Containment tests and analysis of soft wall casing fabricated by wrapping Kevlar fabric around thin metal ring

Abstract To investigate the containment mechanism of the soft wall casing, a series of tests were conducted on a high-speed spin tester. A special testing method using spin tester for the containment of soft wall casing is developed. The subscale casing was fabricated by wrapping multiple layers of Kevlar49 plain woven fabric around the inner thin aluminum ring. The projectile was designed as rectangle to simulate the fan blade. Impacting process in each test was recorded by a high-speed digital camera. A numerical simulation model was developed to analyze the containment process quantitatively by using the explicit transient dynamic code LS-DYNA. It is found that the containment process of soft wall casing can be divided into three stages, and the Kevlar fabric absorbs most impact energy of blade. Also some comparisons in energy and force are conducted and discussed.