Gasdynamics of rapid and explosive decompressions of pressurized aircraft including active venting

Abstract

In this paper, a zero-dimensional mathematical formulation for rapid and explosive decompression analyses of pressurized aircraft is developed. Air flows between two compartments and between the damaged compartment and external ambient are modeled by assuming an adiabatic, reversible transformation. Both supercritical and subcritical decompressions are considered, and the attention focuses on intercompartment venting systems. In particular, passive and active vents are addressed, and mathematical models of both swinging and translational blowout panels are provided. A numerical procedure based on an explicit Euler integration scheme is also discussed for multi-compartment aircraft analysis. Various numerical solutions are presented, which highlight the importance of considering the opening dynamics of blowout panels. The comparisons with the results from the literature demonstrate the validity of the proposed methodology, which can be also applied, with no lack of accuracy, to the decompression analysis of spacecraft.

An algebraic model of high-altitude aircraft decompression and emergency descent

“…The phase-change of the water-vapor in the cabin air will also be included. To account for the internal decompression dynamics, both passive and active valve dynamics must be modeled, as was done in Daidzic and Simones (2010), and in Pagani and Carrera (2016). The problem will be solved by numerically integrating a system of coupled nonlinear differential equations describing decompression dynamics and descent flight mechanics.…”

“…Daidzic (2010Daidzic ( , 2011 tackled propulsion, aerodynamic, and human physiological challenges of very high altitudes, including suborbital and orbital spaceplane flights. We also mention a recent contribution by Pagani and Carrera (2016) treating active venting. None of the aforementioned sources have dealt with the ED dynamics explicitly.…”

Door-Triggering Mechanism for Large-Scale Rapid-Decompression Experiments

“…When the door rotates to near 90°, the cushioning mechanism starts to work and provides a large resistance moment to slow down the rotation speed of the door. With the cushioning mechanism, the speed of the door quickly decreases to zero, indicating that the designed cushioning mechanism is suitable for counteracting the great inertial effect of the [14], for a typical two-compartment-cabin system with a sudden breach of 0.5 m 2 , the decompression time from 78.959 kPa to 19.74 kPa is numerically calculated to be approximately 1.8 s. These initial conditions are quite similar to the design conditions of this work, so the designed doortriggering mechanism is qualified to carry out large-scale rapid-decompression experiments.…”

“…For cockpit decompression, the process is explosive and may occur within tens or hundreds of milliseconds. Even today, rapid-decompression accidents still occasionally occur, especially in civilian aircraft, causing casualties and economic losses [13][14][15][16]. For example, in 2018, the Sichuan Airlines Flight 3U8633 experienced an adventurous voyage.…”

Research and Verification of Key Techniques in the Simulation of Space Extremely Rapid Decompression in Millisecond

“…Pagani and Carrera developed a zero-dimensional mathematical formulation for rapid and explosive decompression analyses of pressurized aircraft. The numerical procedure based on Euler integration scheme had also been discussed for multicompartment aircraft analysis [9]. Bréard et al modeled and ana-lyzed the sudden decompression of an airliner cockpit with a hardened cockpit door installed using the CFD code [10].…”