Effect of pitch angle on initial stage of a transport airplane ditching

Airworthiness regulations require that the transport airplane should be proved to ensure the survivability of the ditching for the passengers. The planned ditching of a transport airplane on the calm water is numerically simulated. The effect of pitch angle on the impact characteristics is especially investigated by a subscaled model. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations of unsteady compressible flow are solved and the realizable κ-ε equations are employed to model the turbulence. The transformation of the air-water interface is tracked by volume of fluid (VOF) model. The motion of the rigid body is modeled by dynamic mesh method. The initial ditching stage of the transport airplane is analyzed in detail. The numerical results show that as the pitching angle increases, the maximal normal force decreases and the pitching motion becomes much gentler. The aft fuselage would be sucked down by the water and lead to pitching up, whereas the low horizontal tail prevents this trend. Consequently, the transport aircraft with low horizontal tail should ditch on the water at an angle between 10° and 12° as a recommendation.