Stability Analysis of Nonlinear Models of Nose Landing Gear Shimmy

Shimmy can reduce the service life of the nose landing gear, affect ride comfort, and even cause fuselage damage leading to aircraft crashes. Taking a light aircraft as the research object, the torsional freedom of landing gear around strut axis and lateral deformation of tire are considered. Since the landing gear shimmy is a nonlinear system, a nonlinear mechanical model of the front landing gear shimmy is established. Sobol index method is proposed to analyze the influence of structural parameters on the stability region of the nose landing gear, and Routh-Huritz criterion is used to verify the reliability of the analysis results of Sobol index method. We analyse the effect of torsional stiffness of strut, caster length, rated initial tire inflation pressure, rake angle, and vertical force on the stability region of theront landing gear. And the research shows that the optimization of the torsional stiffness of the strut and the caster length of the nose landing gear should be emphasized, and the influence of vertical force on the stability region of the nose landing gear should be paid attention to.

Aircraft Landing Gear Control with Multi-Objective Optimization Using Generalized Cell Mapping

This paper presents a numerical algorithm tuning aircraft landing gear control system with three objectives,including reducing relative vibration, reducing hydraulic strut force and controlling energy consumption. Sliding mode control is applied to the vibration control of a simplified landing gear model with uncertainty. A two-stage generalized cell mapping algorithm is applied to search the Pareto set with gradient-free scheme. Drop test simulations over uneven runway show that the vibration and force interaction can be considerably reduced, and the Pareto optimum form a tight range in time domain.

Design and Dynamics Analysis of Anti-skid Braking System for Aircraft with Four-wheel Bogie Landing Gears

In asymmetric conditions,the movement and loads of left/right wheels or front/back wheels of the aircraft with multi-wheel or four-wheel bogie landing gears are inconsistent.There are few open literatures related to anti-skid braking system for multi-wheels due to technology blockade.In China,the research on multi-channel control and non-equilibrium regulation has just started,and the design of multi-channel control system for anti-skid braking,the simulation of asymmetry taxiing under braking are not studied.In this paper,a dynamics model of ground movement for aircraft with four-wheel bogie landing gears is established for braking simulation, considering the six-degree-of-freedom aircraft body and the movement of bogies and wheels.A multi-channel anti-skid braking system is designed for the wheels of the main landing gears with four-wheel bogies.The eight wheels on left and right landing gears are divided into four groups,and each group is controlled via one channel.The cross protection and self-locked protection modules are added between different channels.A multi-channel anti-skid braking system with slip-ratio control or with slip-velocity control is established separately.Based on the aircraft dynamics model,aircraft braking to stop with anti-skid control on dry runway and on wet runway are simulated.The simulation results demonstrate that in asymmetric conditions,added with cross protection and self-locked protection modules,the slip-ratio-controlled braking system can automatically regulate brake torque to avoid deep slipping and correct aircraft course.The proposed research has reference value for improving brake control effect on wet runway.

Uncertain Modal Analysis of Unmanned Aircraft Composite Landing Gear

Through taking uncertain mechanical parameters of composites into consideration,this paper carries out uncertain modal analysis for an unmanned aircraft landing gear.By describing correlated multi-dimensional mechanical parameters as a convex polyhedral model,the modal analysis problem of a composite landing gear is transferred into a linear fractional programming(LFR)eigenvalue solution problem.As a consequent,the extreme-point algorithm is proposed to estimate lower and upper bounds of eigenvalues,namely the exact results of eigenvalues can be easily obtained at the extreme-point locations of the convex polyhedral model.The simulation results show that the proposed model and algorithm can play an important role in the eigenvalue solution problem and possess valuable engineering significance.It will be a powerful and effective tool for further vibration analysis for the landing gear.

IDENTIFICATION OF NONLINEAR PROPERTIES OF AN AIRCRAFT LANDING GEAR SHOCK STRUT

A simple but realistic method for identifying nonlinear stiffness and damp-ing of an air-oil shock strut widely used in aircraft is developed.In the method a powerseries expansion is used to niodel the nonlinear dynamic properties of the strut. and after introducing new variables lhe nonlinear identitication problem can be reduced to alinear one with unknown linear paranieters. An unbiased, efficient and consistentestimator for the vector of the linear parameters is obtained under conditions of mini-mizing the sum of squared residuals which is assumed to be stationary and uncorrelatedwith the observed data.The order and the most effective independent variables in themodel are detennined by the criterion of residual series correlation infonnation entropyand the procedure of best subset regression, respectively. Experiinent demonstrates thatthe results are quite satisfactory, and the method developed is realistic, which can beused to study the dynamic properties of a strut in full detail.

TEST AND CONTROL SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF LANDING GEAR DROP TEST RIG

A control and test system of a landing gear drop test rig is developed considering the drop test specifica- tions for the ＂Seagull 300＂ multi-functional amphibious airplane. In order to realize the automation of drop test process, a servo system is proposed and programmable logic controller（PLC） technology is used. Several key technologies for measuring the horizontal load, the vertical load and the transient rotational speed are studied. According to the requirements of CCAR-23-R3, the drop test of landing gears of the ＂Seagull 300＂ airplane is accomplished. Test results show that the system has a high accuracy of data collection. The system is stable and reliable. The drop test satisfies the requirements of the drop test specifications and the results can be used as the certification of airworthiness for this kind of airplane.

Application of High-speed Solenoid Valve to the Semi-active Control of Landing Gear

To select or develop an appropriate actuator is one of the key and difficult issues in the study of semi-active controlled landing gear. Performance of the actuator may directly affect the effectiveness of semi-active control. In this article, parallel high-speed solenoid valves are chosen to be the actuators for the semi-active controlled landing gear and being studied. A nonlinear high-speed solenoid valve model is developed with the consideration of magnetic saturation characteristics and verified by test. According to the design rule of keeping the peak load as small as possible while absorbing the specified shock energy, a fuzzy PD control rule is designed. By the rule controller parameters can be self-regulated. The simulation results indicate that the semi-active control based on high-speed solenoid valve can effectively improve the control performance and reduce impact load during landing.

DESIGN OF NEW PASSIVE ADAPTIVE SHOCK ABSORBER OF LANDING GEAR AND STUDY OF ITS LANDING PERFORMANCE

A new passive adaptive shock absorber of the landing gear with double-cavity and dual-damping is studied. Its mathematical model and the virtual prototype are established based on the dynamics simulation software ADAMS. The landing dynamic characteristics and the effect of the parameters on the proposed adaptive shock absorber are analyzed. The results show that the proposed adaptive shock absorber has the slightly better landing performance at the normal load case and much less overload at the crudely landing case than the shock absorber with single-cavity and variable orifice. It also can be concluded that the overload of the proposed adaptive shock absorber can be reduced through increasing the volumes of both cavities or decreasing the pressure of the high pressure cavity or increasing the pressure of the low pressure cavity.

Hierarchical Optimization of Landing Performance for Lander with Adaptive Landing Gear

A parameterized dynamics analysis model of legged lander with adaptive landing gear was established. Based on the analysis model, the landing performances under various landing conditions were analyzed by the optimized Latin hypercube experimental design method. In order to improve the landing performances, a hierarchical optimization method was proposed considering the uncertainty of landing conditions. The optimization problem was divided into a higher level(hereafter the "leader") and several lower levels(hereafter the "follower"). The followers took condition?ing factors as design variables to find out the worst landing conditions, while the leader took bu er parameters as design variables to better the landing performance under worst conditions. First of all, sensitivity analysis of landing conditioning factors was carried out according to the results of experimental design. After the sensitive factors were screened out, the response surface models were established to reflect the complicated relationships between sensi?tive conditioning factors, bu er parameters and landing performance indexes. Finally, the response surface model was used for hierarchical optimization iteration to improve the computational e ciency. After selecting the optimum bu er parameters from the solution set, the dynamic model with the optimum parameters was simulated again under the same landing conditions as the simulation before. After optimization, nozzle performance against damage is improved by 5.24%, the acceleration overload is reduced by 5.74%, and the primary strut improves its performance by 21.10%.

Guidance and Control Techniques of Carrier-Based Aircraft for Automatic Carrier Landing

We summarize the guidance and control techniques of automatic carrier landing for carrier-based aircraft.First,we analyze the carrier landing operations of the manned fixed-wing aircraft,unmanned fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.Second,we look into the navigation and guidance system and the flight control methods for current different aircraft.Finally,we draw several conclusions of the development prospects for aircraft carrier landing,including the precision landing control techniques,precision approach and landing guidance techniques,and adaptive,reconfigurable and intelligent flight control techniques.

GA-Based Model Predictive Control of Semi-Active Landing Gear

Semi-active landing gear can provide good performance of both landing impact and taxi situation, and has the ability for adapting to various ground conditions and operational conditions. A kind of Nonlinear Model Predictive Control algorithm （NMPC） for semi-active landing gears is developed in this paper. The NMPC algorithm uses Genetic Algorithm （GA） as the optimization technique and chooses damping performance of landing gear at touch down to be the optimization object. The valve＇s rate and magnitude limitations are also considered in the controller＇s design. A simulation model is built for the semi-active landing gear＇s damping process at touchdown. Drop tests are carried out on an experimental passive landing gear systerm to validate the parameters of the simulation model. The result of numerical simulation shows that the isolation of impact load at touchdown can be significantly improved compared to other control algorithms. The strongly nonlinear dynamics of semi-active landing gear coupled with control valve＇s rate and magnitude limitations are handled well with the proposed controller.

Hover performance estimation and validation of battery powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

Battery powered vertical takeoff and landing(VTOL) aircraft attracts more and more interests from public, while limited hover endurance hinders many prospective applications. Based on the weight models of battery, motor and electronic speed controller, the power consumption model of propeller and the constant power discharge model of battery, an efficient method to estimate the hover endurance of battery powered VTOL aircraft was presented. In order to understand the mechanism of performance improvement, the impacts of propulsion system parameters on hover endurance were analyzed by simulations, including the motor power density, the battery capacity, specific energy and Peukert coefficient. Ground experiment platform was established and validation experiments were carried out, the results of which showed a well agreement with the simulations. The estimation method and the analysis results could be used for optimization design and hover performance evaluation of battery powered VTOL aircraft.

Landing gear noise control using perforated fairings

Landing gears of commercial aircraft make an important contribution to total aircraft noise in the approach configuration. Using fairings to shield components from high speed impingement reduces noise. Furthermore, perforating these fairings has been confirmed by flight tests to further enable noise reduction. Following an earlier fundamental study of the application of perforated fairings, a study has been performed to investigate and optimize the benefits of bleeding air through landing gear fairings. By means of wind tunnel tests, an aerodynamic and acoustic survey has been performed on a simplified generic main landing gear to explore the influence of （perforated） fairings on the lower part of the gear. The results show that for this specific case, the application of impermeable fairings reduces noise in the mid- and high frequency range by shielding sharp edged components from high velocity impingement. However, below 1 kHz the noise is shown to increase significantly. Application of the perforations is shown to diminish this low frequency increase whilst maintaining the reduction in the mid- and high frequency range. The aerodynamic and acoustic measurements point in the direction of the separated flow of the fairings interacting with the downstream gear components responsible for the low frequency noise increase. Bleeding of the air through the fairings reduces the large scale turbulence in the proximity of these components and hence diminishes the low frequency noise increase.

DYNAMIC RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF CARRIER-BASED AIRCRAFT DURING LANDING

In view of the complexity of landing on the deck of aircraft carrier,a systematic model,composed of sixdegree-of-freedom mathematic model of carrier-based aircraft,four-degree-of-freedom model of landing gears and six-degree-of-freedom mathematic model of carrier,is established in the Matlab-Simulink environment,with damping function of landing gears and dynamic characteristics of tires being considered.The model,where the carrier movement is introduced,is applicable for any abnormal landing condition.Moreover,the equations of motion and relevant parameter are also derived.The dynamic response of aircraft is calculated via the variable step-size RungeKuta algorithm.The effect of attitude angles of aircraft and carrier movement during the process of landing is illustrated in details.The analytical results can provide some reference for carrier-based aircraft design and maintenance.

Performance Analysis on Retractable Landing Gear and Design of Ground Test System

Landing gears are one of the key components for large or middle unmanned aerial vehicles,and their working performances directly affect flying security and aircraft taking-off and landing performance.Thus,it is meaningful to study the retraction system.Based on CATIA and ADAMS software platforms,a virtual model of landing gear retraction system is built for performance test,and then dynamic simulation is carried out.Afterwards,a test system for landing gear retraction is established,and the test data are compared with the results acquired from dynamics simulation.The main factors which affect the dynamic performance of retractable landing gear are analyzed emphatically.The simulation results show that aerodynamic load has an impact on retraction time,the mass force affects extension process,and the oil hole size of hydraulic actuator has an effect on both retraction time and extension time.

Optimal Preview Control for Automatic Carrier Landing System of Carrier-Based Aircraft with Air Wake

Carrier-based aircraft carrier landing is a special kind of tracking control problem and not suitable for classical control methods,which may miss the desired performance or result in overdesign.Therefore,we present an optimal preview control for automatic carrier landing system(ACLS)by using state information of system,as well as future reference information,which can avoid the shortcomings of classical control methods.Since the flight performance of carrier-based aircraft is disturbed by air wake when the aircraft flies near the area of carrier stern,we design a disturbance rejection strategy to ensure that aircraft track the glide path with high precision and robustness.Further,carrier-based aircraft is a complex nonlinear system.However,the nonlinear model of carrier-based aircraft can be linearized at equilibrium landing state and decoupled into the longitudinal model and the lateral model.Therefore,an optimal preview control system is designed.The simulation results of a carrier-based aircraft show that the optimal preview control system can effectively suppress air wake.Tracking accuracy of optimal preview controller is higher than that of the proportional integral differential(PID)control system.

Deployment Reliability Test and Assessment for Landing Gear of Chang' E-3 Probe

Chang'E-3 probe incorporates four landing gears to assure the soft-landing,which are stowed while launching and deployed after separated from rocket. Deployment reliability is quite crucial for this mission. The deployment reliability test( DRT) method and assessment method were developed in this paper. Then DRT was conducted and the deployment reliability estimate of Chang'E-3probe was used to verify the proposed methods.

Space range estimate for battery-powered vertical take-off and landing aircraft

A novel method for estimating the space range of battery-powered vertical take-off and landing(VTOL) aircraft is presented. The method is based on flight parameter optimization and numerical iteration. Subsystem models including required thrust, required power and battery discharge models are presented. The problem to be optimized is formulated, and then case study simulation is conducted using the established method for quantitative analysis. Simulation results show that the space range of battery-powered VTOL aircraft in a vertical plane is an oblate curve, which appears horizontally long but vertically short, and the peak point is not located on the vertical climb path. The method and results are confirmed by parameter analysis and validations.

Problems and Barriers Impeding the Implementation of MagLev Assisted Aircraft Take-Off and Landing Concept

Nowadays, the success of the new technology development and deployment process depends not only on technical, technological solutions, but also on solving the non-technological problems and crossing the societal and psychological barriers. A large international European projects, GABRIEL1 had developed a maglev assisted aircraft take-off and landing, that was applied to conceptual design of aircraft and required on-board and ground systems, had analysed all impacts (effects of concept deployment on effectiveness, safety, security, noise, emissions) and had demonstrated the safe applicability by concept validation. The applied methodology, used methods and the results of the Gabriel projects had been described and discussed by 55 project deliverables. This paper has a special goal: investigating the problems and barriers of possible implementing of the radically new technology, aircraft MagLev assisted take-off and landing. The study was started by identification and classification of the problems and barriers. After it, the problems were systematically analysed by use of special methodology containing the understanding (description) of the problems, investigation of the possible solutions and discussing their applicability (mainly by use of the Gabriel project results). The paper has three major sections: 1) description of the Gabriel concept and project results, 2) introducing some related thoughts on general aspects of new technology developments, and 3) discussion on the problems and their solutions. The major classes of the problems are the 1) technical, technological problems as developing a radically new solution, landing the undercarriage-less aircraft on the magnetic tracks, 2) stakeholders’ problems as decision makers kicking against supporting the developments of so radically new technologies and 3) society barriers like society worrying on and fear of future passengers on flying by aircraft have not conventional undercarriage systems. The paper will show that these problems have safe and cost-effective solutions.

All-Electric Aircraft Nose Wheel Steering System with Two Worm Gears

As all-electric aircraft has many advantages,an aircraft nose wheel steering system would be developed to the all-electric direction.Concerning the control demand of the nose wheel steering system,based on the basic principles of nose wheel steering system and the design technique of mechanotronics,an all-electric aircraft nose wheel steering system,composed of a nose wheel steering mechanism of two worm gear and a control servo system of fly-by-wire with both steering and anti-shimmy functions is designed to meet the demand for operation control in the nose wheel steering system.Then,based on the LMS-AMESim software,the simulation model of the system is established to simulate the dynamics for the verification of its steering function.The simulation results indicate that the nose wheel steering system is reasonable,and can meet the requirements of the general project.Furthermore,the prototypes of the steering mechanism and control system are studied to validate the design,and the steering test bench is prepared to test the designed system.The test results,such as steer angle,rotate speed of motor are analyzed in details and compared with the theoretical results.The analysis and comparison results show that the design is reasonable and the property of the prototype can achieve the design objectives.