Application of the MLM to evaluate the hydrodynamic loads endured in the event of aircraft ditching

The present work proposes a methodology for the evaluation of the hydrodynamic loads endured in the event of aircraft ditching. The determination of the hydrodynamic loads on the full aircraft is necessary to substantiate the aircraft dynamics and structural integrity during ditching. In this context, the semi-analytical method called MLM (Modified Logvinovich Model) presents the advantage of estimating general hydrodynamic loads at reduced computational costs. After depicting the proposed methodology, we compare experimental water impact results to simulation results obtained with our industrial calculation tool ELFINI®. Finally, the extension to full aircraft studies is discussed.