Wing-Mounted Landing Gear Fuselage Force Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing design of aircraft wings made of composite materials struggles to optimally support local forces generated by landing gear, leading to unnecessary mass increase due to required reinforcement, especially when the connection point between the front strut and rear spar is close to the wing box.
Innovation Solution
The landing gear's front strut is connected to the fuselage via a sliding bearing, allowing forces to be transferred through a fitting on the wing box, which is already dimensioned to handle such loads, thereby eliminating the need for additional reinforcement of the wing structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If the front strut is connected to the rear spar of the wing, then the landing gear can be mounted under the wing, but the connection point being too close to the wing box requires additional reinforcement that increases mass
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the force transmission function from the wing spar to the fuselage structure. The front strut is repositioned to connect directly to the fuselage via a sliding bearing, separating the landing gear force path from the wing structure. This eliminates the need for additional wing reinforcement while maintaining force transmission capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding bearing acts as an intermediary element between the front strut and the fuselage structure. It enables the strut to pivot during deployment/retraction while transferring forces to the fuselage, which is already dimensioned to handle such loads, thus avoiding the need for wing reinforcement.
2Strength
If additional plies are added to reinforce the wing structure for landing gear forces, then the structure can support the forces, but the mass of the wing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the requirement for local wing reinforcement by extracting the force transmission path from the wing structure. By connecting the front strut to the fuselage instead of the wing spar, the wing no longer needs to bear landing gear forces, eliminating the need for additional plies and associated mass increase.
3Ease of operation
If the front strut connects to the wing spar near the wing box, then the landing gear can be positioned under the wing, but the decay laws cannot be applied due to proximity to the wing box
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding bearing serves as a mediator that enables the front strut to connect to the fuselage structure while maintaining the ability to pivot during operation. This positioning allows the decay laws to be properly applied for reinforcement design while keeping the landing gear under the wing for ease of operation.
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
This solution reduces the mass increase associated with reinforcement, as the wing box can handle the forces generated by the landing gear, maintaining structural integrity without adding unnecessary weight.
Implementation Method 1
said connecting means comprise a sliding bearing mounted on said undercarriage compartment and through which at least part of the upper end of said strut passes
Data Source
AI summary
According to the invention, the upper end of the inclined front strut (9i) of the landing gear is connected to the structure (2A) of the fuselage by connecting means (13, 17).