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- 2010-2-28
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本帖{zh1}由 lilywizardry 于 2010-3-7 00:25 编辑
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Crash, bang, cushion
硬碰硬还是用垫子
Aviation: How a collapsible mechanical cushion, borrowed from a space capsule, could help protect a crashing helicoptetr
航空科技：源自于太空梭的可折叠机械结构缓冲垫有助于保护坠落中的直升机。
Mar 4th 2010 | From The Economist print edition
Let’s give this idea a whirl
UNLIKE fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters tend to spend a lot of time flying close to the ground, especially during military and emergency missions. Anything that helps occupants survive a collision with the ground is therefore to be welcomed. Hence the interest in a new system that NASA, America’s space agency, is testing to make helicopters safer.
直升飞机（不是那种固定翼飞机）经常要花费很多时间来靠近地面,特别是在军事和紧急任务。任何有助于机上人员安全着陆并减少飞机与地面的碰撞的设备（或系统）都会受到欢迎。因此,美国航天局NASA正在大力进行试验一套新系统以提高直升机的安全性。
The idea comes from an expandable honeycomb cushion which Sotiris Kellas, an engineer at the agency’s Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia, came up with to help absorb the impact of landing a space capsule. It has since been tried out by fitting the structure under the fuselage of an MD-500 helicopter, donated by the American army, strapping four crash-test dummies inside and then using a special rig to swing the helicopter forward at 53kph (33mph) and drop it from 10.7 metres (35 feet). The preliminary results show that it worked rather well.
这个设想来自于一套可扩张的蜂窝垫。这套垫子是由Sotiris Kellas（位于弗吉尼亚州—汉普顿的Langley研发中心的一位工程师）提出的，原本用于太空梭在降落过程中吸收冲击力。目前这套设备已经处于试验中，被固定在MD-500直升机机身下面。这些个MD-500直升机都是xx提供的。同时飞机上还扎着4个试验用假人。整个实验用一套特殊的装置来摆动直升机使其拥有50公里/小时的前进力，同时从离地十米的空中下落。初步试验结果证明这套垫子很管用。
The mechanical cushioning system that Mr Kellas has designed has flexible hinges at the junction of each cell in the honeycomb. This allows the structure, which is made of stiff and strong carbon-fibre-based materials, to be folded flat. When it is deployed, using either wires to snap it into place or an explosive charge like an airbag (or a combination of both), the longer sides of the cells face downward. In the same way that the end of a cardboard tube offers more resistance to being stamped on than the same tube would if laid on its side, this presents the strongest aspect of the cell to the outside world during an impact, allowing it to absorb the maximum amount of energy as it deforms.
Kellas设计的机械结构缓冲系统在蜂窝垫的每个蜂窝格连接处都装有易弯曲铰链。所以这套由高强度碳纤维做成的垫子就可以被很平整地折叠起来。当垫子装备好之后,蜂窝格长的一面冲下。我们可以通过绳索来轻松地释放它或者采用类似于安全气囊那种迅速膨胀的触发机构（也可能是两者综合一下）。同样的比起硬纸筒管的边缘，它的根部可以给垫子上面的重物提供更大的支撑。这就说明了在冲撞发生的时候蜂窝格最强韧的部分是冲在外面的，并且在它变形的同时吸收了绝大多数的冲击力。
In the test, the honeycomb cushion absorbed the impact to the extent that if the occupants had been people they would have suffered little or no injury, says Martin Annett, a researcher involved in the project. In fact, the helicopter was so lightly damaged that it is being repaired so that the test can be repeated—but this time without the cushion—in order to obtain comparable data.
此项工程的研究员Martin Annet说："试验中，蜂窝垫很大程度上吸收了冲击力。如果飞机上坐着人的话他们基本可以毫发无伤"。实际试验后上咱们的直升飞机也就有点轻伤，现在正维修。等修好后打算在不装备蜂窝垫的条件下再试验一次以取得可对比的数据。
External airbags have been used in the past to help unmanned space landers, including Mars Pathfinder, touch down. They have also been fitted under some helicopters, and development work in this area continues. But the researchers at Langley think their mechanical system has a number of advantages.
实际上外部气囊早就运用在无人太空船上面了，部分直升机也已经装备了它，并且对于它的研发还在继续中。但是在Langley研究员则认为他们的机械系统的蜂窝垫则更具优势。
It is the rapid deflation of an airbag after it has first inflated that actually absorbs the impact, so its position, size, the moment it is fired and its inflation pressure are all crucial. In a car, where the occupants are sitting in known positions, the airbags can be deployed at the optimum time after sensors detect an impact. But in what can be the wildly gyrating final seconds of a helicopter crash, that is harder to achieve. To protect a helicopter in this way would require a multiplicity of specialised external airbags. Covering a machine with honeycomb is simpler.
安全气囊是通过膨胀后迅速放气来吸收冲击力的，所以呢它的安放位置，尺寸大小，触发时机很有讲究。由于车里面的人座位都是固定不变的，一旦传感器探测到撞击就会在{dy}时触发气囊。所以车用气囊参数也比较容易掌握。但是直升机在撞击的前一秒是天旋地转的，所以一般的车用安全气囊很难奏效。要达到保护直升机的作用就必须装备一套极其复杂的气囊系统。而相对来说呢像我们这种在机身下面覆盖一层蜂窝垫就简单了。
Indeed, though it is unlikely to replace airbags in cars, Mr Kellas’s honeycomb may end up supplementing them by providing additional energy-absorbing areas. Whether it ends up on Mars as well remains to be seen.
虽然Kellas的蜂窝垫不会取代车内安全气囊，蜂窝垫说到底是通过提供额外的能量吸收区域。至于蜂窝垫是否能上火星还是个未知数！ |
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