Search NASASearch

Engineering topics

Mccarty, Robert E.

Publications and source records attributed to Mccarty, Robert E..

Explicit solution techniques for impact with contact constraints

Modern military aircraft transparency systems, windshields and canopies, are complex systems which must meet a large and rapidly growing number of requirements. Many of these transparency system requirements are conflicting, presenting difficult balances which must be achieved. One example of a challenging requirements balance or trade is shaping for stealth versus aircrew vision. The large number of requirements involved may be grouped in a variety of areas including man-machine interface; structural integration with the airframe; combat hazards; environmental exposures; and supportability. Some individual requirements by themselves pose very difficult, severely nonlinear analysis problems. One such complex problem is that associated with the dynamic structural response resulting from high energy bird impact. An improved analytical capability for soft-body impact simulation was developed.

Mccarty, Robert E.

Space Shuttle Orbiter windshield bird impact analysis

The NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter's windshield employs three glass panes separated by air gaps. The brittleness of the glass offers much less birdstrike energy-absorption capability than the laminated polycarbonate windshields of more conventional aircraft; attention must accordingly be given to the risk of catastrophic bird impact, and to methods of strike prevention that address bird populations around landing sites rather than the modification of the window's design. Bird populations' direct reduction, as well as careful scheduling of Orbiter landing times, are suggested as viable alternatives. The question of birdstrike-resistant glass windshield design for hypersonic aerospacecraft is discussed.

Edelstein, Karen S.