Design and Analysis of a Cushioning Airbag System for Heavy Airdropped Equipment in High-Altitude Environments

Airdropped equipment is important for cargo delivery and battlefield support. However, its development is constrained by the harsh conditions of high-altitude environments. To address the issues of low cushioning efficiency and instability of airdropped equipment in high-altitude environments, this study proposes a combined airbag system designed for the landing cushioning of heavy airdropped equipment under high-altitude and low-pressure conditions. A cylindrical side airbag and its folding–deployment scheme were developed. The cushioning performance of the proposed combined airbag was compared with that of a conventional airbag under two typical conditions. The effects of vent orifice opening pressure, vent orifice area, and main airbag height on cushioning performance were analyzed, along with their influence on the peak deceleration of the equipment. The airdrop environmental adaptability under complex interactive environments was evaluated through the Monte Carlo surrogate model method. The results indicate that the proposed combined airbag exhibits superior cushioning performance in high-altitude, low-pressure environments, reducing the peak deceleration by 44.9% and 50% under the two conditions. As the height of the main airbag increases, the peak overload of the equipment progressively decreases. In contrast, as the vent orifice area increases, the peak overload initially decreases and then increases. When the main airbag height is 1.35 m and the vent orifice area is 0.4 m2, the system achieves the best damping performance and landing stability at a 4500 m altitude environment. The overall airdrop success rate reaches 93.33% across various complex environments. This study provides a viable solution to meet the airdrop requirements of heavy equipment in high-altitude environments.