Aircraft Landing Gear Thermo-Tribomechanical Model and Sensitivity Study

A methodology for characterizing the thermo-tribomechanical response of an aircraft landing gear shock absorber is presented. Structural damage has been reported as a consequence of heat generated by high loads induced by rough runways on the shock absorber bearings and by the high sliding velocities of the shock absorber piston. Therefore, a model that reveals the characteristics of the thermal behavior, and identifies heat sources and sinks in the landing gear shock absorber is developed. The thermo-tribomechanical model framework is presented with representative development of each component. In addition, a sensitivity study of the maximum heat flux to variations of key input parameters is investigated. The numerical results indicate that the runway amplitude dominates the landing gear thermal response.