LONGITUDINAL ACCELERATION TESTS OF OVERHEAD LUGGAGE BINS AND AUXILIARY FUEL TANK IN A TRANSPORT AIRPLANE AIRFRAME SECTION

Abstract : This report contains the description and test results of overhead stowage bin calibrations and longitudinal impact testing of a 10-foot transport airframe section conducted at the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC). The purpose of the tests was to measure the structural responses and interaction between the fuselage, overhead stowage bins, and auxiliary fuel tank under simulated, potentially survivable, crash conditions. A 10-foot section from a Boeing 737, Model 200 was used as the test section. The overhead stowage bin connection supports were instrumented with strain gages and calibrated. Two types of overhead storage bins were installed in the transport airframe and pulled in a longitudinal direction at various known loads to monitor and record the strain gage outputs. The transport airframe was longitudinally impact tested using TRC's 24-inch shock tester. Peak accelerations and corresponding velocity changes of 6.1 g (23.2 ft/sec), 8.2 g (32.2 ft/sec), and 14.2 g (41.7 ft/sec) were recorded. The transport airframe section was configured with a 120-inch overhead stowage bin (Bin A) attached to the left/pilot side, a 60-inch overhead stowage bin (Bin B) attached to the right/copilot side, and a 500-gallon auxiliary fuel tank attached underneath the airframe's passenger floor section. The test articles were equipped with accelerometers, strain gages, and potentiometers totaling approximately 90 channels of data per simulated crash test.