Residual Strength of a Helicopter Composite Structure Subjected to Small Arms Fire

Abstract:

Carbon fibre composites are being used in the structure of new generation helicopters in order to reduce weight. Helicopters such as armed reconnaissance vehicles, are potentially vulnerable to small arms fire. As a result a series of ballistic tests were carried out on laminate test specimens using 7.62mm and 12.7mm small arms fire. These specimens are representative of typical helicopter composite structure. These ballistic tests were followed by ultrasonic ‘A’ scans, hammer tap and thermography techniques to determine the extent of delamination damage.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volumes 654-656)
• Pages: 2596-2599
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.654-656.2596
• Online since: June 2010
• Authors: Richard J. Callinan, John Wang, C. White
• Keywords: Ballistic Testing, Composite, Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Residual Strength, Testing

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