• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.345-350
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• 2010

The repetitive vibrating action of an aerodynamic load causes an external fuel tank's horizontal fin to experience a shorter life cycle than its originally predicted one. Store separation analysis is needed to redesign the fin of an external fuel tank. In this research, free-drop tests were conducted using 15% scaled models in a subsonic wind tunnel in order to analyze the store separation characteristics of an external fuel tank. The store separation trajectory based on grid tests was also obtained to verify the results of the free-drop tests. The results acquired from the free-drop tests correlated well with the grid tests in regards to the trajectories and behavior of the stores separated from the aircraft. This agreement was especially noted in the early stages of the store separation.

• 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 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 Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.22-27
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• 2007

The 150 gal Ion EFT(External Fuel Tank) used to enlarge the aircraft operation range was adopted an import equipment in T-50 FSD phase. But in Production phase the EFT was planed to develop for the stable ILS(Integrated Logistics Support) and technical ability improvement by using the composite materials. The design for configuration and fuel system is intended to maintain compatibility with aircraft systems and the development test is performed on component, assembly and aircraft. This study is conducted to provide the technology of design and test for the 150 gallon composite EFT in LRU level. The test results show that the composite EFT is satisfied with structural, functional and environment requirements which are described in specification.

• 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.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 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 the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.62-67
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• 2014

This study was performed to analyze the vulnerability of the situation in which combat system is shot by external projectile impacts. In developing combat system, it is vital to consider the survivability as well as its mission capability because it is directly connected with loss of lives. Especially, when the parts which are susceptible to fire are shot under battle situation, the system is exposed to the dangerousness and the situation when the parts such as fuel tanks are impacted by external projectile impacts can lead to flash fire as a result of the leakage of fuel. Therefore, in this study the possibility of flash fire was calculated by analyzing a variety of variables supposing that fuel tank in the combat system is shot. The aim of this study is to suggest effective methods in the basic steps when combat system is designed.