Full-scale crash test and FEM simulation of a crashworthy helicopter seat

Crashworthy seat structure with considerable energy absorption capacity is a key component for aircraft to improve its crashworthiness and occupant survivability in emergencies. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, seat performance must be certified by dynamic crash test which is quite expensive and time-consuming. For this reason, numerical simulation is a more efficient and economical approach to provide the possibility to assess seat performances and predict occupant responses. A numerical simulation of the crashworthy seat structure was presented and the results were also compared with the full-scale crash test data. In the numerical simulation, a full-scale three-dimensional finite element model of the seat/occupant structure was developed using a nonlinear and explicit dynamic finite element code LS-DYNA3D. Emphasis of the numerical simulation was on predicting the dynamic response of seat/occupant system, including the occupant motion which may lead to injuries, the occupant acceleration-time histories, and the energy absorbing behavior of the energy absorbers. The agreement between the simulation and the physical test suggestes that the developed numerical simulation can be a feasible substitute for the dynamic crash test.