Energy-Absorbing Landing Gear With Deformable Overload Limiter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing landing gear systems for vertical landing aircraft are inadequate in absorbing excess load during hard landings, leading to potential damage and lack of visual indication for such incidents, which can result in undetected operational risks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an energy absorbing landing gear system comprising a linear damper assembly and a load limiter assembly, where the load limiter assembly includes deformable elements that absorb excess kinetic energy and provide a visual indicator of overload, enhancing energy absorption capability and safety during landings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If known landing gear systems with oil-gas dampers are used, then basic shock absorption is provided, but energy absorption capability during hard landings is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The landing gear system is divided into multiple functional components: a linear damper assembly for controlled energy dissipation and a load limiter assembly with deformable elements for excess energy absorption. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in different aspects of shock absorption, with the linear damper handling normal operations and the load limiter activating during hard landings, thereby resolving the contradiction between basic shock absorption and hard landing protection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The load limiter assembly is pre-configured with deformable elements positioned to engage only when impact forces exceed normal operational thresholds. This beforehand preparation ensures that during hard landings, the deformable elements are already in place to absorb excess kinetic energy, providing immediate protection without requiring active control systems, thus resolving the contradiction between energy absorption capability and reliability
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If no visual indication system is provided, then device complexity is reduced, but detection of hard landing incidents becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The deformable elements in the load limiter assembly are designed with visual indicators that change appearance when deformed by hard landing forces. This color or shape change provides immediate, intuitive detection of overload incidents without requiring electronic sensors or complex monitoring systems, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of detection and device complexity by using passive visual feedback
Solution Approach 2:
The visual indication system is self-activating through the deformation of the deformable elements themselves. When hard landing forces exceed the threshold, the elements deform and automatically display their activated state, eliminating the need for separate detection devices, power sources, or control systems. This self-service approach resolves the contradiction by making detection inherent to the energy absorption mechanism
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 energy absorbing landing gear system effectively mitigates damage from hard landings by increasing energy absorption capacity and provides a visual indication of overload, ensuring safer operations and reducing downtime for vertical landing aircraft.
Implementation Method 1
a linear damper assembly configured to absorb the kinetic energy
Implementation Method 2
the load limiter assembly may comprise at least one deformable element configured to absorb the excess kinetic energy
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
There is provided an energy absorbing landing gear system (10) for attachment to a vertical landing apparatus. The energy absorbing landing gear system (10) includes a linear damper assembly (12), and a load limiter assembly (14) coupled to the linear damper assembly (12), the load limiter assembly (14) having at least one deformable element (130) to enhance an energy absorption capability. When the energy absorbing landing gear system (10) is attached to the vertical landing apparatus, during a landing phase, the linear damper assembly (12) contacts a landing surface, and a piston assembly (74) of the linear damper assembly (12) moves a first compression distance toward the load limiter assembly (14), and when the linear damper assembly (12) reaches a maximum compression, the linear damper assembly (12) moves a second compression distance into the load limiter assembly (14), and the at least one deformable element (130) deforms.