Landing Gear

1) Loads on landing gear

2) Angle with ground
3) Various efficient ways of landing
4) Faster damping methods and minimizing amplitude of vibration
(Base excitation)
5) Angle of attack
6) Impact analysis, structural analysis, static analysis

Types of landing gear

Most used is tri-cycle landing gear with nose landing gear and main
landing gear.
It serves to provide suspension system during taxi, take-off and
landing.

During landing there will be three different types of load

i. Vertical load
ii. Drag load- neglected
iii. Side load
there is also taxiing
 Damping
The mechanism by which the vibrational energy is gradually con-
verted into heat or sound is known as damping.
In viscous damping, the damping force is proportional to the velocity of the
vibrating body.

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 = 𝑘𝑥 + 𝑏𝑣

 As k increases the amplitude of vibration decreases

 As b increases damping is faster

The following is a simulation model of spring loaded damper

system in Simulink.

Results for some sample values: m=10 , b=2 , k=5

Design of shock absorbers
The following set of equations offer a general starting point for
design process. The design is tested on a model using a drop test and
performance is measured.
The touchdown kinetic energy can be approximated to be

1 𝑊𝐿
𝐸𝑡 = 𝑣𝑧2 ----------- Eq (1)
2 𝑔
Where:
𝐸𝑡 – touchdown kinetic energy of the aircraft
𝑊𝐿 – weight of the aircraft at landing
𝑣𝑧 – design vertical touch rate

The energy that can be absorbed by the shock

absorber and the tyres is as follows:

𝐸𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 =𝑊𝐿 𝑁𝑔 (𝑛𝑠 𝑆𝑠 + 𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑡 ) -----------Eq (2)

Where:
Ng – The landing gear load factor (the ratio of maximum load per leg
to the maximum static load)
nt – tyre efficiency
ns – shock absorber efficiency

It is assumed that WL = nsPm

where: ns – number of main gear struts
Pm – the maximum static load per main gear

Eabsorbed = ns Pm Ng(𝑛𝑠 𝑆𝑠 + 𝑛𝑡 𝑆𝑡 ) --------------- Eq (3)

Thus shock absorber energy can be equated to the touch down

energy

𝟏
𝑾𝑳 𝒗𝟐 = 𝒏𝒔 𝑷𝒎 (𝒏𝒔 𝑺𝒔 + 𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒕 )
𝟐𝒈

Solving we get length of stroke of dampers as

𝒗𝟐𝒛
𝑺𝒔 = ( − 𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒕 )/𝒏𝒔 ------------------- Eq (4)
𝟐𝒈𝑵𝒈

It can be noted from the above equation that the stroke length of
absorber does not depend on weight of aircraft but on its vertical
speed, load gear factor, tyre parameters and overall shock absorber
efficiency.

The diameter of the shock absorber strut can be estimated from

empirical formula:

ds = 0.041 + 0.0025 Pm0.5 in feet where Pm is in pounds.

 Drop test
To test a given landing gear a drop test is conducted. Each landing
gear must pass this test in order to meet safety regulations.
Here we equate potential energy of body to kinetic energy .
The potential energy due to height is given by
Ep = WL H
Therefore the test height is given by

𝟏
WL H = 𝑾 𝑳 𝒗𝟐
𝟐𝒈

𝑣𝑧2
Or H= --------------- Eq (5)
2𝑔