Crashworthiness performance evaluation of helicopter landing gear by finite element simulation

A finite element model of helicopter landing gears is developed to simulate hard landing and crash impact situations. The objective of the crash simulation is to evaluate the energy absorbing capability of the landing gear during a possible crash event. The landing gear system is modeled with a real geometrical configuration. The oleo-leg is represented by a spring-damper unit construction whose characteristics are acquired from performance calculation. A framework is used to connect the system, and the reduced mass of the helicopter is appended to it. A nonlinear, explicit transient dynamic code is employed to solve the impact problem. Two conditions are studied: the helicopter is impacted at 6.0 m/s vertical velocity (hard landing) and at 10.2 m/s one (crash). It is showed that the prediction behaviors are well consistent with the crash test.