Bird Strike

The certification requirements for commercial and military aircraft require that airframe components such as leading edges and canopies be designed to withstand bird strike. Certification for bird strike is mainly by test, but pre-test analysis is used to evaluate designs and to reduce the cost of the experimental programme. Consequently there is a requirement for robust analysis methods that are able to predict very large structural deformations, and that includes the bird's penetration of the aircraft structure. Applications areas include the bird strike on commercial and military aircraft structures such as radomes, wing leading edges and canopies.

An analysis capability has been developed based on the application of a computer program called LS-DYNA, modelling the bird as a fluid, and closely coupling its impact to a finite element representation of the structure. Validated techniques have been developed that enable the accurate prediction of the structural deformations and the movement of the bird over the structure. Bird models are generated within a structured mesh. The characteristics of the bird models are derived from the measurements of the mass, density and size of twenty-five species of bird.