Experiment study on the influence of component separation on civil aircraft ditching

Abstract In order to meet the requirements of airworthiness regulations, research focusing on the influence of component separation on water impact loads during civil aircraft ditching was carried out through a series of scaled aircraft experiments. The engines, flaps and landing gear doors, which may affect impact force and airtightness, were sufficiently considered. The time history of pitch angle, acceleration and pressure distribution were measured and fully compared with the intact aircraft. The results show that different with the separation of flaps and landing gear doors, the breaking of engines will lead to severe impact response due to the increased suction force. The airtightness can be ensured even if the landing gear doors fall off since the impact load on the internal structure is relatively low, but the load on the wing body fairing will increase. Finally, the influence on the total ditching overload is discussed, which indicates that the overload of aircraft with an open engine inlet is the highest of an 8.7% increase.