Aircraft Landing Gear Casing Shell Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing front landing gear casings for aircraft occupy a substantial volume, limiting space for other equipment and systems, and require complex structures to withstand pressure differences.
Innovation Solution
A front landing gear casing with a shell-shaped structure and integrated reinforcement elements, allowing for a reduced volume design that accommodates systems and equipment, using a molded composite shell with longitudinal and transverse reinforcement to efficiently manage pressure forces and optimize internal space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a traditional box structure with panels and stiffening ribs is used for the landing gear casing, then the structural strength and pressure resistance are improved, but the volume occupied by the casing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature by replacing the traditional flat panel structure with a shell featuring curved surfaces. The shell includes a curved upper surface, curved side surfaces, and a curved lower surface, which allows it to withstand pressure forces more efficiently while occupying less volume. The curved geometry distributes stress more evenly across the structure compared to flat panels.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining a shell structure with reinforcement elements. The shell itself is formed from composite material, and additional reinforcement elements (longitudinal and transverse) are integrated into the structure. This composite approach provides the necessary strength and pressure resistance while minimizing the overall volume required for the casing.
2Strength
If a shell-shaped structure with rounded sides is used instead of flat panels, then the pressure force resistance is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shell is designed with curved surfaces that are optimized for both structural performance and manufacturability. The curved upper surface, side surfaces, and lower surface are formed as integral parts of the shell structure, allowing for efficient pressure distribution while maintaining feasibility in modern composite material manufacturing processes.
3Volume of stationary object
If the casing volume is reduced to accommodate more equipment, then the space utilization is improved, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shell structure is enhanced with integrated reinforcement elements that are part of the composite construction. Longitudinal reinforcement elements extend along the length of the shell, while transverse reinforcement elements connect these longitudinal elements. This integrated composite approach provides the necessary structural complexity only where needed to maintain strength, while keeping the overall volume reduced for equipment accommodation.
Data Source
AI summary
A casing including a wall defining an internal housing which allows retraction of a corresponding landing gear into the interior of the housing. The wall separates the non-pressurized internal housing from a surrounding pressurized zone of the aircraft. The separation wall is a shell which envelops the shape of the landing gear, on the side opposite the opening of the internal housing, and the reinforcement structure includes on one hand longitudinal reinforcement elements extending on both sides of the shell and on the other hand transverse reinforcement elements connecting the longitudinal reinforcement elements. The shell has a first zone of considerable width accommodating the wheels of the landing gear, a second zone of lesser width accommodating the rod of the landing gear, and a third zone running from the second zone of lesser width, becoming wider and accommodating a portion of the mechanism for deployment/retraction of the landing gear.