3 ms·
The purpose of that engineering feature is to ensure the wings stay on.
by hugh-avherald 2y ago
The purpose of that engineering feature is to ensure the wings stay on.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- bfdm 2y agoThe comment was merely illustrating the concept in general being used on planes, or at least that's how I read it.
- stouset 2y agoYeah, but the whole point here is that the engines are very specifically designed to break off in a way that preserves the integrity of the wings. The integrity of the wings is a function that supersedes just about every other possible thing on a plane. You can safely land without any engines. You can safely land without hydraulics. You can safely land without gear. Without wings, a plane is a brick.
- FabHK 2y agoIndeed. And maneuvering speed V_A is designed such that as long as you don't exceed it, you will stall before breaking the wings off in case of turbulence or full control deflection.
- wkat4242 2y agoI think you mean Vne?
- altairprime 2y agoHere’s the bend test video for the Boeing 777: the wings can bend for something like a 45-degreee arc without breaking, so they ran it to breaking. https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/boeing-777-wing-flexibility-test-failure-video-71213 https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/boeing-777-wing-flexibil...
- victorbjorklund 2y agoIn the air. If the force applied is not the normal force expected from normal use it might be intended to snap off.
- stouset 2y agoThis is like suggesting that a boat's hull is designed to snap off in the event it encounters unexpected forces outside the water.
- account42 2y agoI can see a boat's hull be designed to crumble as safely as possible under a headson impact. But the situation is not the same. Boats usually stay in water at all times. An accident might put them under water. The situation is different with airplanes: all airplanes are guaranteed to eventually impact the ground, just ideally in a controlled manner.
- victorbjorklund 2y agoParts of the boats are def made to snap off when unexpected force is applied.
- mrguyorama 2y agoNah, an engine getting ripped off will not tear off the wing since this is the level of force and flex they are designed to withstand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--LTYRTKV_A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--LTYRTKV_A The engines are built to rip off cleanly, because when they don't, they have caused https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191 and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Al_Flight_1862 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Al_Flight_1862 which were fairly serious and catastrophic accidents at least partially caused by the engines tearing off and damaging the wing in such a serious manner as to cause a stall and crash. The wings stayed on the aircraft in both instances. Interestingly, both accidents were caused by those same sheer pins being damaged in minor and unpredicted ways. I highly doubt the wing is DESIGNED to cleanly separate. Planes are just very not rigid for something going such a high speed, and so tend to turn into confetti when faced with a harder surface, like a runway or a concrete building. Usually the only parts that survive serious crashes are the landing gear struts.