Analysis of Bird Strike-Induced Damage on Bio-Inspired Laminated Plates: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The issue of bird strikes, while seemingly straightforward, can result in significant structural and economic damage, and so it has become a hot topic. In this context, the present work aims to examine the energy absorption capacity of bio-inspired linear helicoidal (LH) laminated composite plates subjected to bird strike at various angles with the fully clamped edges. Unlike traditional impact studies, this study uses a hybrid approach that accurately captures the fluid–structure interaction during impact by combining smoothed particle hydrodynamics with finite element analysis techniques in ABAQUS software. In this framework, the energy absorption capacities of bio-inspired LH configurations are compared with those of traditional cross-ply (CPL) laminated ones having circular holes. Simulations of bird strikes are conducted using a bird density of 1000 kg/m3 and a velocity of 100 m/s across various incidence angles. Hashin damage criteria are utilized to analyze fiber tension, fiber compression, and matrix tension under strike conditions. The validation results are consistent with existing literature, confirming the accuracy of the current numerical model. Strain energy analysis indicated notable variations in energy absorption characteristics across different strike angles, i.e., the bio-inspired LH laminated composite plate demonstrated greater energy absorption capacity in comparison with the traditional cross-ply laminated composite plate. LH configurations significantly outperform traditional CPL laminated composite plates, particularly at the 20-degree strike angle, where strain energy absorption is maximized. The findings provide important insights for the development of bird-strike-resistant engineering materials and structures, emphasizing the potential of bio-inspired helicoidal structures.

Received: 6 November 2025 | Revised: 3 March 2026 | Accepted: 1 April 2026

Conflicts of Interest

Mehmet Avcar is the Editorial Board Member for Archives of Advanced Engineering Science, and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article, as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Author Contribution Statement

Meryem Dilara Kop: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Visualization. Aman Garg: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Investigation, Data curation, Supervision, Project administration. Mehmet Avcar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration.