The empirical evaluation and computer aided simulation of the wire cutting system used in helicopters

The aerial lines cause great danger for helicopter flying at low altitudes. Twenty five percent of the helicopter accidents originate from wire strikes or crashes to similar obstacles. Therefore, Wire Strike Protection Systems (WSPS) are utilized for the helicopters. The performance of a particular WSPS is very important for the flight safety. Prediction of the performance of a WSPS is hard and requires expensive test benches. The utilization of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools would be beneficial in this effort. In this study, the mechanical cutting phenomenon is analytically investigated and the energy required to cut off the selected cables and wires is analytically evaluated. Beside analytic investigations, a particular WSPS is adapted to a Charpy Test Mechanism. The selected cables and their wires are mounted to the WSPS-adapted-Charpy mechanism and corresponding cutting energies are determined. The simulation of the Charpy tests are performed with the commercial software ABAQUS© 6.6.1 The experimental and numerical results predict similar solutions which implies that CAE tools can be beneficially used in determination of WSPS performance.