• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.97-103
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• 2022

An aircraft component can only be mounted on an aircraft if it has been certified to have a structural robustness under flight load conditions. Among the major components of the aircraft, a pylon is a structure that connects external equipment such as an engine, and external attachments with the main wing of an aircraft and transmits the loads acting on it to the main structure of the aircraft. In civil aircraft, when there is an incident of fire in the engine area, the pylon prevents the fire from spreading to the wings. This study presents the results of structural static tests performed to verify the structural robustness of a fuel pylon used to mount external fuel tank in an aircraft. In the main text, we present the test set-up diagram consisting of test fixture, hydraulic pressure unit, load control system, and data acquisition equipment used in the structure static test of the fuel pylon. In addition, we introduce the software that controls the load actuator, and provide a test profile for each test load condition. As a result of the structural static test, it was found that the load actuator was properly controlled within the allowable error range in each test, and the reliability of the numerical analysis was verified by comparing the numerical analysis results and the strain obtained from the structural test at the main positions of the test specimen. In conclusion, it was proved that the fuel pylon covered in this study has sufficient structural strength for the required load conditions through structural static tests.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.594-597
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• 2009

The mixing characteristics of pylon injection in a Scramjet combustor and effects of film cooling to protect pylon from air-heating. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with $k-{\omega}$ SST turbulence model were used. Fuel hydrogen and air were considered as coolants. There were remarkable improvements of penetration and mixing rate with the pylon injection. There also over-heating on the front surface of pylon without film cooling. The coolant injected parallel to the front surface of the pylon protect the pylon from over-heating.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2010

The mixing characteristics of pylon injection in a Scramjet combustor and effects of film cooling to protect pylon from air-heating were investigated. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with $k-{\omega}$ SST turbulence model were used. Fuel hydrogen and air were considered as coolants. There were remarkable improvements of penetration and mixing rate with the pylon injection. There was also over-heating on the front surface of the pylon without film cooling. The coolant injected parallel to the front surface of the pylon protects the pylon from over-heating.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.99-104
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• 2022

Aircraft pylon connects the engine or external stores to the main wing, and transfers the load acting on the pylon to the main structure of the aircraft. In particular, it should perform the function of separating the external store mounted on the pylon in case of emergency or mission performance. At this time, if the separation of the external store is not performed properly due to peripheral air flow or functional problems during the separation process of the external store, it may seriously impact the survivability of the aircraft. For this reason, to apply an external attachment to an aircraft, it is necessary to prove the stability of the external attachment in the separation situation in advance. In this paper, we present the result of the ground separation test performed to confirm that the external fuel tank, which is an external attachment, can be safely separated from the pylon. As a result of the test, the separation movement of the external fuel tank was measured with a high-speed camera, and the stability of the separation of the external fuel tank from the pylon were confirmed through the ground separation test. Additionally, the test result provides basic data for the stability evaluation of the separation of external attachments in actual aircraft.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.162-167
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• 2020

In this study, a fatigue analysis of an external fuel tank and pylon for fixed-wing aircraft was carried out as part of the domestic development of fixed-wing aircraft. Through structural analysis, the analysis areas were selected, and the transfer function for unit loads was established in the selected parts. For each of the continuous load profiles, stress components in the selected areas were calculated using the load of each profile and the transfer function, and the Von Mises equivalent stress was employed as the representative stress of each profile. In addition, the rainflow counting technique was used to extract individual profiles obtained from the initial large load profiles and to calculate their amplitude and average values. For life evaluation, the S-N diagram of the Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization (MMPDS) was applied, and the damage value was calculated by Miner's rule to assess the life of the selected area. As a result of the life assessment, the life span requirement for the selected area of the external fuel tank and the pylon was assessed as being satisfied.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2020

Aircraft should be equipped with various external stores for mission performance. Since these external stores may cause structural instability of aircraft, an evaluation of the effects between the aircraft and the external stores is required. For this purpose, an aircraft dynamic characteristics analysis reflecting an external store was performed, and the finite element model for the analysis of aircraft dynamic characteristics should simulate the dynamic characteristics of the component as accurately as possible while using a minimum of the nodes and elements. In this study, a stick model was constructed for dynamic characteristics analysis of the external fuel tank and installation pylon using MSC Patran/Nastran. For the calculation of the equivalent stiffness of the stick model, a simple beam theory was applied to construct the stick model of each part, and the validity of each stick models was confirmed by mode comparison with the fine model. Additionally, the model analysis of the stick model assembly, simulating a pylon equipped with an external fuel tank was performed to confirm that the basic modes required for the analysis of aircraft dynamic characteristics are well extracted. Finally, it was confirmed that the developed stick model assembly could be used for analysis of aircraft dynamic characteristics by comparing the errors in modes between the fine model assembly and the stick model assembly.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.777-783
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• 2021

Aircraft are affected by various vibrations during maneuvering. These vibrations may have a fatal effect on the survival of aircraft in some cases, so the safety of components applied to the aircraft should be proven against various vibrations through random vibration analysis. In this study, the structural robustness of an external fuel tank and pylon for military aircraft was evaluated under random vibration conditions using commercial software, MSC Random. In the random vibration analysis, a frequency response analysis was performed by imposing a unit load on the boundary condition point, and then excitation was performed with a PSD profile. In this process, the required mode data was extracted through a modal analysis method. In addition, the random vibration profile specified in the US Defense Environment Standard was applied as random vibration conditions, and the PSD profile given in units of G's was converted into units of gravitational acceleration. As a result of the numerical analysis, we evaluated the structural robustness of the external fuel tank and pylon by identifying the safety margins of beam elements, shell elements, and solid elements in a numerical model for random vibration in the x, y, and z directions.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.104-109
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• 2022

The bomb rack unit (BRU) installed inside the pylon serves to fix external attachments such as external fuel tank or external weapon, and also serves to separate external attachments in case of emergency. In particular, the load generated when the external attachment is separated from the BRU is called the punching load. In this study, we present the results of a structural static test performed to verify the structural integrity of the pylon under the BRU punching condition acting on it. In the structural static test report, we present the implementation method for the separation load of the external attachment and the test profile for the BRU punching load condition, and compared the error between the load input signal and the feed-back signal to determine the appropriateness of load control in each test. Furthermore, we compared the strain results obtained in the numerical analysis and structural test at the main positions of the specimen. As a result, it was shown that the load of the actuators were properly controlled within the allowable error range in each test, and the numerical analysis effectively predicted the test result. Finally, through structural static tests conducted by design limit load and design ultimate load, we verified that the aircraft pylon dealt with in this study has sufficient structural strength for external attachment separation condition.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2024

The external fuel tank of an aircraft is a main component that can increase the cruising range of the aircraft. It must be able to be stably separated from the pylon in an emergency situation. At this time, a separation load is applied to the fin and the pivot of the external fuel tank. To stably separate the external fuel tank, the structural soundness of the fin and the pivot must be confirmed. In this study, structural tests were conducted to verify the structural integrity of the external fuel tank pin and pivot when the external fuel tank was separated from the aircraft. Results are then presented. In this paper, a test configuration diagram consisting of the hydraulic and load control equipment, data acquisition system, and pneumatic supply unit used in the structural test was explained. Test installation and test load application plan for each test condition were provided. As results of the structural test, it was found that test load and internal pressure of the test specimen were properly controlled within the allowable range in each test. It was confirmed that serious structural defects in the test specimen did not occur under required load conditions. In conclusion, through structural test for design limit load and design ultimate load, it was proven that the fin and pivot of the external fuel tank for aircraft covered in this study had sufficient structural strength.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.9-20
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• 2019

A military aircraft generally includes external stores such as fuel tanks or external arming, depending on the purpose of the operation. When a store is dropped from a military aircraft at high subsonic, transonic, or supersonic speeds, the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the store can be sufficient to send the store back into contact with the aircraft. This can cause damage to the aircraft and endanger the life of the crew. In this study, time accurate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with dynamic moving grid (moving and deformable mesh, MDM) technique has been used to accurately calculate store trajectories. For the verification of the present numerical approach, a wind tunnel test model for the wing-pylon-finned store configuration has been considered and analyzed. The comparison results for the ejected store trajectories between the present numerical analysis and the wind tunnel test data at the Mach number of 0.95 and 1.2 are presented. It is also importantly shown that the numerical parameter of MDM technique gives significant effect for the calculated store trajectory in the low-supersonic flow such as Mach 1.2.