Actuator Gland Lock Ring Retention for Lightweight Shear Limits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lightweight materials used in aircraft hydraulic actuator components, such as aluminum and titanium, face challenges with traditional retention methods due to poor shear performance, which can lead to retention failures.
Innovation Solution
A hydraulic actuator design featuring a gland with a lock ring retainer and lock ring system, combined with a spacer for axial fixation, utilizing materials like aluminum, titanium, and composite materials, to enhance retention and prevent shear failure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional threaded coupling or threaded fastener retention methods are used, then the actuator components can be retained, but lightweight materials exhibit poor shear performance leading to retention failures
Solution Approach 1:
The retention system is divided into multiple functional segments: a lock ring retainer with bearing flange that contacts the gland, a lock ring that engages with the cylinder bore, and a spacer that provides axial positioning. This segmentation distributes the retention function across multiple components, each optimized for its specific role, thereby improving overall reliability without relying on threaded fasteners in lightweight materials
Solution Approach 2:
The lock ring acts as an intermediary element between the lock ring retainer and the cylinder bore. The bearing flange of the retainer transfers loads through the lock ring to the cylinder, creating a load path that bypasses the need for threaded connections in the lightweight gland material, thus resolving the shear performance issue
2Weight of moving object
If lightweight materials such as aluminum, titanium, or composite materials are used for the gland body, then weight is reduced, but shear performance deteriorates making traditional retention unsuitable
Solution Approach 1:
The retention function is extracted from the gland material itself and implemented through separate retention components (lock ring retainer, lock ring, and spacer). This allows the gland to be made from lightweight materials optimized for weight reduction while the retention system uses materials and mechanisms specifically designed for mechanical strength and shear resistance
Solution Approach 2:
The retention system employs composite construction where lightweight materials (aluminum, titanium, or composite gland body) are combined with high-strength retention components. The lock ring retainer, lock ring, and spacer can be made from materials with superior shear properties, creating a composite structure that achieves both weight reduction and adequate shear performance
Data Source
AI summary
Retention systems for retaining a gland is provided. A hydraulic actuator may comprise a cylinder closed at an end by a gland, wherein the gland comprises a gland body having a bearing flange disposed within an interior volume of the cylinder, a lock ring retainer disposed between the gland body and the cylinder and contacted with the bearing flange, and a lock ring coupled between the lock ring retainer and a lock ring channel of the cylinder.