DYCOMP - ECCCS – 3 2024

An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Wing Resistance to Bird Strikes through Advanced Structural Design based on Additive Manufacturing

  • Acanfora, Valerio (University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli")
  • Battaglia, Miriam (University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli")
  • Riccio, Aniello (University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli")

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Bird strikes pose a significant threat to aircraft safety, necessitating innovative solutions for enhanced structural crashworthiness. This paper presents a novel leading edge tail structure designed to enhance the bird strike resistance of the wing. The proposed design integrates a lattice-like filling of the leading edge, characteristic of Design for Additive Manufacturing, with an engineered composite filament for 3D printing. The effectiveness of the geometry is evaluated by comparing the numerical mechanical responses with those of an equivalent volume model with traditional internal architectures (ribs and stringers). The finite element model involves discretization of the bird using the Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) formulation [1]. This approach, through comparisons with Wilbeck's experimental data [2], has been shown to be the most suitable for simulating the phenomenon at the speed of 116 m/s. The results of the numerical simulations indicate that the design with the leading edge reinforced with latex fill significantly improves the impact resistance performance of the birds, while also allowing for a substantial reduction in the mass of the structure. By leveraging advanced additive manufacturing techniques and composite materials, this research contributes to the development of lightweight, yet robust, aircraft structures capable of withstanding the challenges posed by bird strikes, thereby advancing aviation safety and efficiency.