Journal Article

Damage Characteristics and Residual Strength of UAV Aluminum-Alloy Plate Structures Under High-Velocity Impact

Wang, Yitao, He, Yuting, Ma, Liying, Zhang, Teng, Zhang, Hanzhe

2026

Overview

To address the increasing vulnerability of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) lightweight airframe structures to high-velocity fragment impacts in complex operational environments, this study combines high-velocity impact penetration tests, quasi-static strength tests, fracture-surface microanalysis, and finite-element simulation to systematically reveal the formation mechanism of typical penetration damage and its influence on residual strength. Results show that such penetration induces damage such as adiabatic-shear local melting zones, spall cracks, and grain-boundary separation, significantly weakening static strength and shifting the fracture mode from ductility- to brittleness-dominated. A modified fracture-mechanics criterion with higher prediction accuracy than the traditional net-section criterion is proposed, and a high-precision simulation model based on explicit–quasi-static coupling is established, which well reproduces damage morphology and tensile-failure processes. Compared with conventional manned aircraft structures, UAV airframes characterized by thinner skins and higher lightweighting ratios exhibit more pronounced sensitivity to penetration-induced micro-defects, making rapid residual-strength assessment essential for operational recovery and field-level repair decision-making. The research reveals the damage mechanism and provides an engineering-applicable residual-strength assessment method, offering a reliable theoretical basis and simulation tool for rapid UAV damage evaluation and fast-turnaround repair planning for civil and industrial UAV platforms.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Accuracy / Adiabatic flow / Aerodynamics / Aircraft / Aircraft structures / Airframes / Alloys / Aluminum / Aluminum base alloys / Analysis / Brittle fracture / Cracking (fracturing) / Criteria / Crystal defects / Damage assessment / Damage localization / Decision-making / Design optimization / Downtime / Drone aircraft / Ductility / finite-element method / high-velocity impact / impact penetration test / Impact strength / Maintenance and repair / Metal fatigue / Metal plates / Military aspects / Morphology / Numerical models / Penetration tests / Residual strength / residual-strength assessment / Separation / Simulation models / Specialty metals industry / Thin plates / UAV structural damage / Unmanned aerial vehicles / Velocity / Weight reduction