DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR ABS-R HONEYCOMB HELICOPTER SEATING ENERGY ABSORBER

Honeycomb materials are used for energy absorption applications in the aerospace and automotive industries due to their high crush efficiency. Helicopter seating systems require an energy attenuator to protect occupants during a crash. In this work, a methodology for designing additively manufactured energy absorbers is presented. The proposed methodology is based on experiments conducted using additively manufactured ABS-R honeycombs with different inscribed diameters that were tested in quasi-static compression on a servohydraulic material test system. The design application that was studied was the Sikorsky UH- 60M Black Hawk helicopter, which implements two inversion tube energy attenuators for each seat. This study evaluates the feasibility of implementing a honeycomb energy absorber that can be tailored to the individual occupant using a similar cross-sectional area and length to the existing energy attenuators. The testing and evaluation, both analytical methodology and design decisions, performed in this experiment will provide design solutions for the 5th percentile of male occupants