Advanced Modeling of Seaplane Crash Simulator

As seaplane crashes in Canada continue to increase there is a pressing need for occupant emergency exit (i.e.egress) training. Generally termed egress surivival training, a leading Nova Scotian company, Survival SystemsTraining Ltd., aims to develop the first full scale simulator which will approximate the impact of a seaplane onwater. Their facility includes a unique wave pool and trainees will benefit from a very accurate simulatorrepresentation of the actual seaplane cockpit.The first challenge to overcome is determining the basic loadings on the occupant during training. Without thistype of information it will not be possible to progress further with the R&D of a seaplane simulator. Theproposed solution is to develop a dynamic computer model of an occupant normally restrained in a seatexperiencing an impact. The automotive Hybrid III crash test dummy will be modeled and as the seatexperiences the impact loading the g-forces on the occupant will be studied.The expected research outputs of the proposed work are the loadings (i.e. g-forces) on the occupant. Thisinformation will allow Survival Systems Training Ltd. to porperly assess the feasibility of the training scenarioas well as guide the next steps in the engineering design of the simulator itself.