Browse Topic: Anthropomorphic test devices
As part of a larger project aimed at gaining a better understanding of factors that affect the quality of test results using anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), the FAA tested the effects of dynamic loading of an ATD pelvis. The ATDs required in the aviation regulations were initially developed for the automotive crash environment, which does not include a vertical testing component. One of the two dynamic tests is a vertical impact, with the principal measurement being the compressive load in the lumbar spinal column, with a regulatory limit of 1500 lb. The lumbar load cell is mounted to the pelvis, and data collected could be affected by the performance of the ATD pelvis. The ability to define a vertical calibration test could be used to determine if the pelvis is acceptable for initial use or to monitor in-service degradation. Three ATD pelvises were compressed in a high-rate load frame. The peak load and loading rate of the pelvis compression were selected to simulate conditions achieved in transport category aircraft vertical seat testing. The primary test objective was to measure changes to the rubber and foam cover of the metallic pelvis during high cyclic loading. Each pelvis was subjected to over 100 cycles. Static dimensional measurements, based on a manufacturing tolerance evaluation, were collected during testing. The high-cycle testing did not deform the foam and rubber covers enough to exceed the total dimensional tolerance of the pelvises (± 0.120 in.). The appearance of visual damage was closely monitored throughout the testing. Similar visual damage was seen for each pelvis and occurred at low cycles — 15 to 30. Results suggest the appearance of damage minimally changed the dynamic response of the pelvis. Force-deflection data were also collected from each test series. These data showed minimal change during testing, with the deflection at 2000 lb. changing approximately 0.100 in. across the 105 cycles. This value is similar to the manufacturer’s tolerance for the height of the pelvis. Based on this, the number of vertical sled tests that would precipitate replacement may be over 100 cycles. Due to the harsh environment of dynamic sled testing, other factors, such as cuts in the foam and rubber due to belt loading, may trigger the removal of an ATD pelvis from service prior to the pelvis reaching a defined number of cycles. Future FAA research will evaluate how this change in pelvis force-deflection affects lumbar load.
The Crashworthy and Escape Systems Branch at NAWCAD has been developing an integrated restraint harness concept for several years, with the intent of developing a novel method of providing improved occupant protection in a crash scenario. A series of tests was conducted on the Horizontal Accelerator at NAS Patuxent River to evaluate the performance of the prototype integrated-restraint system under MIL-STD-58095 conditions with the 50th percentile male Hybrid III Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD). While occupant flail was the primary metric being analyzed in this effort, ATD instrumentation was also captured, showing that the integrated restraint system demonstrated a significant reduction in head flail compared to five-point restraints while maintaining injury criteria within acceptable levels.
Researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) have conducted a series of structural component and seat level tests to improve finite element model (FEM) characterization of a representative vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) test article developed by NASA. A full-scale dynamic test was conducted on the representative eVTOL test article in November of 2022. The test article represented a high wing, six passenger eVTOL design concept and is referred to as the lift plus cruise (LPC) test article. The full-scale test identified limitations in the analytical models used to predict aircraft structural response, in particular the composite material models did not effectively capture brittle failure of the structure which were measured during dynamic loading. To better understand the mechanism behind the composite material failure mechanisms observed and to improve the FEM, intact sample specimens of the composite airframe structure were recovered from the test article post-test and used in material characterization testing. In addition, the seat configurations used in the LPC test article were further studied using isolated seat and anthropomorphic test device (ATD) drop tower testing. Dynamic compression tests and three-point bend tests, conducted at varied impact speeds, were performed on the recovered frame section specimens. Additional testing was conducted to characterize the material properties of the forming foam, which remained in the frames after fabrication. These tests were used to improve characterization of the damage and failure parameters of the composite material model used in the FE model of the LPC test article. Seat level tests were conducted on the seats used in the LPC test article using acceleration pulses inclusive of current general aviation and rotorcraft certification load levels as well as conditions representative of those measured at the seat base during the LPC test. The structural material models and seat environment models of the LPC test article FEM were calibrated using the generated component test data. The updates made to these models were then integrated into the LPC FEM and simulated in the full-scale test condition. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of component testing to improve predictive capability of composite aerospace structural models within the crash and dynamic loading environments. Demonstration of the LPC FEM response across an accumulation of coupon, component, seat environment, and full-scale test levels provides confidence in the predictive capability of this model for future use in the study of occupant safety within eVTOL relevant crash environments.
The Advanced Helicopter Seating System (AHSS) was started as an effort to evaluate and improve the current state of military rotorcraft seating. The overall goal of the program has been to improve pilot ergonomics and safety through the integration of advanced energy absorption and vibration reduction mechanisms as well as a broad approach to system integration based around updated occupant anthropometrics. An entirely new seating solution has been developed, with intent to integrate with the AH-64 Apache platform for demonstration purposes. The AH-64 development culminated with a series of static tests and dynamic test events to measure the effectiveness of the safety systems integrated on the seat as compared to the legacy AH-64 seating system. While lumbar load data and seat stroke data was obtained, issues with the anthropomorphic test device (ATD) configuration at the 95th male configuration caused some data to be suspect, and premature failure of several components also caused loss of capturing accurate data. Lessons learned are documented in the conclusions. Data and lessons learned from this effort are being used to support a follow-on effort to develop a pilot seat for the UH-60 Black Hawk Platform.
ABSTRACT During the winter of 2018, a series of vertical tests was conducted on three sizes of Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs) for the evaluation of their vertical loading response. The three sizes of ATDs represented a 5th percentile female, a 50th percentile male, and a 95th percentile male. There were two variations of the 50th percentile male as defined in 49 CFR Part 572: a Hybrid II and an FAA Hybrid III. Tests were conducted on a drop tower located at NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC) Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) Facility. The ATDs were seated on 14 CFR § 25.562 certified seats, in either a triple (window, middle and aisle) or a double (window and aisle) seat configuration, with seat leg spacing replicating a Fokker F28 MK-1000 aircraft. The seat and ATDs were attached to a drop plate on the tower, which was lifted to a height of 14 ft. The system was dropped onto different sections of crushable foam wedges to achieve multiple input deceleration environments. The purpose of the tests was to evaluate the differences in lumbar response, to examine scaling characteristics from sizing factors in the ATDs, and also to compare the results to computer simulation efforts. Results will be presented and comparisons will be discussed.
ABSTRACT The Federal Aviation Administration has regulations designed to protect aircraft occupants in the event of a crash. Two-drop tests of a Fokker 28 (F-28) small regional jet airframe performed at the National Aeronautics and Space Agency provided full-scale crash data on the performance of transport category aircraft seating systems. The crash pulse measured at the floor differed from the certification tests and the performance of the seats did as well. To assess injuries in the spinal column, lumbar loads were collected for all Anthropomorphic Test Devices, and a range of occupants was included for comparison. Overall results were positive in that the seats were able to maintain their attachment to the aircraft with most of the ATDs measuring loads that would be considered acceptable during certification testing. Additional comparative testing was done in a laboratory environment on an accelerator sled to compare the certification input pulse to the achieved accelerations from the drop. Laboratory testing included triple and double places pitched up at the certification configuration 60° from the horizontal for combined loading. While these tests were with a Part 25 aircraft, the measured peak G (39 G) and the mostly vertical direction make the results applicable for rotorcraft safety. This testing demonstrated that seats dynamically qualified for lower impact severities (14 G) were able to maintain structural integrity but were not able to control spinal injury risk in all seating configurations.
ABSTRACT The April, 2003 Hofstra University From Autogiro to Gyroplane: The Past, Present and Future of an Aviation Industry Conference was a unique, truly historic gathering. This first university-level conference brought together an international group of pioneers and, as England's Ron Bartlett later observed in his Autogiro 1/4ly publication, this "[u]nique conference brings a long awaited legitimacy to the world's autogyro movement", a sentiment also voiced by Stephanie Gremminger in an October 2003 issue of Kitplanes and long-time PRA member (and former Popular Rotorcraft Flying editor) Paul Bergen Abbott two months earlier in an August article in Rotorcraft. Conceived in early 2000, the Conference took 34 months of planning and was accompanied by a world-class Autogiro history museum exhibit, the details of which have never been told, including inter alia: the strategies used to gain approval from the Hofstra University Board of Trustees for the awarding of the University's highest honor, an honorary Doctorate, to Wing Commander Ken Wallis for lifetime achievement (involving many copies of the Ian Hancock's Ken Wallis biography and several Corgi® models of the Wallis WA-116 "Little Nellie" Autogyro); the autogyro pioneer who initially refused to attend when he discovered that others were to be honored, and then retaliated by ignoring his conference presentation in favor of a scolding lecture on gyroplane safety that would privately be deemed "total rubbish" by a world-famous helicopter engineer in the audience; the Finish autogyro pioneer who's presentation ran so far over time that the 'plug was pulled' on his computer - and who then expressed gratitude because he was desperately trying to avoid what was coming next; the author who didn't like the rambling anecdotal presentation of a woman Gyrocopter pioneer and refused to allow his paper to be published in the Conference Proceedings; the dispute as to who would cut the Ken Wallis 87th birthday cake, settled with decisive action by Sergei Sikorsky; the presentation by the only Afro-American aircraft designer in the National Air and Space Museum, explaining why there is a black mannequin sitting in his futuristic gyroplane; and the luncheon conversation that led to the creation of the Vertical Flight History division of the American Helicopter Society International.
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