Longitudinal Acceleration Test of Overhead Luggage Bins in a Transport Airframe Section

Abstract : A 10-foot transport airframe section was longitudinally tested at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) Inc. The purpose of the test was to measure the structural responses of and the interaction between the overhead storage bins and fuselage under simulated, potentially survivable, impact conditions. Three tests were conducted using the TRC 24-inch Hyge Shock Tester. The first test attained a peak acceleration of 5.9 g and a velocity change of 30.7 ft/sec. The second test reached 8.8 g and 37.5 ft/sec. The third test resulted in 13.2 g and 42.3 ft/sec. The input acceleration pulses were triangular in shape. The airframe test section was configured with two triple passenger seats in two rows on the left side, four anthropomorphic test dummies (ATD), a 60-inch overhead storage bin (Bin A) on the right side, and a 20- by 20-inch set of overhead storage bins (Bin B) on the left side.