Novel Design of Wing Leading Edge against Birdstrike

Abstract

The wing leading edge is susceptible to birdstrike, so various antibirdstrike schemes are proposed to ensure that the wing leading edge satisfies the requirements of airworthiness regulations. This paper proposes a novel antibirdstrike design, referred to as localized strengthened variable-thickness skin (LSVTS). An experimentally validated numerical model is used to prove the effectiveness of the novel design against birdstrike. The proposed scheme is compared with three other antibirdstrike schemes. The simulation results indicate that the new scheme can protect the wing skin from bird penetration and minimize the weight increase. Meanwhile, the compression residual strength of LSVTS increases by 20.9%–82.03% compared with those of the other three schemes. The novel antibirdstrike design is also suitable for most aircraft wings.