Numerical analysis of anti-bird strike performance in structural connection design for a vertical tail leading edge

This work conducted numerical analysis of the anti-bird strike behaviors for an in-design leading edge part assembled on an amphibian's vertical tail to evaluate the lapped relations between structural components. A coupled SPH-FE modelling method was exploited. SPH particle and thin-walled shell element discretization schemes were identified via the numerical convergence analysis of modelling the impact of a cylindrical soft body on a fixed rectangular plate. A novel dynamic failure criterion taking account of multi-axial stress states and high strain rate was adopted to improve the numerical accuracy of progressively structural damage in bird strike process. Gas gun experiment was carried out to check the validity of the design configuration and the SPH-FE model for the leading edge part, which showed a good coincidence with the numerical result. Furthermore, for the improvement of the anti-bird strike performance, a lapped relation between two members inside the structure was suggested thru the numerical analysis.