Get FinancingImpacts Of Airborne Drone-Manned Aircraft Collisions Detailed In Study For FAA
What are the risks drones pose to aircraft? That’s a topic of an ongoing study that research team ASSURE (Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence) is conducting for the Federal Aviation Administration. Specifically, ASSURE is examining the potential impact of airborne collisions between drones and manned single-aisle commercial transport and business jet aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 and the Bombardier Learjet 30/40/50. ASSURE has found that drones can cause severe damage to aircraft structures, and that drone manufacturers should adopt detect-and-avoid and/or geo-fencing technologies to reduce the odds of such collisions in the National Airspace System (NAS).
The Tests
Tests ASSURE has conducted for the study targeted eight different airframe impact zones; varied impact velocities of sUAS (small Unmanned Aircraft Systems) from 100 to 365 knots; used take-off, cruise, and landing engine-ingestion configurations; and compared the levels of impacts from sUAS collissions to those made by birds weighing 2.68, 4, and 8 pounds (1.2, 1.8, and 3.6 kilograms).
Overall, the researchers analyzed well over 100 scenarios over 14 months using models of 2.7-pound and 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) quadcopters and 4- and 8-pound (1.8 and 3.6-kilogram) fixed-wing drones. They also conducted a three-month peer review concerning engine-ingestion tests with Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, General Electric, and Honeywell representatives.
The Results
Arguably, ASSURE’s most notable test finding is that the severity of structural damage caused by drone collisions to manned aircraft ranged from no damage to the drone penetrating the aircraft’s airframe. (The researchers didn’t investigate the risks that impacts would pose to flight.) The study also revealed that a drone’s stiffest components, such as the motor and battery, could inflect the most damage to manned aircraft.
Compared to birds of comparable sizes, the researchers found that drones can inflict more damage in collisions with manned aircraft due to their stiffer physical qualities, meaning some structural aircraft components OEMs have produced to endure bird strikes wouldn’t endure a drone strike. Additionally, ASSURE’s study found that in certain collision scenarios between sUAS and manned aircraft, a drone’s battery could increase the risk of fire.
Analysis
Marty Rogers, director of ASSURE, said that while much has been documented concerning the impacts of bird-aircraft collisions, little is known about impacts resulting from a drone’s more rigid, higher-mass makeup on aircraft structures and propulsion systems. “The results of the work are critical to the safety of commercial air travel here in the United States and around the world,” he said.
ASSURE used both high-fidelity computer modeling and physical validation tests in the study, noting that using full-scale physical tests alone was impossible due to cost- and time-related complexities. The research specifically explored the potential severity of collisions between drones to a manned aircraft’s wing leading edge, windshield, and vertical and horizontal stabilizers. The study found windshields suffered the least damage in general and horizontal stabilizers the worst.
Released in late November 2017, the study came directly ahead of an aviation subcommittee meeting of the U.S. House Transportation Committee concerning how UAS are being used and how they’re altering the National Airspace System. The FAA is expected to use ASSURE’s findings to help create operational and collision risk-mitigation requirements. In 2014, Congress directed the FAA to create a UAS Center of Excellence. The FAA chose ASSURE, which the Mississippi State University manages.
In the future, ASSURE plans to conduct additional engine ingestion and collision studies, including those involving roto aircraft and general aviation aircraft and high-bypass turbofan engines. The study is expected to stretch through FY2021 in multiple phases.
Source: ASSURE