Birds' Impact Performance Test on the Carbon Fiber Composite Materials Under Different Connection Structures

ABSTRACT This study investigated the carbon fiber composite connection structure under the bird impact, and a finite element simulation was conducted to verify the results. Different speed impact tests were performed on the adhesive‐bonded, riveted, and adhesive‐riveted specimens. The results show that the impact resistance of the riveted structure was significantly better than that of the adhesive‐bonded structure. The adhesive layer in the adhesive riveted structure failed prematurely at a specific impact speed, indicating that the structure's loading relied primarily on the riveted part and was unable to achieve the synergy between the adhesive layer and the riveting. A comparison of two lapped structural parts—the single shear lap and the single shear lap of the single shear plate—was conducted. The results show that the strain curve of the single shear lap of the single shear plate has double valley characteristics under single impact. This indicates that its anti‐bird impact performance is lower than that of the single shear lap structure. Using the same test conditions, the finite element simulation of the bird impact on connecting structural parts was performed. The simulated stress cloud diagram diffusion trend and the experimental strain curve trend were found to be consistent, verifying the reliability of the model. Simulations of various connection modes were conducted, and the results were consistent with the experimental outcomes. The simulations verified the reliability of the bird impact simulation method for carbon fiber composite connection structures.