Development and Analysis of Energy Absorbing Subfloor Concepts to Improve eVTOL Crashworthiness

To help ensure safe transportation within electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been developing novel energy absorbing (EA) design technologies to improve crashworthiness within the unique design constraints of these vehicles. As part of this effort, a series of lightweight energy absorbing subfloor concepts were developed for potential use within eVTOL vehicle design. The capability of the subfloor designs was first evaluated through finite element (FE) model simulation in both component and vehicle level impact conditions. Knowledge gained from these analyses were used to iterate upon the design prior to fabrication. Fabrication and testing of the subfloor designs has begun and will be used to verify predicted capability. Results from FE model analysis was used to down select to a final subfloor geometry for additional component level optimization and full-scale test validation.