UCONN Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Job Ticket s2

UCONN Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Job Ticket

Sponsoring Company: Capewell Aerial Systems

Project Title: Cushioned Platform Airbag Analysis

Prime Contacts: (email/phone/mailing address) [email protected] 860 610 0700 x 3353 Capewell aerial Systems 105 Nutmeg Rd South, South Windsor, CT 06074

The Engineering Challenge: Capewell Aerial Systems is a global leader in engineered products for aerial delivery, life support and tactical gear for military, law enforcement and humanitarian agencies worldwide. Founded in 1881, Capewell has thrived by helping customers conceive, engineer, prototype, manufacture and field test products that must perform flawlessly in critical situations.

An aerial delivery system (see figure 1) consists of a platform, on which the cargo is attached, and a series of airbags. Upon exit from the aircraft, the bags inflate to atmospheric pressure. At impact with the ground, air escaping through a blowout panel and exit orifice control the deceleration of the cargo (see figure 2). A 2014-2015 UCONN Senior design team designed and demonstrated an instrumentation package that provided bag pressure and velocity data to aid in the design of the system (representative data in Figure 3).

The current airbag design system in use is spreadsheet and empirically based and shows opportunity for improvement in the prediction of bag performance. Capewell wants to use advanced engineering techniques and compare the results with the simple theory and practice.

Description of Problem/Project : Cushioned platforms have been in use for many years. An upgrade is being planned. Part of this upgrade is to replace an existing airbag with a direct copy in modern materials. Actual airbag performance varies from the simple analysis performed so far (see figure 4).

To support expansion of the analysis capability into future projects, the objective of this project is to analyze the current Airbag energy absorbing capability using advanced engineering techniques (FE, CFD) and compare the results with simple theory and practice. The tool can then be used to analyze a development of the airbag (see figure 5)

Attach photos/slides:

Figure 1 Aerial Delivery System Figure 2 Airbag

MSP040315-01 1.2 10

height

1 residual height 8 g velocity

0.8 6 ) s / m (

) y t i m ( v

h 0.6 4 e g i V

e ) g H (

n c c A

0 -2 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 Time (s)

Figure 3 Velocity and acceleration data Pressure results - test and theory 10

6.6 6.24 6 ) i s p (

e r 4 u s s e r P

0 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4

-2 Time (s)

run 1 run 2 theory 9 psi burst theory 6.5 psi burst Figure 4 Current theory vs Airbag performance

Figure 5 Future Concept

Expected Approach/Deliverables:

Research existing work on similar systems. Research and conduct testing if necessary to characterize the airbag materials Evaluate analytical models and available computer tools e.g. Ansys Fluent vs LS Dyna Conduct analyses to predict Airbag performance (pressure, velocity, acceleration) for a given set of conditions provided by Capewell. Compare results of available data. Design, fabricate and test a prototype test to demonstrate the validity of the analyses approach. All CAD and test data Interim and Final Reports All Analysis models and results  Is there a specific software package required for the projects? Y ___ N _X__

Which package (name/version) ______

 U.S. Citizen/Person (green card) Required? Y____ N _X___

 Will Export Controlled data be used in project (EAR/ITAR) Y _____N_X_

 NDA/IP Agreements required? Y _X__ N __

 Other considerations:

Other considerations (export controlled/ITAR,NDA required, etc…)