Video: Duck Versus Jetliner Engine (test)

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Clicky:

 

http://www.break.com/index/duck-vs-jet-engine.html

 

Action starts halfway through the video. They've marked one of the blades so that the rotation of the compressor fan can be observed, but the camera's framing rate and short exposure makes it appear as though it's spinning pretty slowly, like maybe 100 RPM. It's not until the duck hits, and the shaking begins, that you realize this thing is (was) actually spinning pretty damn fast, like maybe a few thousand RPM.

 

And WOW. I know that an "uncontained engine failure" is a huge concern (see United 232), and that considerable effort is given to designing an engine nacelle that can keep all the schrapnel from shredding other important parts of the plane (like, um, the wing...or hydraulic systems...). But it's hard to grasp the violence of it, and what the designers are up against, until you see something like this.

 

Of course, even if you contain all the chunks, there's still an awful lot of shaking going on before the thing comes to a stop. if you're lucky, it won't rip the wings off...

[smiller]

Wow... wouldn't want to be in the same zipcode when that happens...

 

When I saw the title of the thread I first thought 'well, I know who is going to lose that contest...', but clearly neither party comes out very well...

 

 

[Marty Hill]

Mitch, if it get's too bad the engine will break off as it is designed to do.

[smiller]

Mitch, if it get's too bad the engine will break off as it is designed to do.

Oh boy, that would make me feel better (as a passenger in the aircraft)...

[John Ranalletta]

Probability is the likely answer, but I'll ask the question anyway:

 

Why aren't the engine outlets covered with a expanded wire screen small enough to keep big birds out but not restrict airflow substantially?

[AZKomet]

Was that a frozen duck????

[AZKomet]

Probability is the likely answer, but I'll ask the question anyway:

 

Why aren't the engine outlets covered with a expanded wire screen small enough to keep big birds out but not restrict airflow substantially?

 

Speed and mass are crucial. The pilot in this video is a very good friend of mine.

Starts out with static then clears up.

 

There have been geese at 35K feet (ok Torrey crew let's hear it!!!!! ) that has taken down planes literally sheering off the rear fins and down the bird goes..well both of them I suppose!

 

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Probability is the likely answer, but I'll ask the question anyway:

 

Why aren't the engine outlets covered with a expanded wire screen small enough to keep big birds out but not restrict airflow substantially?

 

At 200+ MPH, I think it would be impractical to hope for any kind of mesh that could satisfactorily deflect a large bird; instead, your goal would be to dismember/disperse it such that the pieces wouldn't be big/concentrated enough to damage the compressor fan.

 

That said, I don't think you could design a "duck dicer" capable of doing the job without incurring unacceptable weight and power-loss penalties. Here, "unacceptable" would mean a dollar evalualation based on the cost to implement the duck dicer; the cost of the lost carrying capacity due to reduced engine power and increased vehicle mass; weighed against the dollars saved by not blowing up one engine in your fleet every couple of years. (maybe this is what you meant by probability, i.e. it doesn't happen very often?)

 

The alternative they've arrived at is an airframe with at least two engines so a single birdstrike won't turn you into a glider; and A nacelle strong enough to keep the pieces in when the engine does come unglued.

[SeanC]

Probability is the likely answer, but I'll ask the question anyway:

 

Why aren't the engine outlets covered with a expanded wire screen small enough to keep big birds out but not restrict airflow substantially?

 

But then what would happen in the event the wire screen somehow separated (e.g., due to metal fatigue, etc.)? I would imagine a jet engine wouldn't fare much better sucking a screen into its fans than it would a bird....

[upflying]

Better not let the animal rights activists see this video. You know how they are when you experiment with animals. BTW, didn't they complain that the geese Capt Sullenberger struck had the right of way in the sky?

[David]

Ice would also be a major issue on the entire screen.

[smiller]

BTW, didn't they complain that the geese Capt Sullenberger struck had the right of way in the sky?

Well if they do have right-of-way it does them about as much good as it does a motorcyclist...

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Ooops...

 

I think the break.com video was mislabelled. I just found

The test setup appears identical to the break.com video, down to the inlet shroud, the single bright-colored compressor fan blade, and the strange "tripod" scaffolding that's just touching the engine's main spindle. This video wasn't about bird ingestion per se, but simply about testing the loss of a compressor blade by any means - in this test, it was a deliberate, explosive separation.

 

Slow-motion, close-up video of the separation event begins at about 4:53.

 

Along the same lines of "wrecking expensive, high-power equipment in spectatular fashion," there's

Check out the tire distortion.