Impact Assessment
S
outhwest Research Institute®
(SwRI®) conducts a wide range
of safety-related coupon- and fullscale impact testing for many
applications with a variety of
projectiles and test specimen
material designs, such as:
Aircraft bird strike and hailstone
impact resistance
KEYWORDS
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Bird Strike
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Windborne debris
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Turbine engine fragmentation
ASTM F330
Hailstone Impact
ASTM F320
Compressor Failure
Safety Shielding
Windborne Debris
Shrapnel
Aircraft Impact
Survivability
Compressed Gas Guns
FAA FAR Part 23
FAA FAR Part 25
Foreign Object
Damage
Engine Fragment
Containment
Aircraft Canopy
Testing
Energetic systems equipment
failure
D0 17744
Southwest
Research
Institute®
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4-lb bird traveling at 350 knots about to impact an aircraft windshield
SwRI maintains three compressed gas gun cannon Experience
systems and one powder gun system that launch a
large variety of projectile types and shapes at speeds ■ FAA bird strike certification testing
at 60–350 knots
from 10 ft/s to over 2,000 ft/s.
■ Military bird strike qualification testing
The Large Compressed Gas Gun can perform bird at 240–550 knots
strike testing from 60-knot rotary-wing FAA
Airworthiness Certification up to >550-knot fixed- ■ FAA hailstone impact certification testing
wing USAF canopy qualification testing. The Small at 175–500 knots
Compressed Gas Gun can perform hailstone
■ Engine containment shield testing with
impact testing with hailstones from 0.5 to 2.4
irregularly shaped projectiles
inches in diameter at velocities from 175 knots
■ Load, strain, acceleration and deflection
to >500 knots.
measurements during impact; correlation
to simulations
Projectiles, sabots and target fixtures are often
designed, constructed and tested at SwRI to meet a ■ Space Shuttle impact testing with lightweight
client’s specific need. A large suite of state-of-the foam projectiles
art data acquisition and computer simulation codes
■ Impact testing of personal protective shields and
supports the experimental facilities.
simulated plant equipment
Capabilities
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Launch of projectiles from 0.1 to 10 inches in
diameter (larger if required)
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Impact velocities from 10 fps to over 2,000 fps
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Institute ISO-compliant QA
Windborne debris impact testing using
8-ft pine 2x4 projectiles
Containment shield and airframe design for
impact survivability
High-speed digital imaging of impact event up
to 100 million fps
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Impact Survivability
Homeland Security
Dewetron high-speed data acquisition up
to 25 MHz
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Text fixture fabrication
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Computer simulation of impact events
Environmental conditioning of target specimens
from –60ºF to 150ºF
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Gelatin and real bird projectile testing
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Sabot design and fabrication
D0 17745
Aircraft Leading Edge
Testing
Helicopter windshield deflecting under impact of 2-lb
bird at 66 knots
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Facilities
Indoor and outdoor ballistic ranges with three compressed gas and one powder gun (over 20 gun
barrel sizes available)
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Large target impact area accommodating full-scale aircraft components, wings and fuselage sections
Mobile gun platforms with adjustable heights up to 14 feet above-ground for easy targeting and
alignment (pitch, yaw and roll angles; various waterline and buttline impact locations)
D0 17747
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D0 17746
One-third of a jet engine compressor packed in a sabot for
launching. Complex sabots are often needed to launch
irregularly shaped projectiles.
Commercial aircraft windshield undergoing
temperature-controlled bird strike testing. The
insulated chamber, hanging from the boom, covers
the windshield area for heating or cooling to the
required test temperature and is raised moments
before the projectile is fired at the target.
Southwest Research Institute is an
independent, nonprofit, applied engineering
and physical sciences research and
development organization using
multidisciplinary approaches to problem
solving. The Institute occupies 1,200 acres in
San Antonio, Texas, and provides more than
2 million square feet of laboratories, test
facilities, workshops and offices for more
than 3,000 employees who perform contract
work for industry and government clients.
For additional information,
please contact:
Scott A. Mullin
Joseph H. Bradley
Program Manager
Senior Research Engineer
(210) 522-2340
(210) 522-2310
scott.mullin@swri.orgjoseph.bradley@swri.org
Engineering Dynamics Department
Mechanical Engineering Division
Southwest Research Institute
6220 Culebra Road • P.O. Drawer 28510
San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510
swri.org
engdyn.swri.org
Benefiting government,
industry and the public
through innovative science
and technology
An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V
Committed to Diversity in the Workplace
18-1112 JCN 245058 tp
We welcome your inquiries.