EU research project SARAH: ditching tests and simulation of real aircraft geometries

SARAH (Increased safety and robust certification for ditching of aircrafts and helicopters) is a EU funded research project that has devoted part of its activities to perform experimental guided ditching tests with high horizontal speed (up to 46 m/s). Data obtained from these tests can be used, directly or indirectly, to validate numerical tools and analytical theories for solving the fluid-structure behaviour during ditching. The high speed ditching tests are performed at the facilities of the CNR-INM in Rome and consist in three blocks: • Determination of Hydrodynamics phenomena at the rear fuselage: Double curvature rigid specimen • Determination of fluid-structure interaction on flexible structures: Aircraft-like structure • Determination of rupture onset of metallic thin flat plates. This paper focuses in already available results from these tests and stablishes comparison with current Airbus DS Military Aircraft ditching numerical simulation methodology. Measured deformations on flexible structures are very valuable for the validation of ditching structural response obtained from numerical simulation. In addition, all this data will be of significant help for any researcher developing numerical tools or addressing background theories that could be contrasted against these experimental results