Tests and numerical simulation for bird's impacting rear observation window of an aircraft cockpit

In order to design rear observation window glasses of an aircraft cockpit under bird impacting, tests for bird impacting a rear observation window were conducted, the strain time histories of two points on the window were measured. A full-scale finite element model of bird impacting a rear observation window was established to simulate a test process using the large-scale commercial impacting analysis software PAM-CRASH. The results of strain and displacement time-histories achieved from simulations and tests were compared, the good agreement between them indicated that the numerical model established here is rational. Then, the effect laws of thicknesses of inner glass layer, outer glass layer and air layer between them on the bird-impact response of a rear observation window were analyzed. The results provided a technical guidance for anti-bird-impacting design of rear observation window glasses of an aircraft cockpit.