Aircraft Canopy Fracturing System Using Segmented Severance Cord
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing canopy fracturing systems for aircraft pose a hazard to pilots due to large, difficult-to-propel canopy panels during ejection, as the severance cord breaks the canopy into large pieces that can cause injury.
Innovation Solution
A fracturing system with a severance cord featuring a fragmenting pattern that breaks the canopy into numerous small fragments, positioned over the seat assembly to minimize hazard, with a diamond-shaped outer perimeter and S-shaped inner segments, ensuring the fragments are blown away from the pilot.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the severance cord is arranged in a relatively large pattern extending over a substantial area of the canopy, then the canopy transparency is effectively severed and panels are removed, but the large panels are difficult to propel away from the aircraft and pose a hazard to the pilot
Solution Approach 1:
The severance cord is configured with a fragmenting pattern including multiple outer perimeter segments and inner fragmenting segments that divide the canopy transparency into numerous small fragments rather than large panels. This segmentation occurs when the severance cord detonates, breaking the transparent cover into hundreds or thousands of small pieces that are easily propelled away from the aircraft, eliminating the hazard to the pilot while maintaining effective canopy severance.
2Strength
If the severance cord breaks the canopy into large panels, then the canopy structure is compromised for ejection, but the large panels create aerodynamic difficulties and safety hazards during pilot ejection
Solution Approach 1:
The canopy transparency is segmented into numerous small fragments through the fragmenting pattern of the severance cord, which includes outer perimeter segments and inner fragmenting segments. This segmentation allows the canopy to be effectively compromised for ejection while creating small pieces that are easily propelled away by aerodynamic forces, solving both the structural integrity requirement and the panel propulsion difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the size parameter of the canopy fragments from large panels to small pieces through the specific configuration of the severance cord pattern. This parameter change transforms the aerodynamic properties of the fragments, making them easily propelled away from the aircraft during ejection while maintaining the necessary structural compromise for safe pilot escape.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively breaks the canopy into hundreds or thousands of small fragments, eliminating the risk of injury to the pilot by propelling them away from the aircraft, regardless of speed or attitude, and reducing hazards associated with panel fly-away.
Implementation Method 1
The severance cord includes a fragmenting pattern including a plurality of outer perimeter segments that define an outer perimeter of the fragmenting pattern, and a plurality of inner fragmenting segments that are inside the outer perimeter. The fragmenting pattern is configured to break the transparent cover into numerous fragments when the severance cord is detonated.
Data Source
AI summary
A canopy for an aircraft includes a transparent cover, and a severance cord coupled to the transparent cover. The severance cord includes a fragmenting pattern including a plurality of outer perimeter segments that define an outer perimeter of the fragmenting pattern, and a plurality of inner fragmenting segments that are inside the outer perimeter. The fragmenting pattern is configured to break the transparent cover into numerous fragments when the severance cord is detonated.