Bird strikes are being simulated in the laboratory of the Department of Applied Materials Science at the
University of Ghent in order to gain insight into the
consequences of bird impacts with aircraft. The collisions are set up not only to
test materials and parts but also to set technical
design constraints for minimising the effects of bird strikes. The testing facilities have been expanded now that the laboratory is going to participate in the European commission’s
E-Break project. To assist in the project, the university has acquired an
HBM GEN5i data recorder (meanwhile the successor model
GEN7i is available), which has been specially developed for
data acquisition at extremely high speeds.
“Bird strikes can have fatal consequences for aviation”, says Geert Luyckx, who supervises the laboratory’s contribution to E-Break. “A collision with a bird doesn’t itself necessarily cause a lot of physical damage, but even a
slight imbalance in an aero engine can eventually lead to severe
damage to and failure of the engine. Investigating the consequences of bird strikes in aviation has been part of extensive test procedures for many years.”
The department has gained a considerable reputation for analysing the consequences of bird strikes. A
test facility was built in 1997 in the context of ‘Experimental simulation of birdstrike on airplane parts’ (part of the European BRITE-EURAM II project). Initial simulations were only of strikes by
birds weighing 500 grams, but the facilities have been expanded for the new project to handle impacts by
birds of 1.8 kilos, equivalent to the weight of a duck. There are also tests with weights of
four kilos, equivalent to a goose. Although the aviation industry conducts tests using real birds, the laboratory in Ghent uses
blocks of gelatine, which have similar mass and behaviour. The gelatine is cast in a bullet-shaped mould and then
shot at the test object. The tests are standardised and are carried out in accordance with the specifications of aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus.