Numerical Simulation of Hose Whip Phenomenon in Aerial Refueling

A dynamic simulation for prediction of the behavior of a hose-drogue-probe refueling system occurring during the drogue-probe engagement is presented. The dynamic loads in the probe and hose are evaluated under various operating conditions when the reel take-up system is not functioning. In some of these conditions a severe hose whip may occur resulting in high loads, which may cause damage to the probe and the receiving aircraft supporting structure, or a hose rupture. A thorough understanding of the loads transferred from the refueling hose to the probe via simulation and analysis is a key to the successful design of the probe. The simulation was mainly performed in Nastran with an additional model built in the MATLAB-SimMechanics environment for verification.