Foundations of Certification by Analysis: Airframe Structures & Impact / Crashworthiness

Overview

This webinar is the second installment in the Certification by Analysis (CbA) series and focuses on Airframe Structures & Impact / Crashworthiness, the most established application area for model-based certification approaches. Speakers will demonstrate how validated simulation and correlation can replace or reduce destructive testing, delivering cost, schedule, and safety advantages while maintaining regulatory confidence.

Dr. Pellettiere (FAA) will begin with a regulatory-focused overview of the requirements, guidance, and expectations for using analysis in place of physical testing for structural and impact-related certification. His presentation will highlight common challenges, lessons learned from past submissions, and the importance of process rigor, documentation, and credibility when applying CbA.

Dr. Olivares (NIAR) will then present real-world application examples showing how advisory circulars and guidance are implemented in practice using LS-DYNA. These examples will span airframe structural impact scenarios such as bird strike, ditching, and crashworthiness, composite structures and fatigue, seats-by-analysis precedents, and structural life assessment.

What Attendees Will Learn

• How bird strike, ditching, and crashworthiness analyses are used in certification
• The regulatory expectations for replacing or reducing destructive testing with analysis
• How composite structures and fatigue are addressed through validated simulation
• The precedent for seats-by-analysis and its certification implications
• How structural life assessment supports long-term airworthiness decisions
• Common issues and lessons learned from past Certification by Analysis submissions
• What regulators look for in documentation, assumptions, and supporting evidence
• The role of verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification in building credibility
• Why Certification by Analysis is a disciplined process rather than a simple test replacement

Who Should Attend

• Certification, airworthiness, and compliance engineers
• Structures, loads, and crashworthiness engineers
• Durability, fatigue, and structural life assessment specialists
• Digital engineering and modeling & simulation leads
• Systems and safety engineers involved in certification evidence
• Engineering managers responsible for test and analysis strategies
• Organizations applying simulation to reduce destructive testing
• Regulators, DERs, and ODA participants seeking CbA alignment

Speakers

• Joseph Pellettiere, Ph.D., PE, FAA
• Gerardo Olivares, Ph.D., NIAR
• Brice Segaud, Senior Global Technical Account Manager, Ansys part of Synopsys
• Matt Ladzinski, Marketing Director, A&D, Ansys part of Synopsys