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At least 73 records · Page 4

Flight-Test Evaluation of Landing Gear Noise Reduction Technologies

Results from the third Acoustics Research Measurements flight test, conducted under the NASA Flight Demonstrations and Capabilities project, are presented and discussed. The test evaluated landing gear and gear cavity noise mitigation technologies installed on a NASA Gulfstream G-III. Aircraft configurations with and without main landing gear treatments were flown at several flap deflections to determine the acoustic performance of the technolo-gies for aircraft equipped with conventional Fowler flaps. With the aircraft flying an approach path and engines at “ground-idle,” extensive acoustic measurements were acquired with a phased microphone array system. Computed beamform maps were used to examine the effec-tiveness of the tested technologies in reducing the strength of the noise sources generated by the main landing gear. Various integration regions were devised to extract the farfield noise spectra associated with the treated and untreated landing gear configurations. Analyses of the gathered acoustic data demonstrate that significant noise reduction was achieved. How-ever, the full noise reduction potential of the technologies could not be determined because of contamination from flap inboard edge noise and other secondary sources.

Mehdi R Khorrami↗

Topics in landing gear dynamics research at NASA Langley

Four topics in landing gear dynamics are discussed. Three of these topics are subjects of recent research: tilt steering phenomenon, water spray ingestion on flooded runways, and actively controlled landing gear. The fourth topic is a description of a major facility recently enhanced in capability.

Mccomb, H. G., Jr.↗

NASA Orbiter Extended Nose Landing Gear

This paper discusses the design, development, test, and evaluation of a prototype Extended Nose Landing Gear (ENLG) for NASA's Space Shuttle orbiters. The ENLG is a proposed orbiter modification developed in-house at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) by a joint government/industry team. It increases the orbiter's nose landing gear (NLG) length, thereby changing the vehicle's angle of attack during rollout, which lowers the aerodynamic forces on the vehicle. This, in combination with a dynamic elevon change, will lower the loads on the orbiter's main landing gear (MLG). The extension is accomplished by adding a telescoping section to the current NLG strut that will be pneumatically extended during NLG deployment.

Steven R King↗

Aircraft landing gear systems

Topics presented include the laboratory simulation of landing gear pitch-plane dynamics, a summary of recent aircraft/ground vehicle friction measurement tests, some recent aircraft tire thermal studies, and an evaluation of critical speeds in high-speed aircraft. Also presented are a review of NASA antiskid braking research, titanium matrix composite landing gear development, the current methods and perspective of aircraft flotation analysis, the flow rate and trajectory of water spray produced by an aircraft tire, and spin-up studies of the Space Shuttle Orbiter main gear tire.

Tanner, John A.↗

Unsteady Simulation of a Landing-Gear Flow Field

This paper presents results of an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulation of a landing-gear flow field. The geometry of the four-wheel landing gear assembly consists of several of the fine details including the oleo-strut, two diagonal struts, a door, yokes/pin and a flat-plate simulating the wing surface. The computational results, obtained by using 13.3 million grid points, are presented with an emphasis on the characteristics of the unsteadiness ensuing from different parts of the landing-gear assembly, including vortex shedding patterns and frequencies of dominant oscillations. The results show that the presence of the diagonal struts and the door significantly influence the flow field. Owing to the induced asymmetry, vortices are shed only from one of the rear wheels and not the other. Present computations also capture streamwise vortices originating from the upstream corners of the door.

Li, Fei↗

Influence of landing gear flexibility on aircraft performance during ground roll

An analysis is made of the influence of landing gear deflection characteristics on aircraft performance on the ground up to rotation. A quasi-steady dynamic equilibrium state is assumed, including other simplifying assumptions such as calm air conditions and normal aircraft lift and drag. Ground incidence is defined as the angle made by the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing with respect to the ground plane, and equations are given for force and balance which determine the quasi-equilibrium conditions for the aircraft during ground roll. Results indicate that the landing gear deflections lead to a substantial increase in the angle of attack, and the variation in the ground incidence due to landing gear flexibility could be as much as + or - 50%, and the reduction in tail load requirements almost 25%.

Sivaramakrishnan, M. M.↗

Model studies of crosswind landing-gear configurations for STOL aircraft

A dynamic model was used to directly compare four different crosswind landing gear mechanisms. The model was landed as a free body onto a laterally sloping runway used to simulate a crosswind side force. A radio control system was used for steering to oppose the side force as the model rolled to a stop. The configuration in which the landing gears are alined by the pilot and locked in the direction of motion prior to touchdown gave the smoothest runout behavior with the vehicle maintaining its crab angle throughout the landing roll. Nose wheel steering was confirmed to be better than steering with nose and main gears differentially or together. Testing is continuing to obtain quantitative data to establish an experimental data base for validation of an analytical program that will be capable of predicting full scale results.

Stubbs, S. M.↗

An electrorheologically controlled semi-active landing gear

This study is to explore the application of electrorheology (ER) to the real-time control of damping forces that are transmitted through the nose landing gear for an F-106B aircraft. The main part of the landing gear is a strut that consists of a pneumatic spring and an ER controlled damper that is situatted on the strut centerline and applies a force directly opposing the vertical displacement of the nose wheel. The damping element rotates in response to strut displacement, employing a co-axial arrangement of stator and rotor plates connected to the opposing electrodes in the control circuit. The vertical displacement is conveted into rotation of the damper through a screw-nut mechanism. The ER fluid between the electrodes is thus engaged in shear along circumferential lines of action. This design results in a fast time response and a high ratio of strut forces achieved under Er-vs. zero-field control. Compact size and simplicity in fabrication are also attained. The analysis shows that when using an ER fluid of a yield stress of 7kPa, the energy absorption efficiency of the landing gear can reach almost 100% at various sink rates.

Lou, Zheng↗

The Aerodynamic Effect of a Retractable Landing Gear

Tests were conducted in the N.A.C.A. full scale wind tunnel at the request of the Army Air Corps to determine the effect of retractable landing gear openings in the bottom surface of a wing upon the characteristics of a Lockheed Altair airplane. The tests were extended to include the determination of the lift and drag characteristics throughout the angle-of-attack range with the landing gear both retracted and extended. Covering the wheel openings in the wing with sheet metal when the wheels were extended reduced the drag only 2 percent at a lift coefficient of 1.0, which was assumed for the take-off condition. Therefore, the wheel openings in the bottom side of the wing have a negligible effect upon the take-off of the airplane. Retracting the landing gear reduced the minimum drag of the complete airplane 50 percent.

Defrance, Smith J↗

Landing gear Patent

Vertically descending flight vehicle landing gear for rough terrain

Forlifer, W. R.↗

Retraction Assembly for Space Shuttle Extended Nose Landing Gear

As part of a project to encourage the use of shape memory alloy actuators for space actuators, this mechanism uses a nitinol ribbon to provide the necessary motion to help retract the proposed extended nose landing gear (ENLG) for the space shuttle. Initial proof-of-concept design of the ENLG did not include the ability to retract the gear automatically. One proposed actuator for this purpose was designed at Johnson Space Center and uses resistive heating to rotate the ribbon around a cylinder. This rotation then allows the assembly to pull down a wedge that is used to hold the landing gear strut in place, thus returning the landing gear to its previous height before extension. The presentation will follow the design of this assembly from working with the nitinol ribbon to providing mechanical connections and allowing minimal friction for motion of three wraps around a cylinder. Also to be presented is preliminary work on design of a shape memory alloy gripper, a design project to demonstrate uses of NiTi.

Files, Bradley S.↗

Landing gear and cavity noise prediction

Prediction of airframe noise radiation from the landing gear and wheel wells of commercial aircraft is examined. Measurements of these components on typical aircraft are presented and potential noise sources identified. Semiempirical expressions for the sound generation by these sources are developed from available experimental data and theoretical analyses. These expressions are employed to estimate the noise radiation from the landing gear and wheel wells for a typical aircraft and to rank order the component sources.

Bliss, D. B.↗

Modeling and Validation of a Navy A6-Intruder Actively Controlled Landing Gear System

Concepts for long-range air travel are characterized by airframe designs with long, slender, relatively flexible fuselages. One aspect often overlooked is ground-induced vibration of these aircraft. This paper presents an analytical and experimental study of reducing ground-induced aircraft vibration loads by using actively controlled landing gear. A facility has been developed to test various active landing gear control concepts and their performance, The facility uses a Navy A6 Intruder landing gear fitted with an auxiliary hydraulic supply electronically controlled by servo valves. An analytical model of the gear is presented, including modifications to actuate the gear externally, and test data are used to validate the model. The control design is described and closed-loop test and analysis comparisons are presented.

Horta, Lucas G.↗

Actively Controlled Landing Gear for Aircraft Vibration Reduction

Concepts for long-range air travel are characterized by airframe designs with long, slender, relatively flexible fuselages. One aspect often overlooked is ground induced vibration of these aircraft. This paper presents an analytical and experimental study of reducing ground-induced aircraft vibration loads using actively controlled landing gears. A facility has been developed to test various active landing gear control concepts and their performance. The facility uses a NAVY A6-intruder landing gear fitted with an auxiliary hydraulic supply electronically controlled by servo valves. An analytical model of the gear is presented including modifications to actuate the gear externally and test data is used to validate the model. The control design is described and closed-loop test and analysis comparisons are presented.

Horta, Lucas G.↗

Experimental and analytical investigation of active loads control for aircraft landing gear

A series hydraulic, active loads control main landing gear from a light, twin-engine civil aircraft was investigated. Tests included landing impact and traversal of simulated runway roughness. It is shown that the active gear is feasible and very effective in reducing the force transmitted to the airframe. Preliminary validation of a multidegree of freedom active gear flexible airframe takeoff and landing analysis computer program, which may be used as a design tool for active gear systems, is accomplished by comparing experimental and computed data for the passive and active gears.

Morris, D. L.↗

Potential for Landing Gear Noise Reduction on Advanced Aircraft Configurations

The potential of significantly reducing aircraft landing gear noise is explored for aircraft configurations with engines installed above the wings or the fuselage. An innovative concept is studied that does not alter the main gear assembly itself but does shorten the main strut and integrates the gear in pods whose interior surfaces are treated with acoustic liner. The concept is meant to achieve maximum noise reduction so that main landing gears can be eliminated as a major source of airframe noise. By applying this concept to an aircraft configuration with 2025 entry-into-service technology levels, it is shown that compared to noise levels of current technology, the main gear noise can be reduced by 10 EPNL dB, bringing the main gear noise close to a floor established by other components such as the nose gear. The assessment of the noise reduction potential accounts for design features for the advanced aircraft configuration and includes the effects of local flow velocity in and around the pods, gear noise reflection from the airframe, and reflection and attenuation from acoustic liner treatment on pod surfaces and doors. A technical roadmap for maturing this concept is discussed, and the possible drag increase at cruise due to the addition of the pods is identified as a challenge, which needs to be quantified and minimized possibly with the combination of detailed design and application of drag reduction technologies.

Thomas, Russell H.↗

The Drag of Airplane Wheels, Wheel Fairings, and Landing Gears - III

The tests reported in this report conclude the investigation of landing-gear drag that has been carried out in the NACA 20-foot wind tunnel. They supplement earlier tests (reported in Technical Report No. 485) made with full-scale dummy wheels, wheel fairings, and landing gears intended for airplanes of 3,000 pounds gross weight and include tests of tail wheels and tail skids.

Herrnstein, William H , Jr↗

Land-gear design and development testing

The X-15 airplane performance and operational requirements define a landing-gear system that will be subjected to high temperatures and high landing speeds and that will expend a minimum of airplane space and weight. This paper is concerned primarily with the landing-gear design configuration concept, the reporting of several unique design features that were incorporated, and description of the developmental testing of the subject system. (author)

Rhodes, L L↗