Numerical Simulation of Bird Strike on Jet Engine Considering Bird Ingestion Requirements

To mitigate the consequences of bird strikes, compliance with bird ingestion requirements must be substantiated by corresponding physical tests relying on a jet engine. However, current simulation models capturing soft-impact damage on the engine are mostly limited to part of the front of the engine, such as fan blades. In this paper, considering relationships and interactions among engine components under normal flight operations, the numerical model of a jet engine subjected to bird strike was developed to evaluate impact damage and the effect of fan rotor unbalancing on the jet engine. First, substitute bird models were established using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method, and then validated with experimental and theoretical results. Second, to characterize the maximum impact damage, critical ingestion parameter was derived from simulations of the prescribed bird targeted at fan blades at the required bird ingestion conditions. Finally, considering single-bird-ingestion requirements, numerical analysis of a jet engine during impact was investigated. It is of great significance for engine manufacturers to incorporate a predictive modeling methodology of a turbine engine under bird strikes into crashworthiness of engine designs.