On The Explosion Suppression Of Aluminum Alloy Material Used In Aircraft Fuel Tank

Aircraft fuel tank uIlage expIosion resuIting from ignition of vapors is a major causeof military loss in combat. Over the years, in order to improve combat survivability ofaircraft, many techniques suppressing such explosion have been explored. The techniquescan be divided into tWo types. One belongs to passive damage suppression, such asinstalling expanded metal material in fuel tank. The other belongs to impassive damagesuppression, such as nitrogen diIution when fuel tank needs. Each type has advantages anddisadvantages respectively.This paper discusses the expanded aluminum alloy material, which belongs topassive damage suppression. The passive nature of this mpe of system and its associatedreduction in logistic problems, together with full time protection, made it be one of mostadvanced explosion suppression material at present. -The expanded alIoy is manufactured by slitting, then expanding a thin aluminumaIloy foil, the resulting material is then coil or fan-folded into a 3-dimensonal batt, whichcan be shaped to match the interior geometry of fuel tanks by splitting with a saw andinstalled tbIough access areas.This paPer has focalized explosion suPpression principle, and discussed possibleeffects on explosion suPpression perfOrmances of exPanded alloy, and stated possible badeffects on aircraft performances combined with explosion suPpression design of winginteger fuel tank.