion wastage over the fuel tanks＇ structures at the exemplar of ten aged bulk carriers. In this paper, employed method might be treated as a long term one, and it is based on Weibull distribution parameters analysis. The purpose of these analyses is optimal assessing of the average corrosion losses for the bulk carriers＇ fuel tanks areas at different points of time during the whole period of the exploitation, due to uprising the structural stability and safety of bulk carriers in operation. Though, the applied approach, among others, might be of particular importance in determining the amounts （percentage/depths） of time-dependent corrosion losses over different areas of aging bulk carriers＇ fuel tanks during the operational circles, with the ultimate goal of keeping stability and safety of these vital vessels＇ structural components.

Experimental investigation on enhanced damage to fuel tanks by reactive projectiles impact

Enhanced damage to the full-filled fuel tank,impacted by the cold pressed and sintered PTFE/Al/W reactive material projectile(RMP)with a density of 7.8 g/cm3,is investigated experimentally and theoretically.The fuel tank is a rectangular structure,welded by six pieces of 2024 aluminum plate with a thickness of 6 mm,and filled with RP-3 aviation kerosene.Experimental results show that the kerosene is ignited by the RMP impact at a velocity above 1062 m/s,and a novel interior ignition phenomenon which is closely related to the rupture effect of the fuel tank is observed.However,the traditional steel projectile with the same mass and dimension requires a velocity up to 1649 m/s to ignite the kerosene.Based on the experimental results,the radial pressure field is considered to be the main reason for the shear failure of weld.For mechanism considerations,the chemical energy released by the RMP enhances the hydrodynamic ram(HRAM)effect and provides additional ignition sources inside the fuel tank,thereby enhancing both rupture and ignition effects.Moreover,to further understand the enhanced ignition effect of RMP,the reactive debris temperature inside the kerosene is analyzed theoretically.The initiated reactive debris with high temperature provides effective interior ignition sources to ignite the kerosene,resulting in the enhanced ignition of the kerosene.

Simulation and Analysis of Crashworthiness of Fuel Tank for Helicopters

Crashworthiness requirement of fuel tanks is one of the important requirements in helicopter designs. The relations among the protection frame, textile layer and rubber layer of the fuel tank are introduced. Two appropriate FE models are established, one is for an uncovered helicopter fuel tank without protection frame, and the other is for fuel tank with protection frame. The dynamic responses of the two types of fuel tanks impinging on the ground with velocities of 17.3 m/s are numerically simulated for the purpose of analyzing energy-absorbing capabilities of the textile layer and protection frame. The feasibility of the current crashworthiness design of the fuel tank is examined though comparing the dynamic response behaviors of the two fuel tanks.

MULTIPOINT BLANK HOLDER FORCE CONTROL IN HYDROFORMING OF FUEL TANK

The study of multipoint blank holder force（BHF） control is carried out for hydroforming a complicated shape motorcycle fuel tank. By finite element method （FEM） simulation, the configuration of multipoint blank holder cylinders and the setting of local BHF are optimized, and the influences of the multipoint BHF on the hydromechanical deep drawing and conventional hydroforming processes are studied. The desired fluid pressure and whole BHF are predicted for hydromechanical deep drawing process. Finally, simulation results are testified by forming experiment, and they are in agreement very well.

Analysis Method of Transient Temperature Field for Fuel Tank ofHigh-Altitude Large UAV

Based on the analysis of factors affecting transient temperature field of aircraft fuel tank and coupled heat transfer mechanism, a mathematical model of transient coupled heat transfer, including the dynamic- change of fuel quality, the internal heat transfer, the external aerodynamic convection and the radiation heat transfer, is established. Taking the aerodynamic convection and radiation heat transfer outside the tank as the third kinds of thermal boundary conditions for the thermal analysis of the fuel tank, calculation of internal and external coupling heat of fuel tank is decoupled. Ther^nal network method combined with hierarchical dynamic- grid is used to deal with the fuel consumption, and carry on the heat transfer analysis of the fuel tank. The numerical method for the transient temperature field of aircraft fuel tank is established. Through the simulation calculation, the transient temperature distribution of the fuel tank under different flight conditions is obtained, and the influence of the fuel mass and the external thermal environment on the temperature field is analyzed.

CALCULATION OF FUEL SLOSHING AND ITS COUPLING VIBRATION WITH A TANK

The response of fuel-tank-sloshing to aircraft maneuver is a difficult mathematical problem to be solved. Beginning with setting up the mechanical model and the respective mathematical model, this paper uses both F.E. and B.E.M. to imitate the sloshing process. The paper has developed some special techniques to deal with strong nonlinear characteristics, and provided satisfactory numerical results of displacements and stress for low frequency, resonance, high frequency and fuel tank dynamic response characteristics. The program not only assures convergence and stability of the solution, but also has the function of graphic display. It is a valuable technique to deal with the strong nonlinear oscillation of fuel tank with large amplitude and moving boundary condition on free surface.

Experimental Study on the Performance of an Onboard Hollow-Fiber-Membrane Air Separation Module

Onboard air separation devices,based on hollow fiber membranes,are traditionally used for the optimization of aircraft fuel tank inerting systems.In the present study,a set of tests have been designed and executed to assess the air separation performances of these systems for different air inlet temperatures(70°C∼110°C),inlet pressures(0.1∼0.4 MPa),volume flow rates of nitrogen-enriched air(NEA)(30∼120 L/min)and flight altitudes(1.5∼18 km).In particular,the temperature,pressure,volume flow rate,and oxygen concentration of air,NEA and oxygen-enriched air(OEA)have been measured.The experimental results show that the oxygen concentration of NEA,air separation coefficient,and nitrogen utilization coefficient decrease with the rising of air inlet temperature,air inlet pressure,and flight altitude.The effect of air inlet pressure on the above three parameters is significant,while the influence of air inlet temperature and flight altitude is relatively small.

Experimental comparison between aircraft fuel tank inerting processes using NEA and MIG

Fuel tank inerting technologies are able to reduce the fire risk by injection of inert gas into the ullage or fuel, the former called ullage washing and the latter fuel scrubbing. The Green On-Board Inert Gas Generation System（GOBIGGS） is a novel technology based on flameless catalytic combustion, and owning to its simple structure and high inerting efficiency, it has received a lot of attentions. The inert gas in the GOBIGGS is mainly comprised of CO2, N2, and O2（hereinafter, Mixed Inert Gas（MIG））, while that in the On-Board Inert Gas Generation System（OBIGGS）, which is one of the most widely used fuel tank inerting technologies, is NitrogenEnriched Air（NEA）. The solubility of CO2 is nearly 20 times higher than that of N2 in jet fuels,so the inerting capability and performance are definitely disparate if the inert gas is selected as NEA or MIG. An inerting test bench was constructed to compare the inerting capabilities between NEA and MIG. Experimental results reveal that, if ullage washing is adopted, the variations of oxygen concentrations on the ullage and in the fuel are nearly identical no matter the inert gas is NEA or MIG. However, the ullage and dissolved oxygen concentrations of MIG scrubbing are always higher than those of NEA scrubbing.

Experimental study of an aircraft fuel tank inerting system

In this work, a simulated aircraft fuel tank inerting system has been successfully estab- lished based on a model tank. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influences of different operating parameters on the inerting effectiveness of the system, including flow rate of the inert gas （nitrogen-enriched air）, inert gas concentration, fuel load of the tank and different inerting approaches. The experimental results show that under the same operating conditions, the time span of a complete inerting process decreased as the flow rate of inert gas was increased; the time span using the inert gas with 5% oxygen concentration was much longer than that using pure nitrogen; when the fuel tank was inerted using the ullage washing approach, the time span increased as the fuel load was decreased; the ullage washing approach showed the best inerting performance when the time span of a complete inerting process was the evaluation criterion, but when the decrease of dissolved oxygen concentration in the fuel was also considered to characterize the inerting effective- ness, the approach of ullage washing and fuel scrubbing at the same time was the most effective.

Hydrogen FBG Sensor Using Pd/Ag Film With Application in Propulsion System Fuel Tank Model of Aerospace Vehicle

The high efficiency hydrogen fiber Bragg grating （FBG） sensor is presented. The sensitive film was a new alliance of palladium-silver （Pd-Ag）. In addition, the titanium （Ti） layer was used as the adhesive layer. The presented sensor showed the resolution of more than 60pm/1%H2, and a fast response time of4s - 5s was guaranteed in the 0.1%H2 - 4%H2 range. Moreover, the life time of the sensor was investigated. The obtained results showed that the sensor had an enhanced life time. Furthermore, the sensor was applied in the propulsion system fuel tank model of the aerospace vehicle. The obtained results indicated that it is a prevention system against the disaster aerospace due to hydrogen leakage.

Primary Research on Real-Time Fault Diagnosis Platform for Fuel Tank System of an Aircraft

Sub-tanks in fuel tank systems of aircrafts transfer fuel to engines in certain order. These sub-tanks and attached tank-accessories affect each other, and make fault diagnosis in such systems rather difficult. Without real measured data, this paper analyzes fault modes and fault effects of the fuel tank system, including its tankaccessories, of a given aircraft. Fault model of the system is built theoretically, and fault diagnosis criteria are deduced. Such criteria are then quantified to train a back propagation neural network(BPNN) as fault diagnosis model. To realize fault diagnosis of the real fuel tank system, a real-time fault diagnosis platform based on Lab View and Vx Works to perform this diagnosis method is discussed. This platform is a technical groundwork for fault diagnosis in real fuel tank systems.

Friction stir welding of high-strength aerospace aluminum alloy and application in rocket tank manufacturing

Friction stir welding （FSW） has been widely adopted in aerospace industry for fabricating high-strength aluminum alloy structures, such as large volume fuel tanks, due to its exceptional advantages includ- ing low distortion, less defects and high mechanical properties of the joint. This article systematically reviews the key technical issues in producing large capacity aluminum alloy fuel tanks by using FSW, including tool design. FSW process optimization, nondestructive testing （NDT） techniques and defect repairing techniques, etc. To fulfill the requirements of Chinese aerospace industry, constant-force FSW, retractable tool FSW, lock joint FSW, on-line NDT and solid-state equal-strength FSW techniques, as well as a complete set of aerospace aluminum FSW equipment, have been successfully developed. All these techniques have been engineered and validated in rocket tanks, which enormously improved the fabrication ability of Chinese aerospace industry.