Design validation of a composite crash absorber energy to an emergency landing

In this study, the failure mode and energy absorption capabilities of a composite shock absorber device, during an emergency landing are evaluated. The prototype has been installed and tested in laboratory simulating an emergency landing test condition. The crash absorber presents an innovative configuration able to reduce the loads transmitted to a helicopter fuselage during an emergency landing. It consists of a composite tailored tube installed on the landing gear strut. During an emergency landing this crash absorber system should be able to absorb energy through a pre-designed deformation. This solution, compared to an oleo-pneumatic shock absorber, avoids sealing checks, very high values of the shock absorber pressure, and results to be lighter, easy in maintenance, inspect and use. The activities reported in this paper have become an attractive research field both from the scientific viewpoint and the prospect of industrial applications, because they offer benefits in terms of energy absorbing, weight savings, increasing the safety levels, and finally reducing the costs in a global sense.