• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.709-713
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• 2017

In urgent situations such as crashes, the integrity of an aircraft's fuel tank is directly related to the survivability of the crew. Thus, an external auxiliary fuel tank should be robust against bird strikes. In this study, a numerical analysis was carried out using impact analysis software to analyze the influence of bird strike on a composite container for an external auxiliary fuel tank. The structure was modeled as a shell element, and the fluid and bird were modeled by the particle method. The behavior of the internal fluid was also examined. The maximum stress, deformation, and strain of the composite container were also calculated.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2024

The external fuel tank of an aircraft is a main component that can increase the cruising range of the aircraft. It must be able to be stably separated from the pylon in an emergency situation. At this time, a separation load is applied to the fin and the pivot of the external fuel tank. To stably separate the external fuel tank, the structural soundness of the fin and the pivot must be confirmed. In this study, structural tests were conducted to verify the structural integrity of the external fuel tank pin and pivot when the external fuel tank was separated from the aircraft. Results are then presented. In this paper, a test configuration diagram consisting of the hydraulic and load control equipment, data acquisition system, and pneumatic supply unit used in the structural test was explained. Test installation and test load application plan for each test condition were provided. As results of the structural test, it was found that test load and internal pressure of the test specimen were properly controlled within the allowable range in each test. It was confirmed that serious structural defects in the test specimen did not occur under required load conditions. In conclusion, through structural test for design limit load and design ultimate load, it was proven that the fin and pivot of the external fuel tank for aircraft covered in this study had sufficient structural strength.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.274-279
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• 2010

The present work is to analyze the longitudinal static stability and the drop trajectory of fighter aircraft's external fuel tank, of which horizontal fin is modified as the 20% scale down size compared with the original one. The analytical results to the pitching stability of external fuel tank using a thin airfoil's aerodynamic force data show the corresponding tendency to results of wind tunnel experiment. Results of trajectory simulation by the 6 degree of freedom equations of motion, comparing with drop trajectories of wind tunnel experiment, are shown that aircraft's attitude affects strongly on horizontal movement but not on the vertical movement. Those results give the reliability to aircraft safety when the external fuel tank with the 20% reduced horizontal fins is released from aircraft based on the flight manual.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.605-611
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• 2019

The fuel sloshing due to the rapid manoeuvre of the aircraft causes significant loads on internal components, which may break components or piping. In particular, a significant load is applied to the joint of the external fuel tank by sloshing movement, which may affect the safety of the aircraft when the joint of the external fuel tank is damaged. Therefore, in order to improve the survivability of aircraft and crew members, the design of external fuel tanks, and joints should be performed after evaluating the sloshing load through a numerical analysis of the fuel sloshing conditions. In this paper, a numerical analysis was performed on the sloshing test of the external fuel tank for rotorcraft. ALE (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian) technique was used, and the test conditions specified in the U.S. Military Specification (MIL-DTL-27422D) was applied as the conditions for numerical analysis. As a result of the numerical analysis, the load on the joint of the external fuel tank was calculated. Moreover, the effects of sloshing movement on structural soundness were assessed through analysis of stress levels and margin of safety on metal fittings and composite containers.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.724-729
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• 2017

The crashworthiness of the fuel tank of a rotorcraft is verified through the crash impact test. The crash impact test has a high risk of failure due to the application of an excessive load, which can seriously affect the overall development schedule of the aircraft. Therefore, a lot of effort has been made to minimize the possibility of failure in the actual test by carrying out a numerical analysis of the crash impact test of the fuel tank in the initial design stage. Recently, an external auxiliary fuel tank was added to increase the cruising distance. In this study, the numerical analysis results of the crash impact test based on several different shapes of the external auxiliary fuel tank are presented, in order to evaluate its crashworthiness. For the numerical analysis, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), which is one of the fluid-structure coupled analysis methods, is applied and the test conditions prescribed by US military standards are reflected in the analysis conditions. In addition, the material property data previously obtained by the specimen test of the actual fuel tank is applied to the numerical analysis. As a result, the equivalent stress of the fuel tank material itself and the metal fitting is provided and the possibility of acquiring data for designing the crash-worthiness of the external auxiliary fuel tank is evaluated by examining the behavior and working load of the internal mounted components.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.99-104
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• 2022

Aircraft pylon connects the engine or external stores to the main wing, and transfers the load acting on the pylon to the main structure of the aircraft. In particular, it should perform the function of separating the external store mounted on the pylon in case of emergency or mission performance. At this time, if the separation of the external store is not performed properly due to peripheral air flow or functional problems during the separation process of the external store, it may seriously impact the survivability of the aircraft. For this reason, to apply an external attachment to an aircraft, it is necessary to prove the stability of the external attachment in the separation situation in advance. In this paper, we present the result of the ground separation test performed to confirm that the external fuel tank, which is an external attachment, can be safely separated from the pylon. As a result of the test, the separation movement of the external fuel tank was measured with a high-speed camera, and the stability of the separation of the external fuel tank from the pylon were confirmed through the ground separation test. Additionally, the test result provides basic data for the stability evaluation of the separation of external attachments in actual aircraft.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.616-622
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• 2012

In this paper, we examined the problems of the flare operation of tactic maneuvering flight of fighter aircraft with 150GL center external fuel tank and proposed the possible solution of it's operation. The damage scope of horizontal fin of fuel tank and flare trajectory when the flare ejected from the maneuvering aircraft were analyzed by the wind tunnel test and the numerical analysis. We investigated the two different option to avoid the damage of fin; i) the adjustment of flare dispenser angle and ii) the change of horizontal fin's shape. For the considering of practical operation of present system, we chose the second option. We estimated the drop safety of external fuel tank with redesigned fin by the wind tunnel experiments.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.80-85
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• 2021

In this study, for conducting a static load test of an external fuel tank used for an aircraft, the flight load acting on the external fuel tank was converted to the test load and the suitability of the converted test loads was confirmed. In order to calculate the test load from the flight load, the external fuel tank was divided into several sections. Shear load, moment by unit shear load, and unit moment were calculated for each section. Test loads for each section were then calculated by computing the shear load, the moment of each section, and flight load condition. In actual static load tests, it might not be possible to impose the test load in the calculated position due to physical constraints. Therefore, after determining positions in which the load could be imposed in the actual test, the test load calculated for each section was redistributed to selected positions. Finally, a test load plan was established by applying a whiffle tree to enhance the efficiency of the test performance while making it easier to operate the actuator. The reliability of the test load plan was verified by comparing it with flight load conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.875-883
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• 2010

The thermal performance of LNG fuel tanks of vehicles is determined by the time for non-venting storage of fuel and the amount of fuel supplied to the engine. In this study, we selected a double-walled vacuum-insulated fuel tank with a volume of 450 liter, and the properties of the fuel contained in it were assumed to be the same as those of the methane($CH_4$). For the increasing the non-venting fuel storage time, we propose the use of shielded penetration pipes in the tank. We compared the storage times of the tank used in our study with those of the conventional fuel tank. Further, the additional heat input required to maintain the fuel pressure necessary for an appropriate fuel supply rate was predicted. For these parameters, we derived a thermodynamic relationship that can be used to estimate the rate of increase in pressure for a known heat input, and we obtained equations for estimating the rate of heat leaked by using the established heat transfer model. From the results of numerical computation, we found the non-venting storage time of the tank with shielded pipes to be 25-30% higher than that of the tank with unshielded pipes. Further, we determined the appropriate operation conditions by taking into consideration the transfer rate of additional heat provided to the fuel tank.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.382-388
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• 2010

In this work the replacement material for magnesium alloy was investigated and an optimized design was suggested for the horizontal fin of a fighter's external fuel tank. For the replacement of magnesium alloy, Aluminum alloy, AL 2034-T351, was selected by considering material properties and its procurement. The strength and fracture toughness properties of AL 2034-T351 are stronger than those of magnesium alloy, but the specific weight of AL 2034-T351 is heavier than that of magnesium alloy by 65%. To meet the allowable limit of C.G. shift in the tank, the design of horizontal fin was optimized by reducing the original shape by 20% and resizing the maximum thickness to 7 mm. From the results of the static and dynamic stress analysis for improving the safety factor of the joint section and the joint hole, the radius of curvature in the aft joint section of the new fin was designed as 8.5mm.