The Design and Testing of Buckling Monocoque Seating Structures for Aircraft

The introduction of FAR23.562 to the Federal Aviation Regulations has necessitated the design and testing of aircraft seats with energy absorbing characteristics to minimize pelvic loads experienced when the seat environment is subject to specified acceleration pulses. Aircraft seat designers have applied various techniques to facilitate this energy absorption. Generally these techniques come at the expense of ease of manufacture and durability. This paper describes the development and testing of seating structures fabricated in a simple and easily reproducible form from sheet aluminium. The design employs both compressive buckling and plastic tensile deformation of the aluminium panels in the seat pan as the means of energy absorption. As the post buckled deflections required to provide sufficient seat stroke are large, the design process does not lend itself to simple theoretical analysis. The experimental development of a simple seat pan design through representative testing to FAR23.562 is described in this paper. Additionally, results of the dynamic load tests are compared with a static load test result and non-linear finite element analyses for each of the designs.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.4271/1999-01-1599
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/01487191
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of SAE International.
• Authors:
  • Nicholson, Colin R
  • Turnour, Stephen R
  • Chapman, Helen E
• Conference:
  • General, Corporate & Regional Aviation Meeting & Exposition
  • Location: Wichita Kansas, United States
  • Date: 1999-4-20 to 1999-4-22
• Publication Date: 1999-4-20

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: 12p
• Serial:
  • SAE Technical Paper
  • Publisher: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
  • ISSN: 0148-7191
  • EISSN: 2688-3627
  • Serial URL: http://papers.sae.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft; Aluminum; Deflection; Energy absorption; Finite element method; Load tests; Seats; Vehicle design
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Design; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01927718
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: SAE International
• Report/Paper Numbers: 1999-01-1599
• Files: TRIS, SAE
• Created Date: Aug 21 2024 2:31PM