Crashworthiness of helicopters on water: Test and simulation of a full-scale WG30 impacting on water

This paper deals with the test and simulation of a full-scale WG30 helicopter impacting on water with a vertical velocity of 8 m/s. The first part is devoted to the test preparation and experimental data measured at CIRA. The instrumentations of the test specimen and the test conditions are briefly discussed. After an overall description of the impact sequence, quantitative test results including acceleration on the floor and pressure time histories as well as measurements on an anthropomorphic test dummy are presented. Finally, pictures showing the main damage complete the description of the tested structure. The second part of the paper focuses on the first finite element simulation performed at DLR of the impact under the real test conditions. After a description of the FE model, it is shown that the calculated and observed deformations of the structure correlate well. Finally, calculated and measured time histories including accelerations and pressures are compared and the problem of predicting measured pressure peaks with FE tools is discussed.