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Originally posted by pteridine
The exterior columns broke at the joints because the joints were the weakest points, but the aircraft was capable of cutting the columns.
Originally posted by pteridine
reply to post by _BoneZ_
BoneZ,
This may help you. Scientists and engineers have studied this problem. These folks from MIT show that there was more than enough energy available to cut steel columns. Please note that the structure of a commercial airplane wing is only covered in thin aluminum and is exceptionally strong. Note that the calculation was not for a joint failure but for a complete shear.
The full paper should be available at any university school of engineering library should you wish to see the details. Copyright laws prevent me from posting the paper or sending it to you.
From the International Journal of Impact Engineering; abstract below.
Titre du document / Document title
How the airplane wing cut through the exterior columns of the World Trade Center
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
WIERZBICKI T. (1) ; TENG X. (1) ;
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Department of Ocean Engineering, Impact & Crashworthiness Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 5-218 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, ETATS-UNIS
Résumé / Abstract
The problem of the airplane wing cutting through the exterior columns of the World Trade Center is treated analytically. The exterior columns are thin-walled box beam made of high strength steel. The complex structure of the airplane is lumped into another box, but it has been found that the equivalent thickness of the box is an order of magnitude larger than the column thickness. The problem can be then modeled as an impact of a rigid mass traveling with the velocity of 240 m/s into a hollow box-like vertical member. The deformation and failure process is very local and is broken into three phases: shearing of the impacting flange; tearing of side webs; and tensile fracture of the rear flange. Using the exact dynamic solution in the membrane deformation mode, the critical impact velocity to fracture the impacted flange was calculated to be 155 m/s for both flat and round impacting mass. Therefore, the wing would easily cut through the outer column. It was also found that the energy absorbed by plastic deformation and fracture of the ill-fated column is only 6.7% of the initial kinetic energy of the wing.
Revue / Journal Title
International journal of impact engineering ISSN 0734-743X CODEN IJIED4
Source / Source
2003, vol. 28, no6, pp. 601-625 [25 page(s) (article)] (25 ref.)
Langue / Language
Anglais
Editeur / Publisher
Elsevier Science, Oxford, ROYAUME-UNI (1983) (Revue
Originally posted by djeminy
Each wing would therefore have had to hit 2 concrete floors with trusses that butted in to what appears to be 3 - 4 feet wide steel plates. Not columns.
Originally posted by YourForever
Originally posted by djeminy
Each wing would therefore have had to hit 2 concrete floors with trusses that butted in to what appears to be 3 - 4 feet wide steel plates. Not columns.
No-one is questioning whether the wings were damaged during entry, just that they could enter the building.
Originally posted by djeminy
Is there any good reason why this fact was not taken into consideration when these
people did their calculations?
Originally posted by YourForever
Then I will be more clear...
Originally posted by djeminy
Is there any good reason why this fact was not taken into consideration when these
people did their calculations?
Because it is irrelevant. Two concrete floors and their steel pans is not going to stop a 767 wing @ 450 mph. It may severely damage the wing, but it will not stop the mass from entering the building. I can't imagine how you believe that.
Now you can answer my question.
[edit on 11/2/09 by YourForever]
Originally posted by djeminy
Each wing would therefore have had to hit 2 concrete floors with trusses that butted in to what appears to be 3 - 4 feet wide steel plates. Not columns.
Originally posted by pteridine
These folks from MIT show that there was more than enough energy available to cut steel columns.
Originally posted by YourForever
Originally posted by djeminy
Each wing would therefore have had to hit 2 concrete floors with trusses that butted in to what appears to be 3 - 4 feet wide steel plates. Not columns.
And what would you expect from this?
Originally posted by EdWardMD
Thanks for the bird pic it certainly shows the damage that can be done to metal by a soft bird. It illustrates mass x velocity = energy. It shows that its not the what hits, its the velocity of the hit and illustrates the point quite clearly.
He, Larry, Us,
DrEd