Half Cap Wear Clip With Deformable Feature for Brake Load Redistribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional aircraft brake assemblies with riveted rotor clips lack the ability to deform under excessive loads, leading to brittle failure and reduced ultimate strength as an assembly, which is not practical due to regulated criteria exceeding the individual strengths of the clips.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a half cap wear clip with a deformable feature that permanently deforms in response to load thresholds, allowing for load redistribution and achieving a ductile failure mode similar to floating clips, thereby enabling the use of riveted rotor clips for all carbon brake disc designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional riveted rotor clips are used, then the brake assembly structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the clips lack the ability to deform under excessive loads leading to brittle failure and reduced ultimate strength
Solution Approach 1:
The wear clip's material properties are changed by introducing a deformable feature that allows permanent deformation at specific load thresholds. This transforms the clip from a purely rigid structure to one that exhibits controlled plastic deformation, enabling energy absorption and load redistribution while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wear clip is segmented into a rigid body portion and a separate deformable feature (such as a deformable leg or protrusion). This segmentation allows the rigid portions to maintain structural strength while the deformable feature provides controlled yielding under excessive loads, resolving the contradiction between strength and deformability.
2Reliability
If conventional rigid wear clips are used, then manufacturing is simple, but the clips cannot redistribute loads under excessive conditions leading to brittle failure
Solution Approach 1:
The material parameters of the wear clip are modified by incorporating a deformable feature with specific geometric characteristics that enable controlled permanent deformation. This allows the clip to transition from brittle failure to ductile failure mode, improving reliability while maintaining compatibility with conventional manufacturing processes through features like deformable legs or protrusions.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable feature is pre-configured during manufacturing to yield at a predetermined load threshold. This preliminary action ensures that under excessive loads, the clip will deform in a controlled manner before complete failure, providing warning and load redistribution opportunities that improve reliability without complicating the manufacturing process.
3Force
If wear clips are designed to exceed individual clip strengths, then the brake assembly can handle higher loads, but conventional riveted clips lack the deformability to safely redistribute these loads
Solution Approach 1:
The wear clip is divided into load-bearing rigid portions and a deformable feature that acts as a sacrificial element. This segmentation allows the rigid portions to handle high loads while the deformable feature provides controlled yielding, enabling the assembly to exceed individual clip strength limits without compromising overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The deformable feature serves as a pre-configured cushioning element that activates before complete structural failure. When excessive loads are applied, this feature deforms plastically to absorb energy and redistribute loads, protecting the overall brake assembly structure and maintaining integrity even under loads exceeding individual clip capabilities.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The deformable feature of the half cap wear clip enables load redistribution and a ductile failure mode, enhancing the performance and reliability of riveted rotor clips by allowing them to yield under excessive loads, similar to floating clips, thus overcoming the limitations of conventional riveted rotor clips.
Implementation Method 1
a deformable feature configured to permanently deform a first distance in response to a load on the wear face exceeding a load threshold
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~4
AI summary
A half cap wear clip may comprise: a wear face (402) configured to interface with a torque bar (108); a first flange (406) disposed on a first side of the wear face and a second flange (407) disposed on a second side of the wear face (402), the second side opposite the first side; and a deformable feature (408) disposed on a first end of the first flange (406) and the second flange (407) and the wear face (402), the deformable feature (408) configured to permanently deform a first distance in response to a load on the wear face (402) exceeding a load threshold.