New design of materials, order and thicknesses of an aircraft windshield behaviour layers to increase its resistance against repeated bird impacts

Abstract There are instances when an aircraft encounters a bird’s flock or faces a heavy hailstorm, causing the windshield to sustain consecutive impacts. Therefore, the investigation of windshield resistance against repeated impacts is crucial. In this research, various tests such as tensile, split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB), and three-point bending are conducted to extract the mechanical properties of the materials used in a five-layers windshield under high strain rates. Using this information, the bird impact on the windshield is simulated using the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, and the results are compared with real bird impact test outcomes, and the validation of this simulation is confirmed. The simulation of two consecutive bird strikes indicates the current windshield lacks sufficient resistance against successive dual impacts; in such scenarios, the second bird penetrates the windshield after breaking it and tearing the interlayer. Considering new materials and thicknesses for each windshield layer, a Taguchi experimental design method is employed to examine various layer arrangements with different materials and thicknesses. The configurations in which the windshield can withstand a maximum of three bird impacts in succession are identified. Subsequently, using the “the smaller, the better” criterion in the Taguchi optimisation approach, the configuration that not only prevents bird penetration but also minimises the maximum strain in the inner layer is selected as the desired outcome. Thus, a new five-layer windshield with new materials and thicknesses is presented, which is resistant to the repeated collision of up to three birds, tearing in the interlayer and bird penetration does not happen.