A study of accidental impact scenarios for composite wing damage tolerance evaluation

The field data characterising aircraft accidental in-service damage was collected, sorted and processed. By means of probabilistic analysis, the wing damageability statistical parameters were determined. The scenarios of wing accidental impacts were described and the qualitative distribution of impact intensity over the wing surfaces was obtained. By means of original analytical method, the metal dent depth data were converted into impact energy data and energy probabilistic distributions were established. It was shown that the functional relationships generated on domestic data are generally consistent with similar foreign results obtained on other types of aircraft with serious differences in operating conditions. Along with realistic impact damage scenarios, the high energy impact events were considered. It was noted that in some cases severe damage events should not be addressed as extremely improbable and should be included into design and certification process.