Report on the pre-test simulation of birdstrike against commuter composite/metal hybrid wing leading edge

In sub-task 2.2 of the European Union research Programme “CRAHVI”, the University of Limerick (ULIM) is to perform simulations of birdstrike against structures representative of the leading edge of a commuter aircraft. The skin of these structures is made from a metal/composite hybrid material (Glare). The inputs to this task were test results on Glare under different strain rates from UOXF (D1.1.8) [1], a SPH Bird model created by ESI (D1.4.2) [2], and the geometry of the commuter leading edge structure (in the form of an MSC.Patran file) provided by ALA (D2.1.3) [3]. Some limited background data on Glare was also provided by ALA (D1.1.4) [4]. From these inputs, a mesh has been created and used for pre-test simulation of the birdstrike against the commuter leading edge. Preliminary material calibrations of Glare have also been developed based on the limited data available, with unavailable data provided by reasonable estimation.