To address the increasing vulnerability of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) lightweight airframe structures to high-velocity fragment impacts in complex operational environments, this study combines high-velocity impact penetration tests, quasi-static strength tests, fracture-surface microanalysis, and finite-element simulation to systematically reveal the formation mechanism of typical penetration damage and its influence on residual strength. Results show that such penetration induces damage such as adiabatic-shear local melting zones, spall cracks, and grain-boundary separation, significantly weakening static strength and shifting the fracture mode from ductility- to brittleness-dominated. A modified fracture-mechanics criterion with higher prediction accuracy than the traditional net-section criterion is proposed, and a high-precision simulation model based on explicit–quasi-static coupling is established, which well reproduces damage morphology and tensile-failure processes. Compared with conventional manned aircraft structures, UAV airframes characterized by thinner skins and higher lightweighting ratios exhibit more pronounced sensitivity to penetration-induced micro-defects, making rapid residual-strength assessment essential for operational recovery and field-level repair decision-making. The research reveals the damage mechanism and provides an engineering-applicable residual-strength assessment method, offering a reliable theoretical basis and simulation tool for rapid UAV damage evaluation and fast-turnaround repair planning for civil and industrial UAV platforms.
Wang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.