On the use of hybrid shock absorbers to increase safety of commercial aircraft passengers during a crash event

the passive safety of aircraft passengers is such an important aspect in the design of aircraft structures as strength and fatigue concerns. The development of methods and devices to prevent passenger injuries is the subject of continuous efforts. The mission is to minimize stresses and accelerations on passengers during a crash. Over the years, studies on crash phenomena have been focused on experimental tests, using full-scale structures and Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs) to assess the consequences of impact phenomena on the human body. However, due to the high costs of experimental campaigns and the difficulty of controlling all relevant parameters, the need of efficient numerical models capable of validating experimental data has increased. This is specifically relevant for tests on ATDs. In the frame of this work, the side-impact of an aircraft passenger have been numerically investigated positioned on a window-side seat of an aluminium commercial aircraft fuselage a World SID-based dummy. An attempt to increase the aircraft crashworthiness was made placing in correspondence with the head and the shoulders of the dummy hybrid sandwich shock absorbers. In order to validate the considered dummy model, a lateral impact against a flat barrier has been carried out. The obtained numerical results have been cross-compared with literature experimental data. Then, the side-impact behaviour of the dummy within a fuselage section has been investigated, with the aim to verify the absorption capability of the shock absorbers and to quantify their effect on the safety of the dummy. The employment of the shock absorbers allowed to reduce the acceleration peaks experienced by the dummy's head up to 50%.