Challenge

A new type of aircraft is to be equipped with ultra-light multi-material wings and fan blades. While the operating loads turn out to be comparatively unproblematic, the question arises whether these structures can also withstand impact loads such as bird strikes and hail impact.

Method

We carried out a complex multi-field simulation for this project. This made it possible to precisely predict the impact effects between the bird (simulated as a gelatine body) respectively the hailstone and the airplane system environment including fan, nacelle and wing.

Result

The impact calculations have significantly accelerated the entire development and approval process of the aircraft. Time-consuming and expensive impact test series could be largely replaced by our virtual tests.