Analysis And Optimization Of A Crashworthy Helicopter Seat

Abstract

The objective of a crashworthy seat is to improve the survivability of occupants (cockpit and cabin) in helicopter crashes. All modern helicopter seats are equipped with an energy absorber to reduce lumbar spine load during crash landing. The main objective of this research is to carry out the structural analysis and optimization of a helicopter crashworthy troop seat assembly using finite element methods. The transient dynamic nonlinear finite element analysis helps in identifying whether the seat structure will survive in a crash landing situation, and optimization helps in reducing the weight of the crashworthy seat. The seat is analyzed using a combination of MATLAB & the Flexible dynamic module of ANSYS Workbench 11.0, while the optimization is carried out using Design of Experiments from inbuilt ANSYS DesignXplorer. The analysis points out the weakest links in the crashworthy seat structure and optimization is then carried to make it failsafe as well as reduce the weight of the assembly.