Light Aircraft Main Landing Gear Design and

Development
Amit Goyal
M.S. Ramaiah, School of Advanced Studies, INDIA.

Abstract:
The need for lightweight, high performance flying machine has today shifted the emphasis from the use of
conventional advanced metallic materials to that of composites. High specific strength and stiffness
characteristics coupled with techno economic feasibility are a password to the acceptability of any material
in aircraft construction. This paper presents an approach for “Design; Analysis; of a Main Landing Gear of
an Aircraft” made of advanced composites materials using advanced CAE tools and techniques.

In this paper, first of all, functional specification of the part has been specified. General principles of
composite design were followed in arriving at suitable designs. In the design phase using the FEA tool
ANSYS 5.7, starting form shape and wall construction, choosing a proper element type, loadings,
constraints, materials and behavior modeling have been done. Various constants and lamination parameters
were used to define the element.

In the development phase, a rigorous non-linear stress and buckling analysis was carried out for the part.
The Finite Element Analysis software ANSYS was used for this purpose. Various experimentations were
done using different combinations of loads and orientations. The most significant feature of the analysis
was perhaps the thickness and orientation optimization with buckling, stress and different failure criteria.
This optimization was the key to utilize the directional properties of the laminated composites. Tsai-Wu
laminated failure criterion and Maximum Stress Failure Criterion had been specified. Results such as
stresses in layer coordinate system, deflections, failure index had been determined. A true assessment of the
critical regions in the part was made so as to predict the behavior of the gear at extreme landing conditions.
It had been made sure that all stress values lie well within the limits. A margin of Safety was determined
for each combination. Finally design was optimized and conclusions were drawn.

Introduction:
The main landing gear is one of the most critical components of an aircraft, capable of reacting the largest
local loads on the airplane. It is a primary source of shock attenuation at landing. It controls the rate of
compression extension and prevents damage to the vehicle by controlling load application rates and peak
values. Thus utmost care must be taken while designing a main landing gear.D.W.Young [1] discusses the
technological developments in aircraft landing gears and explains some basic requirements in designing a
main landing gear.

Problem Definition:
When the aircraft lands at normal sink rate, maximum amount of energy has to be absorbed by the main
landing gear, which undergoes large deformations and rotations. This necessitates a rigorous non-linear
finite element analysis of the main landing gear to predict its behavior prior to manufacturing a prototype.
Energy absorbed by the main landing gear is stored in the form of elastic strain energy and hence the
material used for making the main landing gear should have high elastic strain energy storage capacity.
The desired characteristics of a main landing gear are high strength, lightweight, medium stiffness and high
elastic strain energy storage capacity. Dorothea C.Walden [2] discusses application of composites in
commercial airplanes and explains some technical aspects, which should be kept in mind while designing
an aircraft part using composites.
Fiber reinforced plastics have an outstanding combination of high specific strengths and specific stiffness
and this material ideally meets the desired characteristics of a main landing gear material. The anisotropic
property of the composite material can be better utilized in main landing gear because the principal stress
component in the landing gear is a normal stress component along the length of the gear. By orienting the
fibers in the axial directions, thus, the composite material system can be effectively utilized in making a
landing gear.

Objectives:
The objective here is to suggest the design for the main landing gear of a light aircraft, which satisfies all
the design specifications in making a landing gear. Main objectives of this project are
• Geometric and material modeling
• Non-linear finite element analysis to predict its behavior of the gear prior to manufacturing.
• Determination of stresses and deflection for different load and orientations.
• Computation of load-deflection curves.
• Assessment of critical regions and to limit damage tolerance.
• Weight Reduction
• Design optimization.

Design Approach:
Following are the design specifications for a main lading gear.

Part Name Main Landing Gear

To absorb the shock (kinetic
Function energy of the vertical velocity
on landing)

Sinking speed 2.5 to 3 m/sec

Landing ‘g’ permitted 2.5 g (3 g max.)
Max. Vertical Weight 560 Kg
Efficiency 0.5
Aesthetics rate Very high

High toughness, high strength,

Functional Properties corrosion resistant.

Which can store the greatest

elastic potential energy per unit
Material mass / volume without failing
Functional Requirements for design of a main landing gear of a light
aircraft:
• It should be able to take 90% of the weight of the aircraft while standing.
• At minimum sinking speed of 3 m/sec it should be able to take 80% of the take off weight.

Main landing gear can be considered as a thin curved shell. Here we will consider the ‘Bending theory or
general theory, which includes the effects of bending. Thus it permits the treatment of discontinuities in the
stress distribution, taking place in a limited region in the vicinity of a load or structural discontinuity.
A line diagram showing the loading at the gear is shown in the figure (1).

Figure 1 - Line Diagram of the landing gear

The maximum bending stress at any point along the length of the landing gear can be given as

σb = 6 M / t2 N/mm2

Where, M = Bending moment, t = thickness of the wall

In order to get uniform strength gear with minimum weight, the stresses along the length should be kept
constant. This method not only reduces the amount of material required for construction but also allows
the bending stresses to be uniformly distributed along the length.

Most significant feature of the analysis is optimization of thickness and orientation with different stress,
fatigue and failure criteria. This concept can be utilized for designing a main landing gear using advanced
composite material system. In this investigation the design is analyzed with four different combinations of
loads and orientations.
Procedure:
Though the main landing gear behaves like a thin curved shell element, analysis of the landing gear is quite
complex mainly because of the varying shape geometry of the landing gear, the complex loading conditions
and the nature of supports provided. In a typical main landing gear construction, landing gear is provided
with fixed supports at the point of attachments with rigid aircraft body. At both the ends, a rigid link is
provided between the wheel and the landing gear wall. Vertical load is applied at the end of each link (as
the aircraft lands, a vertical force tries to lift the gear in vertical direction). As landing gear undergoes large
deformations and rotations at the time of landing of the aircraft, it becomes necessary to carry out a non-
linear finite element analysis to predict its behavior. A suitable lamination theory has been selected which
offers a systematic way to study the mechanical properties when combined with the theory of shells which
forms the basis for composite structural analysis. J.N.Reddy and C.F.Liu [3] explain a higher order theory
for analysis of composite laminates having geometric non-linearity. Failure criteria (maximum stress
criterion and Tsai-wu criterion) have been selected to predict the onset of failure when a lamina is subjected
to a multi axial state of stress. Using a finite element method of analysis (FEM), the stresses and
deflections were determined for different load combinations, and different layer orientations. The critical
regions are assessed, a suitable margin of safety is determined and the design is optimized.

Preprocessing:
Finite element model has been created using SHELL 91 element type. It is a 3 D, 8 noded, non-linear
layered structural shell element. The element has six degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the
nodal x, y and z directions and rotations about the nodal x, y and z-axes. The element is defined by eight
nodes, layer thickness, layer material direction angles, and orthotropic material properties.

Total numbers of layers have been specified. The part has been modeled using three layers of equal
thickness of 8 mm. i.e. the total thickness of the landing gear has been considered as 24mm.Supports are
considered to consist of three layers with each layer having a thickness of 12mm. Layer material direction
angles are specified with respect to element co-ordinate system. The material properties of each layer may
be orthotropic in the plane of the element. The material x direction corresponds to the local layer xi
direction. The failure criterion selection is input in the data table. Maximum stress criteria and Tsai- Wu
failure criteria have been chosen to predict the response.

Since axle is assumed to be very rigid, actual dimensions are irrelevant in this case and it has been modeled
using 2 D elastic beam element.

Material properties for GFRP / EPOXY unidirectional lamina:

E11 38610.88 N/mm2
E22 8273.76 N/mm2
E33 8273.76 N/mm2
V12 .26
V23 .26
V31 .26
G12 4136.88 N/mm2
G23 4136.88 N/mm
G31 4136.88 N/mm
ρ 25.438*10-7 Kg/mm3

Material properties for GFRP / EPOXY Bi-directional lamina:

E11 20684.4 N/mm2
E22 20684.4 N/ mm2
E33 20684.4 N/ mm2
V12 .104
V23 .104
V31 .104
G12 4895.308
G23 4895.308
G31 4895.308
ρ 25.438*10-7 Kg/mm3

In the case of axle, carbon steel with high stiffness is used to model it. Properties assigned are shown
below.

Material properties for C- Steel:

Modulus of Elasticity 2.01x 105 N/mm2

Position’s Ratio 0.29

Geoff Ecold [4] has discussed different failure criterion used in predicting onset of failure when a lamina is
subjected to multi axial state of stress. Based on this the data table as input for Structural-Non-Linear-
Inelastic-Failure Criteria, referred from Ansys online documentation [6], is as shown below:

Failure Criteria Table:

1 2 3 4 5 6
CritKeys 0 1 1 0 0 0
Temps 0 0 0 0 0 0
XTenStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
XComStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
YtenStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
YComStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
 ZTenStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
ZComStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
xyShStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
yzShStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
xzShStrn 0 0 0 0 0 0
xTenStrs 1681 0 0 0 0 0
xComStrs -1681 0 0 0 0 0
yTenStrs 1681 0 0 0 0 0
yComStrs -1681 0 0 0 0 0
zTenStrs 10000 0 0 0 0 0
zComStrs -10000 0 0 0 0 0
XyShStrs 840 0 0 0 0 0
YzShStrs 10000 0 0 0 0 0
XzShStrs 10000 0 0 0 0 0
Cplng-xy -1 0 0 0 0 0
Cplng-yz -1 0 0 0 0 0
Cplng-xz -1 0 0 0 0 0

Loads & Constraints:

The main goal of a finite element analysis is to examine how a structure or component responds to certain
loading conditions. Maximum vertical load of 5600 N has been applied at each end of the axle. A coupled
degree of freedom is applied in Y direction at the line where axle attaches with the landing gear, so as to
distribute the load to all the nodes in that line. All six degrees of freedom have been fixed at top of both the
supports.

Analysis
Construction of the Finite Element model began with a very detailed study of the part. The part was
surveyed and key information was noted. The list of necessary dimensions and data was provided by
“Aircraft Research & Design Center, HAL”.
First of all, the geometric model of the part was imported from PRO-E 2000i to ANSYS 5.7.The next step
was to generate the elements. Each element requires four parameters before it can be defined, co-ordinate
system, material table, element type and real constant table. Proceeding with these parameter
specifications, the elements were defined based on node connectivity. Area quad mapped meshing was
used to generate the elements. All six degree of freedom were restricted at the top of the supports and
degree of freedom was coupled in y direction at main landing gear and axle attachment. Maximum
vertical load was applied at each end of the rigid axle beam. For the simplicity of the problem, we
considered only half of the model and applied symmetric boundary conditions in x direction. The finite
element model with ESHAPE turned on is shown in figure (2) i and figure (2) ii shows the finite element
model with all the constraints, loads. Robet.H.Mallett, A.M.ASCE and, Pedro V. Marcal [5] explains the
finite element analysis of non-linear structures and explains the basic computational technology in
analyzing non-linear analyses.
 Figure 2 - Finite Element Model, i- with ESHAPE turned ON, ii- with all loads and
constraints

As we are carrying out a non –linear static analysis, Total load has been applied in different sub-steps to
apply the loads gradually so that an accurate solution can be obtained. The load applied is ramped so that
its value increases gradually at each sub – step, with the full value occurring at the end of the load step. At
the completion of each incremental solution, the program adjusts the stiffness matrix to reflect the
nonlinear changes in structural stiffness before proceeding to the next load increment Before each solution,
the Newton – Raphson method evaluates the out of – balance load vector, which is the difference between
the restoring forces (the loads corresponding to the element stresses) and the applied loads. The program
then performs a linear solution, using the out-of-balance loads and checks for convergence. If convergence
criteria are not satisfied, the out-of balance load of vector is re-evaluated, the stiffness matrix is updated,
and a new solution is obtained. This iterative procedure continues until the problem converges.
In setting additional solution option, sparse equation solver has been used to solve the equations. Stress
stiffening option has been kept on to account for buckling, bifurcation. Then problem is solved and Results
are reviewed in post 1 and Post 26 processor.

Results & Discussion:

A rigorous non-linear finite element analysis of the composite main landing gear was carried out with
different combinations of load cases, and orientations. The most significant feature of the analysis phase
was perhaps the characterization of non-linear behavior and thickness and orientation optimization, with
different stress and failure criteria.

In the analysis phase we experimented with four cases

• Unidirectional fiber arrangement at 5600 N
• Bi-directional fiber arrangement at 5600 N
• Unidirectional fiber arrangement at 11200 N
• Bi-directional fiber arrangement at 11200 N

In these four cases, we used two failure criteria to predict onset of failure when lamina is subjected to multi
axial state of stress.
• Maximum stress failure criteria
• Tsai-wu failure criteria

Figures (3), (4), (5), (6) show the nodal deflection plots for the above four cases. It is clearly observed that
with bi-directional fiber arrangement deflections are much larger than compared to unidirectional fiber
arrangement and maximum deflection is occurring at both ends where it is attached to the axle.

Figure 3 - Nodal deflection plot at 5600N with unidirectional fiber arrangement

Figure 4 - Nodal deflection plot at 5600N with bi-directional fiber arrangement

 Figure 5 - Nodal deflection plot at 11200N with unidirectional fiber arrangement

Figure 6 - Nodal deflection plot at 11200N with bi-directional fiber arrangement

An element table below shows the comparative study of the results obtained from different experiments.

Element Table Result Data:

5,600 N 5,600 N 11,200N 11,200N

Characteristic (With unidirectional (With bi-directional (With unidirectional (With bi-directional
fiber arrangement) fiber arrangement) fiber arrangement) fiber arrangement)

Maximum Stress in
260.98 N/mm2 283 N/mm2 592 N/mm2 663.9 N/mm2
x direction
Maximum Stress in
24.2N/mm2 20.3 N/mm2 45.89 N/mm2 46.86 N/mm2
y direction
Maximum Shear
8.767N/mm2 69.4 N/mm2 21 N/mm2 109 N/mm2
Stress in xy plane
Maximum Stress
Failure Index 2 2 2 2
number
Index value for
Maximum Stress 0.77 .17 1.458 .394
Failure Criterion
Tsai-Wu Failure
Criteria Index 3 3 3 3
number
Index value for
Tsai-Wu Failure 0.6 .03 2.16 .145
Criteria
Maximum Failure
Index value in 0.77 .17 2.16 .394
Layer 1
Maximum Failure
Index value in 0.26 0.055 .49 .129
Layer 2
Maximum Failure
Index value in 0.76 0.15 2.13 .36
Layer 3

Margin of Safety 1.3 5.9 <1 >1

It was observed that at a maximum designed load of 5600 N (maximum take-off weight), design is quite
safe with unidirectional fiber arrangement as well as with bi-directional fiber arrangement. Maximum
stresses are occurring at the curved region where supports are attached to the landing gear. And it has been
found that all stresses values are well with in the limits, quite lesser than allowable stresses values for the
chosen material. Failure indexes are lower than one with maximum stress failure criteria as well as for
Tsai-wu failure criteria. Thus with both the arrangement, it satisfies all the design requirements at the
maximum design load of 5600 N. Further load deflection curves for each case have been computed and
non-linear characteristics of the gear at different loadings and orientations have been studied. Figures (7),
(8), (9), (10) show load deflection curves for all the four cases. It can be observed that at twice of the
design load, landing gear is showing highly non-linear characteristics with both fiber arrangements. Failure
criteria index is more than one using unidirectional fiber arrangement. Using bi-directional layer
orientations, at a load level of 11200 N failure indexes are lower than one. Thus design is still safe at twice
the load level using bi-directional fiber arrangement.
Figure 7 - Load deflection curve at 5600 N with unidirectional fiber arrangement

Figure 8 – Load deflection curve at 5600 N with bi-directional fiber arrangement

 Figure 9 - Load deflection curve at 11200 N with unidirectional fiber arrangement.

Figure 10 - Load deflection curve at 11200 N with bi-directional fiber arrangement

As we are designing a main landing gear at a maximum design load of 5600 N, and it satisfies all the
design requirements at this load level using both the fiber arrangement. But factor of safety is quite higher
using bi-directional layer arrangement, and it shows a conventional approach of design. Thus we
recommend designing a main landing gear using unidirectional fiber arrangement, which satisfies all the
stresses and failure criteria and also meets all the design requirements. Margin of safety is 1.3 using this
arrangement.
It justifies designing a main landing gear of an aircraft using unidirectional layer orientation at a maximum
design load of 5600 N. Thus design is optimized with this arrangement at the specified design load level.
These results were co-related with field results and it was found that there was a reasonable agreement
between them.
Conclusion
The findings from the above investigation are as follows.
• The development study has shown that composite main landing gear is as good as any advanced
metallic landing gear, in their performance.
• This development shows that application of GFRP / EPOXY material makes it possible to reduce the
weight of the landing gear without any reduction in load carrying capacity and stiffness resulting in
13th times lesser weight than than the metallic landing gear.
• Glass fiber reinforced plastics has the necessary combination of properties such as high strength,
medium stiffness, corrosion resistance, fatigue strength etc. That makes the material quite suitable for
landing gear construction.
• The results from non-linear finite element analysis show that landing gear design with unidirectional
fiber arrangements satisfies all the design requirements and failure criteria at a maximum design load
level of 5600 N.
Hence it is proved that the design is quite safe.

References
[1] D.W. Young, “Aircraft Landing Gears – Past Present and Future” Proceeding of IME, Vol. 200, No. D2
PP 75-92, 1986.
[2] Dorothea C. Walden, “Applications of composites in Commercial Airplanes” Structural composites
Design & Processing Technologies, Proceedings of the sixth Annual ASM / ESP Advanced composite
conference, Detroit, Michigan, USA, 8-11 Oct, pp 77-80, 1990.
[3] J.N. REDDY and C.F. Liu, “A Higher Order Theory for Geometrically Nonlinear Analysis of
Composite Laminates, NASA CR-4056, March 1987.
[4] Geoff Ecold, “Design and Manufacture of Composite Structures”, Jaico Publishing House, Bombay,
1995, PP. 1 – 387.
[5] R.H. Mallett and P.V. Marcal, “Finite Element Analysis of Non-linear structures,” Jst Div, Vol. 94, No.
ST9, 1968, PP. 2081 – 2105.
[6] Ansys online documentation.