Improved multibody dynamic simulation of a carrier-based rotorcraft crash on a ship deck

Rotorcraft crashes pose a significant hazard to ship decks, often occurring under challenging landing conditions and causing substantial structural damage. This study proposes an improved dynamic simulation framework for analyzing ship deck crash events. To this end, an in-house solver has been developed with an advanced capabilities, including a contact analysis module with an improved area regularization technique, a multi-body analysis module, and nonlinear material properties. This framework is designed to precisely capture the energy absorption mechanisms and multi-body effects inherent in rotorcraft impacts. Based on statistical data on rotorcraft accidents, three distinct crash scenarios with zero roll angle and various pitch angles are selected for analysis. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework demonstrated its capability can effectively capture structural responses, such as stress, strain distributions, and indentation, while incorporating the multi-body effects.