Aircraft Undercarriage Wheel Alignment Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft landing methods, such as the de-crab and sideslip methods, face challenges in safely aligning with runways during crosswinds, leading to increased risk of accidents due to uneven touchdown and transverse forces, and existing solutions like pivotable undercarriages can result in unpredictable touchdown points.
Innovation Solution
A control device that aligns aircraft undercarriage wheels with a fixed point on the runway using a control unit and mechanism, allowing for real-time adjustment during landing to ensure central alignment and reduce transverse forces, utilizing a signal detection device and position determining system for precise guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the de-crab method is used to align the aircraft with the wind during landing, then the aircraft can land aerodynamically aligned with the wind, but considerable transverse forces are exerted on the undercarriage during touchdown
Solution Approach 1:
The undercarriage system is segmented into individually turnable wheels rather than a rigid fixed structure. Each wheel can be independently pivoted about the longitudinal axis to optimize its running direction, allowing the system to distribute and manage forces more effectively during crosswind landing
Solution Approach 2:
The undercarriage wheels are made dynamically adjustable during the landing process. The wheels can be turned in real-time to align with the actual movement direction over ground, transforming from a static fixed-orientation system to a dynamic adaptive system that responds to changing flight conditions
2Stability of the object's composition
If the undercarriage wheels are turned to align with the movement direction over ground, then the running direction is aligned parallel to the movement, but the touchdown point becomes unpredictable and may shift from the runway center
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor the aircraft's actual movement direction over ground and adjust the wheel orientation accordingly. This closed-loop control ensures that the wheels are turned by the precise amount needed to align with the runway center, compensating for crosswind drift while maintaining predictable touchdown positioning
3Reliability
If robust dimensioning of the undercarriage is implemented to withstand transverse forces, then the required safety level is ensured, but the undercarriage weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the structural parameters (size, material strength) of the undercarriage to handle transverse forces, the invention changes the operational parameter of wheel orientation. By turning the wheels to align with the movement direction, the system reduces the transverse force component acting on the undercarriage structure, allowing for lighter dimensioning while maintaining safety
Data Source
AI summary
A control device is provided for an aircraft, the aircraft having at least one undercarriage with one or more undercarriage wheels. A control mechanism interacts with the aircraft undercarriage and is configured to turn the undercarriage wheels relative to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. The control device has an alignment unit which is connected to the control mechanism and which is configured to control the turning of the undercarriage wheels by means of the control mechanism during at least one part of the landing or take-off phase of the aircraft in such a way that the running direction of the undercarriage wheels is aligned in the direction of a fixed point which may be a corrected fixed point situated below a fixed point by a compensation angle.