A History of Research and a Review of Recent Developments

Aircraft and ships 207
8.3 AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS
Damage to military aircraft from explosive blast or penetrating projectiles
has obviously been a subject of structural interest since the First World War,
but military security prevented much discussion in the open literature. One of
the most valuable sources of unclassified reporting of research and analysis in
this field did not appear until after the Second World War, under the auspices
of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Advisory Group for Aerospace
Research and Development (AGARD) was established so that panels of experts
could provide scientific and technical assistance to member nations, and one
of these, the Structures and Materials panel, was much concerned in the 1970s
with the physical vulnerability of aircraft. Among the subjects covered were
damage from projectiles and blast, the failure characteristics of the structure,
Figure 8.12 Possible sources of damage to a cable stayed bridge.