Air cargo container experimental characterisation and finite element modelling under crash related loads

Kurzfassung

This article presents experimental results of crash tests performed on air cargo containers, as well as aspects on the finite element modelling for integration of container models in aeroplane crash simulations. Containers of type AKE and AKH were tested and simulated. Following the building block approach, the container structures were tested at different structural scales, while material characterisation at the coupon level was not performed due to sufficient data available from manufacturer data sheets. In total, eight full-scale drop tests of AKE and AKH containers were performed with the forcedisplacement characteristics as main test result. Finite element models of both container types were developed and validated based on the experimental results. The simulations were performed using the explicit finite element software Abaqus/Explicit. The primary intent of this article is the provision of experimentally determined crash characteristics of air cargo containers that can be used in aeroplane crash analyses.