Analysis of Landing Gear Behaviour-Milwitzky and Cook

AKRO. & ASTRO.
LIBRARY
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

FOR AERONAUTICS
REPORT 1154
....
c. 3
ANALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR
By BENJAMIN MILWITZKY and FRANCIS E. COOK
,.
i:
:.
AERO
\
1953
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REPORT 1154
By BENJAMIN MILWITZKY and FRANCIS E. COOK
Langley Aeronautical Laboratory

Langley Field, Va.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautic

Headquarters, 1724 F Street NW, Washington 25, D. O.
Created by act of Congress approved March 3, 1915, for the supervision and direction of the scientific study
of the problems of flight (U. . Code, title 50, sec. 151). Its membership was increased from 12 to 15 by act
approved March 2,1929, and to 17 by act approved May 25,194
The members are appointed by the President,
and serve as such without compensation.
J EROME C. HUNSAKER, Sc. D ., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chairman
DETLEV W. BRONK, PH. D ., Pre ident, Rocl{efeller Institute for Medical R esea rch, Vice Chairman
HON. JOSEPH P. ADAMS, member, Civil Aeronautics Board.
ALLEN V. ASTIN, PH. D. , Director, National Bureau of Standards.
LEONARD CARMICHAEL, PH. D., Secretary, mithsonian Institution.
LAURENCE C. CRAIGIE, Lieutenant General, United States Air
Force, Deputy Chief of Staff (Development).
JAMES H. DOOLITTLE, Sc. D., Vice President, Shell Oil Co.
LLOYD H ARRISON, R ear Admiral, United tates Navy, Deputy
and Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautic.
R. M. HAZEN, B. S., Director of Engineering, Allison Division,
General Motors Corp.
\VILLIAM LITTLEWOOD, 1. E., Vice Pre ident-Engineering,
American Airlines, Inc.
HON. ROB ERT B. MURRAY, JR., nder eeretary of Commerce

for Transportation.
RALPH A. OFSTIE, Vice Admiral, United tates Navy, D eputy
Chief of Naval Operations (Air).
DONALD L. PUTT, Lieutenant General, United taie Air Force,
Commander, Air Research and Development Command.
ARTHUR E. RAYMOND, Sc. D., Vice President-Engineering,
Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc.
FRANCIS \V. REICHELDERFER, C. D., Chief, United States
\Veath er Bureau.
THEODORE P. WRIGHT, Sc. D., Vice President for Research.
Cornell University.
HUGH L. DRYDEN, PH. D ., Director

JOHN W. CROWLEY, JR., B. S., Associate Director Jor Research
JOHN F. VICTORY, LL. D., Executive Secretary

EDWARD
B.
CHAMIlERI,IN,
Executive Officer
HENRY J. E. REID, D. Eng., Director, Langley Aeronautical Laboratory , Langley Field , Va.
SMITH J. DEFRANCE, D. Eng., Director, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory. Moffett Field, Calif.
EDWARD R. SHARP, Sc. D., Director, Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, Cleveland Airport, Cleveland, Ohio
LANGLEY AERONAUTICAL LABORATORY,

Langley Field, Va.
AMES AERONAUTICAL LABORATORY ,

Moffett Field, Calif.
LEWIS FLIGHT PROPULSION LABORATORY,

Cleveland Airport, Cleveland, Ohio
Conduct, under unified control, Jor all agencies. of scientific research on the Jundamental problems of flight
II
CONTENTS
SUj\Ij\IARY _ _ ______ __ __ _____ _____ ____ __________ ____ _____ __ ___ ____ __ ______ _
INTROm; CTION _ _ _ _________ _______________ __________________ _______ _____
YlIfBOLS______ ______________________ __ ________________ _____________ ______
:\lECHAKICS OF LA:-rDIXG GEAR _______________________________________
D y namic of ystem____________________________________________________
Fo rces in Shock t l'u L _________________________________ ____________ ___
H ydraulic [ol'ce ____ __ __ __ ___ __________ ___ ____ __ ___ ___ __ ________ __ ___
Pn eumati c fOl'ce _____________________ _ _________________________ __
Internal fricti on force _______________________________________________
Forces on Tire__________________________ _ _ __________
_ __________ _
EQUATIONS OF ?lIOTlO N ________________________________ _______________
Motion Pri or to Shock- tru t D efi eclion _______ __________ _________________
MoLion Subsequent to B ginn in g of Shock-St rut D efi ect ion______________ __ __
'OLUTlOK OF EQUATIO NS OF :\IOTIO N ______ ___ ________________ _______
~Llme ri ca l In teg ration Procedlll'
____ __________ ____________________ __ ___
U e of Tire F orce-Defi ection Characteri Lic ________________________________
Effect of Drag Load. ____ ___
_____________________ _________________
EVALUATIO N OF A.\TALYSIS BY COMPARISON OF
ALCU LATED
RE ULTS WITH EXP E RDlE :-rTAL DATA ___________ ______________ __
:-rormal Impact __ _________________________
_________ _________________
Impact \Y ith Tire Bottoming __________________________ _________________
PARAj\lETER STUDIE _____ _____ __ __________ __ __ __ __ ____ __ __ ____ __ __ __ ___
R epresen ta tion of Tire Force-Defl ection Characteri t ics ___ ___________________
Normal impacL ____ ___ __ __ __ __ ___ ____ ________ __ _ ____ ____ __ __ ____ __
Impact with t ire bottoming__________________________________________
Effect of Orifi ce Discharge Coeffi cienL _______ ____________________________
Effect of Air-Compression Proce ____ _____________________________________
nIPLIFICATION OF EQ ATIO NS OF :\IOTIO:-r _________________________
Evaluation of implifi cation s_ ______________ _____________________________
Gene ralized Treatment_ _ __ _________ ______ ______ ___ _____ __ ____ ____ ___ __ __
EquaLions and solu tions______________________ ____ ___________________
Appli cabili ty of solu tion s_ _ _ _ __________ ______________________________
S :\DIARY OF RES LTS AND CONCL ,'IO:-r ___________________________
APPENDIX A- N i\1 ERICAL I ~ TEGRATION PROCED RES _____________
Li near Proced u re_ _ _ ______________________ ______________________________
Quadratic Procedure_ _ _ ______ ________ __ ___ ____ ___ ____ __ ____ __ ____ ___ __ __
Runge-Ku tta Procedu re_ _ _ _____ ______ __ __ ________ __ __ ______ _____ __ _____ _
APPENDIX B- OURCE OF EXPERD'IE I TAL DATA ____________________
Eq ui pmen L __ _____________ _____________________________________________
T t peci lnen _____________ ___________________________________________
In trumentation ______________ _________________________________________
R EFERE NCES ___ _________________________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY__ ___ ___ _____ __ ____ __ __ _____ ___ ___ __ ___ __ _____ ______ ___ __ _
III
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REPORT 1154
ANALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR 1

By BE N JA~IlN :'I TILWl'l'ZKY
SU MM ARY
This report present a theoretical turly oj the behavior of the

conventional type oj oleo-pneumatic lcmding g ar during the
pl'oce oj landing impact. The basic analysis is pre ented in
a generat jorm and treats the motion oj the landing gear prior
to and sub equent to the beginning oj shock-strut deflection. I n
the analysi oj the first phase oj the i mpact the landing gear is
treated a a single-degree-oj-jreedom system in order to determine the conditions of motion at the in tant of initial shocktrut
d~flection, ajter which instant the landing gear icon 'iderecl as
a sy tem with two degrees of jreedom. The equations jor the
two-degree-oj-freedom system consider such jactor as the
hydraulic (v loci ty square) resi tance oj the orijic , the jorces
due to ai r compression and intemal jriction in the shocle strut
.
'
the nonltnear jorce-defl ecti on characteri tics oj the ti re, the wing
L~ft, the inclination oj the landing gear, and the e..tf ecls of wheel
8pin-up dl'ag loads.
The applicability oj the analy is to actual landing g al" ha
been inve t~gated jor the particular ca'e oj a vertical landing
gear in the ab ence oj ctrag loads by comparing calculated
results with experim ntal drop-test data jor impacts with and
without tire bottoming. The calculated behavior oj the landing
gear was jound to be in good agreement with the drop-test data.
tudies have al 0 been made to determine the effects of variation in such parameter as the dynamic jorce-deflection
characteri tics oj the ti re, the orijice di charge coefficient, and the
polytropic exponent jor the air-compre sion proces, which
might not be lmown accurately in practical design problems.
The study of the effect oj variation in the tire characteristic
indicates thcLt in the case oj a normal im pact without tire
bottoming reasonable val'iations in the jOl'ce-deflection chal'acteristics have only a relatively 'mall .tfeet on the c7.lculated behavior
oj the landing geal'. A1Jpl'01'imating the rather complicated
jorce-deflection characteri.tic ('j the actual tire by 'implijied
e;rponential or linecLr- egment VCLriations CLPP ar to be adequate
for practical purpo es. Tire hy teresi' was jound to be
relatively unimportant. I n the case oj CL . vue im pad involving
tire bottoming, the u e oj < implijied J'ponential cuv! linear.
and
FRANC1S
E.
COOK
egment approximation.s to the actual tire jOl'ce-deflection

characteristic, which neglect the effects oj tire bottoming,
although adequate up to the instcLnt of botioming,jails to indicate
til, pronounced increase in landing-gear load that result from
bottoming of the tire. The u e oj exponential and linearegment approximations to the tire characteristic which take
into account the i7 crea eel stiffn ss oj the tire which re ults j rom
bottoming, however, yields good l' ults.
17M tudy oj the im portance oj the discharge coefficient oj the
orifice indicate that the magnitude of the discharge coefficient
ha a mW'ked effect on the calculated behavior oj the landing
gear; a decrease in the discharge coefficient (or the product of the
discharge coefficient (t'rul the net ol'ijice area) 1'esult in an
approximat ly proportional increa e in the ma~;imum upperma s acc l ration.
Th e study oj the impol'tance of the air-compression proces'
in the hock strut indicate that the ail' springing is oj only
minor ignijicance th1'oughout most oj the impact and that
variation in the e.tfective polytropic expon lit n between the
isothermal value oj 1.0 and the near-adia batic value oj 1.3 have
ollly CL secondary effect on the calculat r1 behavior oj the landing
gear. Even the as umption of constant ail' pressure in the trut
equal to the initial pres ure, that is, n=O, yield jairly good
1'esults which may be ad quate jor many practical pUl'pO es.
I n addition to the more exact treatment, an inve tigation has
been made to determine the ntent to which the basic equations
of motion can be simplijied and till yield acceptable re ults .
This study indicates that, jor mCLnY practical purpo e , the
air-pressure jol'c in the shock strut can be completely neglected,
the tire jorce-deflection relation hip can be assumed to b linear,
and the lower 01' un pl'ung ma can be talcen equal to zero.
Generalization oj the equations oj motion jol' this impZijied
system shows that the b havior oj the sYl>tem is completely
d terminal by the mCLgnitud of one param eter, namely the
dimensionless initial-velocity pammeter.
olutions oj the e
generalized equation are pre ented in terms oj climensionles
variable jor a wide range oj la7Uling-gear and impact parameters
which may be useful jol' rapidly est~mating la7Uling-gear
perjormance in preliminary design.
Supersedes NACA TN 2755, "Analysis of Landing-Gear Behavior" by Benjamin ]\filwitzky lind I'r!'lnds E. Cook, 1952.
287 -16- 5 4 -1
REPOR'r
1154-
NA'rIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTI CS
INTRODUCTION
Th e hock-ab orbing characteri tic of airplane landing

gears are normally developed largely by mean of extensive
trial-and-error drop te ting. The de ire to reduce th e expense and time required by such methods, a well a to provide a more rational ba is for th e prediction of wheel-inertia
drag loads and dynami c stres e in flexible airframes during
landing, empha ize the n eed for suitable theoretical method
for the analysi of landing-gear behavior.
uch theoretical
methods sh ould find application in the de ign of landing
gear and complete airplane LrucLures by permiLting
(a) the determination of the behavior of a given landin o-gear configuration under varying impact condition (velocity
at conLact, weight, wing lift, etc.)
(b ) th e development of a landing-gear configuration to
obtain a pecifi ed beh avior under given impact conditions
(c) a more ratio nal a pproach to th e determination of wheel
pin-up and spring-back loads which take into accolmt the
shock-absorbing ch aracteri stic of the particular landing gear
under consideration
(d) improved determination of dynamic loads inflexi ble
airplan e stru ct ures during landing. Till problem ma:v be
treated eith er by calc ulating th e re ponse of th e ela tic system to landing-gea r forcing fun cLion determined wlder th e
a sumpLion thaL Lh e airplan e i a rigid body or by the simultaneous olution of Lh e equation of motion for th e landing
gear cou pled " 'i th the equation s repre en ting the ndcl iLional
degrezs of freedom of Lhe str ucLLue. In man.,- case the former
approach hould be sufficientl.v accuraLe, bu L in ome
insLan ces, parti cularly when Lhe landing-gear atLacbmen L
poin ts experien ce large eli pla cemenLs relative to lhe nodal
point s of Lh e fl e:-.:ible .\' Lem, Lhe laLLer approach, which take
in to account I he interaction bet,,-een the defonnations of the
tructu re and the landing gear, ma.,- be requi red in order to
repre enL the sy Lem adequaLel.,-.
Sill ce many aspect of Lhe landing-impact problem are so
inLima tely conn ecLed with the mechanics of Lhe landing gear.
Lh e subj ect, of landing-gear beh ayior has receiyed analytical
treatmen t at variou. times ( ee bibliography). 1Iany of
Lh e earlier investigations, in order Lo r educe the math ema ti cal
complexity of th e analysis, were limited to co nsideration of
highly simplified linear ystems whi ch have lillIe relation to
practical landing gears.
ome of the m ore r ecent paper
con icier, wi th different degrees of implifLcat ion, more r eali Lic nonlinear .v Lems. The pre ent r eport r epresenLs an
attempt at a more complete analysis of the mechanics of
pracLicallanding gears and, in addilion, ilwesLigates th e impOltance of lhe various clem ent which make up the land ing
gear, as ,,-ell a the extent to whi ch the sy lem can be reasonably simplified for the purpose of rapid analysis .
Th e basic an alysis i presenLed in a general form and Lakes
into acco unt uch Jaclors as the h.Hlraulic (yelocily sq uare)
re is lance oJ the orifice, the force due to air compression and
internal friction in the hock trut, th e nonlinear forcedeflec tion ch aracterislics of th e Lire, the wing lift , the in lination of th e laneling gear and lh e eff ecls of ,dI ce! spin-up d ra o'
loads. An evaluation of the appli cabili L)' of the analy i to
actual landing gear i pre enl ed for the ca e of a vertical
landing gear in th e ab ence of drag load b.\- comparing calcula teel r esults wi tll drop-lest. dota .
Since some parameters, such a the dyn amic forcedefl eclion characteri tic of th e Lire, th e orifice eli ch arge
coefficient, and th e poly tropic exponen tIol' the air-compre ion
proce s, may no t be accurately known in pracLical de ign
problems, a tudy is made to assess the effect of variations
in th ese parameters on Lhe calculaLed landing-gear behavior.
tudie are also pre en ted to evaluate the extent to which
the dynamical y tem can be implified without greatly im~
pairing th e valieli t), of th e calculated re nIts. In addition to
the in ve Ligations for pecific case, generalized solution for
th e behavior of a implifieel y tem are pre ented for a wide
range of landing-gear and impa ct parametel which may be
useful in preliminary de ign.
SYMBOLS
A2
Ap
A"
Cd
cl
Fa
Fh
Ff
Fs
FJ
F2
FNa
F Va
FHa
FRa
Fs g
FNg
F Vg
Fllg
FRg
g
KL
L
lJ
l2
a,b,m,r
a'
m'
n
pneumatic area
hydraulic area
area of opening in orifice plate
internal cros - ec tional area of sh ock- tru t inner
c)'lindcr
external cro -sectional area of sho ck-strut innee
cylinder
C1'Oss- ec tional area of meterino' pin or rod in
plane of ori fice
net orifice area
orifi ce discha rge coeffi cipnL
overall diameLer of Liee
pneumatic force in shock tmt
h.H lmulic force i.n hock stru t
frieLion force in hock tru t
Lotal axial shock- tru t force
normal force on upp er bearing (a ttached Lo inner
c.dincler)
normal force on 10\\-p[" bparing (attached to ou tel'
('.,-linder)
for ce normal to axi of hock strut, applied at
axle
yCt"ti cal fOI"CC, applied al axle
h orizontal fo rce , applied aL axle
re ultant forc e, applied aL axle
force pa rallel to axis of sho ck trut , applied to
tire a t ground
force normal lo axis of hock st rut , applied Lo
tire at ground
yertical forcl' , applied Lo tire at ground
h orizontal fo rce, applied to tire at ground
resultant force, app li ecllo lire at grouncl
gravitational con tant
lift fa ctor, L IlT"
lift force
axial di tance hel l\"('en up per and lo\\'Ct" braring ,
for full y extended shock stru t
ax ial el i tance between axle and lower b ~ arino(a tt ached to outpr (" ~'linder ) , for fully extended shock st r11 t
'on tants C'OlTC pondin o- (0 the .-urioll reglmes
of lhe (ire-clefle ction proce
combinecl constant, ad
comb inecl C'onstanl. mriT
polytropiC' exponent for air-compre ion process
in hock stru t
A ALYSIS OF LA DI:\fG- GEAR BEHAVlOR
R
Pa
PII
Q
1'a
T
7
Reynold numbrl'
air pre ure in upper chamber of hock trut
hydraulic pre ure in lower chamb er of sho ck
stru t
volumetric rate of discharge through orifice
radius of deflected tire
shock-strut axial troke
wheel inertia torque reaction
time after contact
time after beginning of ho ck- trut deflection
air volume of hock trut
polar moment of inertia for wheel a sembly
about axle
vertical velocity
horizontal velocity
total dropping weight
weight of upper mas above trut
weight of lower mass below trut
horizontal Ii placement of lower mas from
po i~ion at initial contact
vertical di placement of upper mass from position at initial contact
vertical di placement of lower rna from po ition at initial on tact
dimensionle
upper-ma
displacement from
position at initial contact
dimensionle s lower-mass di placement from
position at initial contact
climen ionIc s hock- trut troke, U\-U2
dimrn ionIc time after contact
angle between sho k- trut axis and vertical
1 ":;;;11 du
hork- tru t efIe tivene ,
Ul /I m.az CT max
r ut
J(
U1mu
Tl lo
E
J.L2
ex
lancling-o'eal' effectivenes
b
dUl
=--::.0-;:-_ __
u/' maxU1max
time ulterval in numeri al integration procedure

coefficient of fri ction between tire and runwa~T
coefficient of friction for upper beal'inO' (attached
to inner c~'lindcr)
coefficient of fl icLion for lower bearing (a tLached
to outer cylindel')
mas clensi t,\' of hydraulic fluid
angular acceleration of wheel
A.X('
vertical axis, positive downward

horizontal axi , po itive rearward
z
X
'ub cripL
o
7
su
max
at in tant
at in tant
at in tant
maximum
of ini t ial contact

of initial hock- trut defleclion
of \\'heel pm-up
yalue
Totation:
I( )I
ab olu te value of ( )
e timaLed value of ( )
The use of dots over ~'mbols uld icatts differentiation wi tIt
1'e pect to time t 01' 7,
Prime marks indicalc difl'c rcntia hon wi th respcct to
dimen ionless timc fl .
( )*
MECHANICS OF LA DING GEAR

DY AMTCS OF SYSTEM
In view of the fa t that landing-gear performance appears

to be relatively unafl'ected by the ela. tic deformation of
the au'plane tructure (sec, for example, ref. 1 and 2) particularly since in many cases the main gear are located
fairly clo e to the nodal pOUlts of the fundamental bending
mode of the wing, that part of the airplane which act on 11
given gear can generally be considered a a rigid rna. s.
A a result, Ian ling-gear drop Le t are often onc1uctec1 in
a jig where the ma of t he au'plane is repre ented by a
concentrated weight, In particular instance , ho\\'ever, such
as in the ca e of airplanes having large concentrated mas es
di posed in an outboard po ition in the wing, espccially
airplanes equipped with bicycle landing gear, con ideration
of the interaction between the deformation of Lhe airplane
tructul'C and the landing gear may be nece ary Lo repreent the system adequatel)' ,
ince the prc cnt report is concerned primarily with the
mechanic of the landing gear, it is a umed in the analy i
that Lhe landing gear i a tLached to a rigid ma \\'hich ha
freedDIn only in vertical tran lation. The O'ear is a sumed
infinitely rigid in bending. The combinalion of airplane
and landing gear con idered therefore con tiLuLes a system
having two degree of freedom ( ee fig. 1 (a) ) a defined by
the vertical di placement of the upper mas and the ver tical
di placement of Lhe lower or unsprung mas , which i al 0
the tire deAe ction, The tl'ut stroke s i detcrmined by
the difference between Lhe eli placement Zt and Z2 and, in
the ea e of illclinecL gear, by the angle ep b tween tll axi
of lhe tl'Ut and Lhe vertical. For inclined gears, comprc ion
of the hock strut produce' a horizontal di placcmenL of th e
axle 1'2 . From (;onsideration of the kinemati s of thc system
Z
2 and J'2 =S in ep = (Zt- z2) tan ep.
co ep
In lhe analy i , cxte rnal lift force , cOl'l'es[)oncling Lo thc
aerod.\'l1amic lifL, arc assumed Lo act on lhr y Lem Llu'oughout the impact. In addition to the vcrtical forces , arbitrary
drag loads are con idere'd to act bel wcen the tiJ:e and the
ground.
The ,,'stem t reaLed in the analy i may therefore bc conidered to rcprc cnt either a landing-gear drop tc l in a jig
where wing lift and drag loads are imulaLcel, or lhe landing
impact of a rigid airplane if rOlational motion arc negle cted.
Ro tat ional frecdom of lhe' airplane, whf'rc ignificant, may
De Laken into accounL approxinlalely by usc of an appropriate effcctive mass in th analys i.
Figure 1 (b) show a chematic represenlation of a typical
oleo-pneumatic hock trlll u ed in American practice , The
lower chamber of the trut contains h.nlraulic nu iel and the
upper chamber contain ail' under pre sure. The outer c,\'lincler of Lhe trut, which i atLached to lhe uppcr mass,
contain a perforaled lube which upport a plale with a
small orifice , throu gh whi ch the hydraulic nuid i forced to
flow at high velocity a a re ult of the tdc oping of the
strut. The hyd rauli c pre ure drop across lhe orifice thu
produceelre ists the clo m e of the strut, and thc tllrbulenca
created provide a powerful means of ab orbing and disipating a large parL of thc impact enel'g~' , In some struls
lhe oriflce area i con tanl ; wherea ,in olher ca e a metering
it can be sen that
S =Z I -
REPORT 11 :j4-NA,]' IONAL ADVI ORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
A2
U~
--
ri-
.--- --Pa
--==
- -
- - -- Fluid - - -
--
~I=::
r- -
n
Z'-Z2
5:-COS
<p
Aa
~
7 cAp
Ph--- ..
AI-
-----...
r--
'\I
(
I
(b)
(0)
(b) Sche matic representation of Hhoek st rul.
(a) Sy. tem with LII"o degrees of fre eelom.
Flr.r R" l.- Dynamical
pin or rod is usrd 10 ('ontrol the' sizt' of the orific(' and gOYt'rIl
t il l' performance' of thr s trut.
TIt(, comprrssion of lllr slr ul product' an ilwl"('ast' in lht'
nir pr('SS UI"(' "'hieh al a n.' s ists til(' do lIfr of l h(' trut. 1n
figun' I (b) Ph f rp rrsrnts lbe oil prrssu rr in lhe lo\\'e r chamlw r
and Pa ]"('presrut thr air pn' urr in lur upper chambrr.
In addition to lhr hyd raulic rrsi tanee and air-prr sure
fOI ("rs, inlrrnallwaring friction aL 0 cont riblllrs f01"('rs ,,-hi eb
(",111 apprr ciabl.Y aO'eeL lll(' brluwior of lhe lrut.
Till' for('rs c]"ratrd " ' it hin til(' s trut impart an accrlrralion
to tllr upp('/" mass and aLa producr an acceleration of thl'
101\"('r mns and a ddlrction of tIl(' tirr. Figllrr 1 (e) sh ows
tll(' balancl' of foret'S and rractions for the wheel, thr imH'r
cy lin(il-r, and the oull'r n -lind('r. It is drar that til(' trut
s ~'ste m
considered in analy. is.
and the tir(' muluall.l- influence the behayior of all(' anolher

and mu (1)(' can idNed imultanrollsly in analyzing; the system.
FOR CES IN S H OC K ST R T
From can iclrralion of the pressur s fl.cting in th e shock

sl ru I i I can be' fraclil)T rr11. hom figure] (b ) Lhat the lolal
axial 01"er clllr 10 h.nlraulie 1'0 i tance , air compn' ion, and
bt'uring friction can br expfes rd by
wil e 1"('
.A,
... h
~ 1 7!
Fs= PII(Ll, - A p) + Pa(A 2 - A ,)+ PaA p+ F f
inl ernal (Toss-srclional area of innrr cylindcl'

exlernal era - ectional area of innrr c.dindcr
cross-scctional area of mctrring pin or rod in plane
of o ri fic('
ANALYSIS OF LA TDING- GEAR BEHAVIOR
W, ..
gZI
Moment.-/
'
F, - - - - 1 - Ho
.,
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
Fs/
Forces on ou ter cylinder
/
/
Forces on inner cylinder
, - - - - - - -- x
(cl
Forces on wheel
(c) Balance of for ce and reactions for landing-gear component .

FIGU RE
~87R46-54--2
I.-Conclud ed.
REPORT 11 54-N ATIOl A L ADVISORY COMMITT EE FOR AEROI A UTI CS
This expre ion can al
be
Wl'i Uen
Fs= (Ph- Pa) (A 1 - A v) + PaA 2+ F,
P"- Pa and the ar ea AI! which i subj ect ed t o t h e hy draulic

pre sure, as preyiou sly noted. Thu
= (P.~- Pa) A h+ p(LA a+ F,

(1 )
whc1'e
Ph- Pa pre ure drop ac ro the orifi ce
Ah
hydrauli c a1'ra (A 1 - A v for th e tru t shown in fi g. 1)
Aa
pneumati c area (A 2 for the tl'lI t shown in fi g. 1)
In thi s report th e t erm s (Ph-Pa)A h and PaA a a re referred
to a h ydrauli c for ce Fh and pn eumati c for ce Fa, r espectively. F or the tru t sh :) wn in fi g ure 1, the h ydrauli c
and pn eumatic area arc relat ed lo the trut dim en ion as
previou ly noted . In the ea e of trllts having different
internal configurations, th e h ydrauli c and pneumati c areas
mfty bear omewha t differen t relation to th e dimensions
of the tru t. In such eft es, however , con idel'a lion of th e
pres urcs acting 0 ~1 th e variou s compon ent of th e trut
should p e]'mi t thesc arc as to be readily defin cd.
Hydraulic fo rce.- Tb e hydrauli c r e i tan ce in th e shock
s lrut 1'C ults from th e pressure difl'er ence asso cia ted with t be
flow through the orifice. In a landin g gear th e orifice area
i usually m all enou gh in relation t o th e diam eter of the
tru t so that th e jet velo cit ie and R eynold number are
suffi cientl y large tha t tbe fl9wi s fully turbulent . As a
r esult th e damping force varies as th e square of thc telescoping velocity rath er th a n lin early with th e Velo city.
ince th e hydrauli c 1'e i lan ce i th e maj or compo nen t of
tb e tot al ho ck-s tru t for ce, vi scous cl amping canno t be
rca onably a timed , eve n thou gh su ch an a umption
" 'ould greatly simplify th e analysis.
The hydrauli c ]'e is lance can be rc'tdily derive d by making
usc of th e well-known equation for th e di charge throu gh
an orificc, namely,
where
Q
Yolumet]'ic rat eofdi ch argc
Cd
coeffi cient of di scharge
An net orifi cc area
p"
ll ydra1.l1ic prc s ure in lo\\'er chamb er
Pa
a il' pre urf' in upp cr chamh er
p
m ass cl e l1 s it~~ of hydrauli c fluid
From con icic rati ons of co n t inuit~" th c "olumet ric ]'a te of
di schargc call al 0 he cxp1'e sc d a th c pro d uct of th e telccopin g Yelo city S itnd th c hy drauli c ar ca A "
Q = A" ,~
Equ a ti ng th c pre('('ciillg c:q)r eSS iOlls for t be el i ('11arO'e permit s wrilin g tll(' foll owing impl e cquation fo), thc p)'e ure
drop acr oss llw orifi cc
Th e h~~cl ra uli c r ('s islivlCP F" du c t o th e tel escopin g of tb ('

s trut i glWll b~~ til c produ ct of th e clifTercn t ial pressurc
(2)
Equation (2) can be made applicabl e to both the compresion and elongation
trokes by introdu cing the factor
I! I
to incl icate the sign of th e hydraulic r e is tance; thu

(2a)
The n et orifice area A " may be either a con tant or, when a
metering pin is u ed , can vary with s tru t troke ; that is,
A n= A o- A p= A ,,(s), where A o is lhe area of the opening in
the o),ifi cc plate and A p is the area of the meterin g pin in the
plane of the orifice. A t the presen t time there appears to b e
orne t endcney to elimina t e the m.etering pin and u e a contant orifi ce a rea, parLicularly for la rge airplane , in which
case A n= A o. In the gen eral ca e, lhe orifice di ch arge
coefficient mi O'hl be expected to "aI',\" omrwhat during an
impact becau e of changes in tb e ize and confiO'Ul'a tion of
the net or ifice area , changes in thc exit condition on the
clown ir('am fac(' of the orifi ce due to v ftrialion in the amount
of h.nlraulic fluid above the orifi ce pla te , change in the entry
condition due to variations in. the leng th of the flow chamber
upstream of the orifi ce, and becau sc of ,Tariation in th e
Re.nlolcls number of thc flo\\', 0 tha t , in general, Ca = Cd(s, R ).
Although the indiyidu al eO'ec t of the e fac tors on the discharge coeffi cient for orifi ce in shock s trut have not b een
cyaluated, there is ome cxperimental evidence to indi cate
appre ciable yariations of the eli charge coefficient during
impact , parti cularly in the casc of trut with m eterinO' pin .
It might be expected that sur h yariations \\'oull be considerably , malIC!' for ge ars haYing fl con tant orifi ce area.
In o]'dr r to evaluate the precis ion with which the orifice
di schargc coeffi cicnt has to be kno\\,ll, a brief tucl~~ is
pre ent ed in a sub eq uent ection wh iell ho\\'s the effect of
the di. cha rge coeffi cient on the ca lculated beh av'or of a
landing gcar " 'ith a cons tfln.t orifice flrea, under the assumption that the eli charge coeffi cient is cons tanl during the
impact.
The forcgo ing di scus ion has been con c('rncd prima rily ",ith
the compress ion stroke of the shock t ru t. :-10s1 strut
incorporate ome form of pressure-operall, d rebound check
v alvc , omctimcs called a snubber v aly(' , whi ch comes into
ac tion a ft ..' I' the m aximum troke ha been a tt a ined and closes
off th e m a in orifi ce as soon as the tl'ut begins to elongate, so
that th e Ouid i fo],ced to rc turn to the ]0 \\'l' 1' ch amber t hrough
small passage . Th e act ion of the snuhber \~alve in trod uce
g l'ea tl.\~ inC/'ease d hycl/'l1uli c I'('s is tanec to dissipate th e en ergy
tO l'ed in the trut in the form of ail' pre's ul'e and to preyen t
('x('essi" e rebolllld. The produ ct CdA n to be used in equa tion
(2a) during the elongl1t ion stroke i gmc rall.\~ uncer ta in. Th
l'xact a rea A n during clonga ti on is lls u all~7 somewhat cli[fteul t
t o d efine from the gc oll1 cl r.\' of the tru t ince in m any cases
thc numb cr of connccting pas ages v ari cs \\~ i th stroke an d the
AJ.'l"ALY IS OF L NDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR
leakage area around the piston may be of the same order of

magnitude as the area of th e r eturn passage. Furthermore,
the magnitude of the orifice di charge coefficient, and even
possibly the natme of th e re istance, arc questionable due to
the foaming tate of the r eturning fluid. Fortunately, the
primary interest is in the compression process rather than
the elongation process inee Lhe maximum load always occurs
before the maximum strut stroke is reached .
Pneumatic force.- The air-pressure force in the upper
chamber is determined by the ini tial strut inflation pressure, the area subj ected to th air pressure (pneumatic area),
and th e instantaneou eompres ion ratio in accordance
wi th th e polytropic law for eompre ion of ga es, namely
Pavn= Constant, or
where
Pa
air pressure in upper chamber of shock strut
PaO air pressure in upper chamber for fully extended stru t
v
ail' volume of shock trut
vo
air v ol lUne for fully extended strut
ince th e in tantaneous air volume is equal to the differen ce
between the ini tial air volume and the product of the stroke
and pneumatic area A a,
Pa= Pao(vo~~a
) n.
The force due
to the air pres ure is simply the produ ct of the pre' urr and
the pneu matic arra:
(3)
In the preceding equations, the effective polytropic
exponen t n depends on the rate of compres ion and th e ra te
of h eat tran fer from the air to th e s urrounding environmen t.
Low rate of compre ion would be expected to r es ul t in
valu e of n approaching the isoth ermal value of l.0; wher ea
higher value of n, limited by the adiabatic valu e of 1.4,
would b e ex pected for hi gh er rates of eompres ion . The
actual thermodynamic proce is compli cated by the violent
mixing of th e highly t urbul en t efflux of hydraulic fluid an
th e air in the upper chamber during impact. On the one
hand , th e di sipation of energy in th e production of turbuI nce gener ates h eat; on the oth er h and, h eat i ab orbed by
th e aer ation and vaporiz ation of th e f1uid. The efI'ec l of lhis
mi.:,ing phenomenon on th e polytropic exponent or on the
quivalent air volume is not clear. A limi ted amount of
exp erimen tal data obtained in drop tests (r efs. 3 and 4),
however, indicates tha L the effective polytropic exponent
may be in the n eighborhood of 1. 1 for practical ca es . A
brief tudy of th e impoltance of the air-compression process
and th e effe cLs which d ifferent valu es of n may h ave on th e
calculated beh avior of the landing gear i prese nted in a
ubseq uent ection.
I nternal friction force.- In the literatul'C on machine deign th e wide range of cond itions u nd er which frictional
rest tance an occur b etween liding urface is generally
cIa sified in Lhree major categorie , namely, friction beL ween
dry s mfaces, fri ction between imperfecLly lubl'i ated urface ,
and friction bct \ een perfectly lubricated urface. In Lhe
case of dry friction, the r esi tance dep end s on th e phy ical
chal'acteri tic of th e sliding s urface , i e entially proportional to th e normal force, and i approximately independen t
of the urface area. The coefficien t of friction Jl , defined a
th e ratio of the frictional r esistance to th e normal force, is
o-enora11y somewhat greater uncleI' condi tions of r est (s tatic
friction) th an und er condi Lion of liding (kinetic friction).
Although th e coefficien t of kinetic friction generally decr ease lightly wi th incr ea 'ing velocity, it i u ually conid er ed, in fu t approximation, to be independent of velocity.
If, on the other h and , the udaces arc completely sep arated
by a fluid film of lubricant, p erfect lubri cation i said to exi st.
Under the e conditions th e resistance to r ela tive motion
depend primarily on the magni tude of Lhe relative velocity,
th e physical characteristic of the lubri ant, th e area, and
th e film thickne s, and is essentially ind ependent of the
normal force and the charac teristics of the sliding urIace.
P erfect lubrication i rarely found in practice but i mo t
likely under condi tion of high voloci ty and relatively sm a ll
normal press ure, where the shape of th e liding surfaces i
conducive to the generation of fluid pre ur e by hy drodynamic action. In mo t practical application involving
lubri cation, a sLate of imperfect lubrication e:,.ist and th e
l'C istance phenomenon i intermediato b tween that of dry
friction and perfect lubrication .
In the case ot landing-o-ear ho ck struts, Lh e condi tions
und er which internal friction is of concern us ually involve
r elatively high normal pre ures and r elatively small liding
vcloci Lies. ::'Ioreover, the usual types of h ydraulic .fl uid
u ed in shock truLs have raLher poor lubri cating propertie ,
a nd the sh a pe of the b earing urfaces i generally not conducive to th e o-eneration of hydrodynamic pre m es . It
woull th erefore appeal' that th e lubrication of h ock trut
b earing is, at best, imperfect; in fact , the condition appear
to approach closely those for dry friction. In th e pre ent
analysi , th erefore, it is as umed, in nr t approximation, Lhat
th e in ternal friction between Lh e bearing and the cylind er
walls follow laws similar to those for dry friction ; t ha t i ,
Lile friction force is given by I,he prod LIce of the normal force
ancl a suitably eho en coe fficien t of fri ction.
Wi th these a umptions the internal fri ction forces produ ced in the st ru t depend on the magni tude of the force on
th e a.xle, the inclination of the gear, the pacing of Lhe bearing , and the coeffi cient of fri tion bet\\Toen the bearing and
the cylinder walls. Figure 1 (c) sch ematically illu trate the
balance of force acting on the various components of Lhe
land ing gear. The total axial f"iction in the sho ck strut is
the urn of th e fri ction force con tribu ted by each of the
bearings :
where
FJ axial fri ction force
/-II
coeffi cient of fricLion for upper bearing (attached to
inner cylinder)
FJ
normal fo rce on upper bearing (attached to inner
cylinder)
/-12
coefficient of friction for lower bearing (attached to
ouLer cylinder)
REPOR'l' 115-!-
F2
NA'l'roNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AEROI A TICS
normaJ force on lower bearing (attached to outer

c~Tlin del')
factor to indicate sign of fri ction force

mDurin
g the interyal prior to the beginning of shocl\:-st1'ut
motion the fri ct ion fo],ce s depend on the coefficients of static
fri ction ; after thl' s trut begins to telescopc the coe ffi cients of
kineLi c fri ction apply .
From con sideration of the balanc of moments it can b e
seen from fi g ure 1 (c) that
Fl=FN
(-l2-8)
ll+ 8
and
so that
(4)
where
(4a)
nnd
FN
forcl' normal Lo s trut applil'll at axle
P Va nrlical foree applied at axle

FI/ a horizont al force applied at axle
<p
angle belween st ru t ax is and Yl'l'tiral
/1
ax ial di stan cl' bel "-e('n upper and 10w('I' bearings, for
fully extended stru t
L2
ax ial di st an ce hel ween axIl' ancllo\\-el' ben ring (a t tncllecl
Lo outer c,\"lind('l') , for full.,- ('xtel1ded s trut
The quantiLi('s F N a , F va , and FH a are [orcl's a pplied at the
axle and cliffeI' from th e g round rl'act ions h.r amounts equal
Lo the inel'lin fo rces co rres ponding to the res pect i,'e accelerat ion com pOlwnt of the 10\l-er m.ass. Since the inne r cylinder
genc rall." rcp resents only a relativel." small fradio n of the
10wc1' ma s, the lower mass ma)' re asonabl." b e assumed to be
concentrat ed at the axle. With this ass umption , the relationships between the f01'ces at th e axle and the force at the
ground are given b.v
F (F
IH=
"
I ll
TT'.-X'2
.. )
g
The normal force at the axk can therefore be expressed in

term s of the g round reactions nnd the componen t accelerations 01' th e lower ma s h."
where
Fl ' g
vertical force a pplied to tire at grou nd
FI/ hori zontal force ap plicd to t ire at g round
n'2 effectiye mass 1)('10\1' sho ck st rl! t, ass\l mecl concentratr,cl
at llxh'
g
i ;2
h or izo nl al aC'cdl' l'ali on of axIl'
Z2
vertical accelerat ion of axle
In the case of all incl ined landing gear having infinite sl iO'ness in bending, th e h orizon tal displ acement of the 10"-e1' mass
J:2 is related to the vert ical ciisplacem ellts of the upper and lower
J(
masses by the kinematic r elationship X2=(ZI- z2)tan <p , as

previously no ted . Double differentiation of this r elationship gives X2= (Zl- 22) tan <po Substitution of this e:\l)ression
into equation (4b) g ives
'
FIN a = FIV g SIn
<p-
F' H cos
g
<p +W
-
2 ...
Z I
SIn
<p- W'
2 SIn <p
(4c)
In equation (4c) the quantity 21 sin <p represents the acceleration of th e lower mass normal to the strut axis when the
gear is rigid in b ending, In the case of a gear flexible in
bendin g, the normal acceleration of tbe lower mass is not
completely determined by th e vertical acceleration of the
upp er mass and the angle of inclination of the gear', If it
should be n ecessary to tak e in to account, in particular ca8es,
the effects of gear fl exibility on the relationship be tween the
normal force on th e axle and the ground reactions, tbe q uantity 21 sin <p in equation (4c) may b e replaced by estimated
"alues of the actual normal acceleration of the lower mass as
determined from consid eration of the b ending response of the
gear to th e appli ed forces normal to the gear axis. The effects
of gear fleAibilit)T are not consid ered in more detail in the
present analysis.
FORCES ON T i llE
Fig ure 2 (a) shows dynami c force-deflection characteristics for a 27-inch smooth-contour (t)rpe 1) tire inflated to 32
pounds per square inch. These charac tcristics were determined from time-history m eas urem ents of vertical ground
force and tire d eflection in landing-gear drop tests with a
nonrotating wh eel at several vertical velocities. As can be
seen, the tire compresses along one curve and unload along
another, the h ysteresis loop indi cating appreciable en erg)'
dissipation in the tire . Th ere is som e que tion as to whether
th e amoun t of hysteresis would be a great if the tire \\'e1'e
rotating, as in a landing ,,-ith forward sp eed . The forcedeflection curve for a velocity of 11.63 feet p el' second is for
a severe impact in which tire bo ttoming occurs and shows
the sharp increase in force with d eflectio n. subsequent to
bottoming.
In fi gure 2 (b ) the sam e force-deflection characteristics
arc shown plotted on logarithmic coordinat es. A can b e
seen , the force exhibits an exponenLial variation with deflect ion, A systematized r epr esen tation of the force-deflection
r elationship can therefol'e b e obtained by means of simple
eq uations having the form
(5)
whe1'e
Fv g
"2
d
m,
m'
l'
vert.ical force, applied to t ire at ground

vertical displacement of 10\\'('1' mass from position at
initial co ntact (radial deOecL ion of tire)
overall cliameLer of tire
constanLs co rrespond in g to the various regimes of the
Lire-deflection process
combined co nstant , mdT
AI ALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR
I
13xI03
12.6
'l
II
10
9
10.8
:~
6~c
:e_
Linear-segment
approximation : VVo
Linear -segment
approximation :
l(~""
7.2
OJ
.~-
.2
~
~
.E
OJ
5.4
.~
~
3.6
1.8
(b)
(0)
.2
.5
.3
.4
.5
.6
Tire deflection, z2, ft
(a) Uniform coordinatcs.

(b) Logarithmic
FIGUHE 2.-Dynamic force-d eflection characteri tics of tire.
It may be noled from figure 2 that e sentiall)' the same

force-deflection em've hold during compre sion for all impact
velocities, up to the occurrence of tire bottoming, and that in
figul'e 2 (b ) the slopes of the CLllTe in each of the several
]'('gimes of tbe tire-d eflectio n process arc also independent of
velocity, except in the compression regime following tir('
bottoming.
Figure 2 al 0 show imple approximation to tile tire
cha1'acte]'i tic which W01'O obtaine 1 b.,' fitting straight-line
egment s Oong-clash ed lin e) to the actual force-ci eflection
curves in figure 2 (a) for impacts at . 6 and 11.63 feet pel'
econd. These approximation , hel' inaft e1' referred to as
linear-segment approximation, arc included in a stud~T,
presented in a ub equent section, to ('valuate the degree of
accuracy required for adequate repre entation of th e tire
characteristics. The variou repre entations of the tiTe
characteri tic con ider d and the pert inent con Lant for
('ach regime of t ire deflection arc sho\\'11 in fiO'Ll1'e 3.
coordinatc~ .
hydraulic, pneumatic, and friction force , a gIven by

equation (1).
lnce Lh ese force act along the axi of the
lrut, which may be inclined Lo the verLical by an angle cp,
the vertical component of the axial hock- trut force i given
b~' Fs cos cpo The vertical component of the force normal
to the shock stru t j given by FNa in cpo 'rhesc fOl'ces act
in conjunction wilh the lifL force and weight Lo produce an
acceleration of the upper mass. The equation of moLion
For the upper mil IS
The Yerti al componeni of the axial and normal hockstrut force al 0 act, in conjunction with the ,,' eight of the
lowel' mas, Lo produce a deformation of the lil'e and an
acceleration of the lower ma . The equation of motion
for the lower rna IS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
The inLernal axial force Fs prod uced by the ho ck trut

was hown in a pl'eviou ection to be equal to the urn of the
(7)
where Lhe ve rtical ground reaction Fvg i
expr es ed a
10
REPORT 11 5 4-
NATIOKAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
13XI03
12~
II
10
9~
8
Regime
78.6
(g)
34.0 X
445.0 x
157. 1 X
65.5 x
<3l
6
.0
x 10 3
3
10
109
103
103
0'0479 x 103
10
1.34
.89
9.70
1.73
1.34
Linear - segment
approximation: FVq
8
7
-- 0)
0' ( } ) +
j
;)
78.6 X 103
813.6 X 103
30.5 x 109
126.1 x 103
652
103
m'
(~2)'
~:...
r
1.34
2.80
9.70
1.73
1.34
. ----0)
Regime
CD
C2l
;)
c
o
m'
CD
<3l
bo -10.8 x 102
~- 4
variation: FV
q
Regime
/
z
Exponential
II
m'
CD
@
7
12
Exponential variation :
c
o
-- --@
._--@
- - - Exoct exponential
- - - - - Exponential, regime CD extended
(no hysteresis)
- - Linear - segment approximation
(no hystereSIS)
., ...... ........ Linear-segment approximotlon ,
reg ime CD extended
(0)
.2
(a) ImparL \I'ithoul l ire bottoming, \ 'v o=

FIGURE
.3
.4
I
.5
.1
Tire deflection, z2' ft
1 ___
(b)
j
I
.4
.5
.6
(b) Impact wi t h t ire bottoming, VVo= l J .63 feet per seco nd.
6 feet per secon d .
3.-Ti re characteristics considered in solutions (logarithmic coordinates).
function of the tire def! ction Zz. The r ela ti onship bcL \\'een
F vg and Z2 h as bee n di scussed in the previou s section on tire
eharacl el'i tics.
B y combinin g equat ion (6) and (7), the ve rti cal ground
force can be wl'itten in terms of the inertia r eac ti ons of the
upp er and lo\\'er ma ses, th e lift force , and the tot al weighl.
The over all dynamic equ ilibrium is given b~-
th e impact. The equation of molion for Lhe one-degree-offreedom .,-stem arc derived in order to p ermit determination
of th e in itial condition s required fo], the analy is of th e
landing-o-ear b ehavior ubscquenL to Lhe b eg innino- of shockstru t defleclion.
ince 21= 22= 2 dming thi first phase of the impact,
equation ( ) may be writt en as
( )
(9)
Conv entional oleo-pneumaLic shock truts arc inflat ed

to som e finite pre sme in Ute fully extended position. Th u
the strut docs no t begin Lo defl ecL in an impact u ntil uffic ient
force j developed to overcome th e initial pl'eload in g imposed
by the ail' pre ure and intel'llal fri ction.
ince the stru L is
eff ectively rigid in compl'e sion , as well a in b ending,
prior Lo this in tant, Lh e ystem ma~T b e con idered to h ave
only one degree of freedom during th e initial stage of
For Lhe general case of an exponenLi al relation hip be ween

vertical o-ronnd forc and tire deflection, equation (5) applie
and th e equ ation of motion b ecome
Mono
PRIOR TO S HO C K- STR l' DEFL ECTION
(10)
11
ALYSIS OF LAl'l'DI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR
Th e shock stru t beain to telescope ,,-hen the urn of the iner tia, weigh t, and lif t forces b ecome equal to th vertical
component of the axial and normal shocktrut force. At thi in tant t r, Fs= Fao+ Flr and eq uation (6) can be written a
(11)
where
Fao
initial air-pre ure preload forc e, PaoA a
tatic friction at in tant tT
FIr
At the in tant iT, = 0 and equation (4) become
(11a)
wh ere
and
and Ji. 2 are coeffi cient of tatie fri ction.

ince th e trut is a umed es entially ri gid in compression (and also rigid in bend ing) , there is no kinematic displacement of the lower mas III the hori zontal direction up to the beginnin a of shock-stru t defl ection, so that 72= 0 and equ ation
(4b) b ecome
Ji.1
(11 b)
Incorporating equa tion (l1a), (lIb), and (9) into equation (11) gives
(12)
In equation (12) wher ever the sign appears, the plus ign
apply wh en FN ~ > 0 and the minu ign apply when FN ~
<0.
From equation (10) the vertical displacement of th e y tern

at the in tan t iT is given in terms of the corre ponding
acceleration by
I [
tV .. ] } l I T
Zr= { m
TV(I - KL )- g ZT
(13)
Integrating equation (10) and noting that zo= O provides

the relation hip between th e vertical velocity and the
vertical di placem ent of the ystem at the beginning of
sho ck-stru t deflection
. -
[m
/. 2 2g r + l
zT - -y z o -1V
ZT
+1+ "fTT(.fi.LT7
1) ]
Zr
(14)
In view of the fact tha t the tire force-deflection curve i

es entiany linear for small deflections, i t may be rea onably
a umed that 1' = 1 for the purpo e of determinin g the time
after contact at which the stru t begins to telescope. With
thi a sumption ir can be determined from the r elationship
where the general expre sion for the variable z is obtained

from equation (14) without the sub Cl'jpts T . P erforming
the indicated integration give
where
' / Z02
~f + [(1- KL)g]
The compu tation of tT can be greatly implified by use of

the followina approximation which as ume a linear relaLionhip between velocity and time:
(15a)
Equation (15a) hould be a fairly good approximation in
view of the relativ ly shor t time interval between initial contact and the beginning of sho ck-stru t motion.
Equations (12), (13), and (14) pmmit the determination
of the vertical accel ration, di placement, and velocity, respectively, of the system (upper and lower ma f' ) at the
12
REPORT 115-!-N AT I O~ AL ADYISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
beginning of sh ock-slruL deflection. Equation (15) or (15a) permits calculation of the time interval between inilial contact
and lh i in tanto The e equation provide the initial condition required for the analy is of the behavior of the landing
gear a a y tem with two degree of freedom after Lhe h ock strut begin Lo deflecL.
If drag load are considered, l he solution of equation (12) require knowledge of the horizontal ground force FH gT at
Lhe instant tT. Since Lhe p re ent analysis doe noL explici lly treat th e deLermination of drag loads, val ue of F H 8 h ave
Lo be estimated, either from oLher analytical consideraLion , expe rimental daLa, or on Lhe basi of experience .
T
MO TJ O
BSEClUE T TO BEG I N ING OF S H OCK-STUUT DEF L ECTION
Once lhe sum of the inertia, weight , and lift force heeome sufficienLly large to overcome the prcloading force in the
hock strut clur to initial ail' pre sme and internal friclion, lhe shock tl'ut can deflect and the ystem become one haying
Lwo degrees of freedom. Incorporating the expl'e ions for the hydraulic , pneumatic, and friction forces (eqs. (2a) , (:3 ),
and (4 into equation (6) permit the equation of motion fot" the upper ma to be wrillen as follows:
",hl'I"('
8=
Z I - Z,
- -CO cp
cos
cp
and , sineC' Fv z = F V / : 2 ) , C'quation (4c ) becomes
where Fv (Z2) is determined from the force-deflection Chtll'aclel"i tics of lhe tire'. 1"i'01' the usual type of pneumalic tire,
g
FI' g (Z2)= JI1ZzT, as prenoLlsly noted.

Simihll"ly, the equation of molion for the' lo,,'er mass follo,," from equalion (7) :
(17)
The o\"erall dynamic e'quilibl'ium equation i
rr
g
..
2 1
lill , of cour e, as gi, en hy equation (
+1 1"2 "2
:':' +
g
I F ( T.-
II
~\.ny t,,'o o[ the preceding equations (eq . (lG ), (17) , and
arl' suffici ent to describe the behayioJ' of thl' landin g

gear ubsequent to the beginning o[ shocktrut motion.
The e equations may be used to calculate the belul"iol" of 11
given landing-gear configmation or to deyelop orifLcc and
metering-pin characteristic I"eq u i red to prod uc e a s pl'cifLed
bdtayior for given impact conditions. The.\" ma.\" al 0 be
used as a basi [or the calculation of dynamic load in fll'xible
airplane strllcturl' either b.,- (a) determinin g the landino-gear forcing function uncler the a sumption that the upper
mas is a rigid body and tben u ing this forcing function to
cHlculate the respon e of the clastic ystem or (b) combining
the prl'ceding eq uation with tlle eq uations rrpresenting the
additional degree of frl'eelom o[ the structure ; the imult,uleou s solution or the l'quations [or uch a )" tem ,,"ould
then take into account the intcraetion bet\\"een the deformalion of tlte tructlll"e and the landing gear.
1\. !.- -
1)+1'' I' ( 2 2
)-- 0
g
SOLUTIO
OF EQUATIO S OF MOTION
In til(' general ca () the analysi o[ a landing gl'ar inyolycs

the solution o[ the equation o[ motion o-iven in the eetion
l'ntitled ":- [otion :-lu bseq uent to the Beo-inning of Shock:-ltmt Defl ec tion ," with the initial condition taken a the
conditions of motion at the beginning of hock- trut deflection , as determined in accorclance with th initial impact
con clition and the equations given in the ection entitlClI
":-Iotion Prior to Shock-Strut Deflection. "
NUMERICAL INTEGUATION PHOCEDURES
In vie\\" o[ the fact that the equations o[ motion for the

landing gear ubsequent to the beginning of hock- trut
ddlection al"l' bighl.\- nonlinear, anal.,"tical olution o[ the e
eq uation s docs not appear feasible. In the pre ent report,
therefore, finite-difference method arc 1"e ortecl to for the
s tep-by- tep integration o[ the equation of motion. 1\.1-
13
though uch numerical methods lack the generality of analytical solutions and are especially time consuming if the
calculations are carried out manually, the increasing availability of automatic calculating machines largely overcomes
these objections .
Most of the solutions presented in this report were obtained
with a procedure, hereinafter referr d to as the "linear procedure," which assumes changes in the motion variables to
be linear over finite time intervals. A few of the solution
presented were obtained with a procedure, hereinafter referred
to as the "quadratic procedure," which a sumes a quadratic
variation of displacement with time for successive interval .
Th e generalized solutions for the simplified equations di cu sed in a subsequent section were obtained by means of
the Runge-Kutta procedure. The application of these
procedures is described in detail in appendix A.
USE OF TIRE FO R CE-DEFLECTION CHARACTERISTICS
In order to obtain olutions for particular ca es, it is, of

course, nece al'y to have, in addition to information regarding the phy ical characteristics of the landing gear, ome
knowledge of the force-deflection characteristics of the tire.
If extensive data regarding the dynamic tire charactel'i tic, uch as shown in figures 2 and 3, are available, an
accurate solution can be obtained which takes into account
the various breaks in the force-d eflection curves (logarithmic
coordinates), a well as the effects of hysteresis. In view of
the fact th at the constants m' and r have the same values
throughout practically the entire tire compression proce s
r egardless of the initial impact velocity or the maximum
load attained, these values of m' and r, as determined from
the force-d eflection curves, can be u ed in the calculation of
the motion subsequent to the beginning of shock-strut deflection until the first break in th e force-deflection curve is
reached prior to the attainment of the maximum force. If
the conditions for the calculations are the same a those for
which force-d flection curve are available, th e values of
m' and r for each of the several regimes subsequent to the
fir t break can also be det ermined directly from the forcedeflection curve . In general, however, the condition will
not be the same and interpolation will be n ece ary to
estimate th e values of m' for the ubsequent r egimes.
uch interpolation is facilitated, particularly after the maximum force-deflection point has b en calculated, by th e fact
that each subsequent r egime ha a fixed value of r, regardle
of the initial impact conditions.
The u e of the tire-deflec tion ch aracteristics in the calculation is greatly simplified if hy teresi i neglec ted ince th
values of m' and r which apply prior to the first break in the
force-del.ec tion curve are then u ed throughout the entire
calculation, except in the ca e of evere impacts where tire
bottoming occurs, in which ca e new value of m' and rare
employed in th e tire-bottoming r egime. A imilar ituation
exi ts with r espect to the constants a' and b when the lineal'
approximations which neglect hy tere i are u cd. The e
implification would normally be employed when only th
2 7846-54-3
tire manufacturer' static or o-called impact load-deflection

data are available, a is u ually the case.
EFFECT OF DRAG LOADS
Although the pre ent analysis permit taking into account

the effect of wheel pin-up h'ag load on th behavior of th e
landing gear, the determination of the drag-load time history
i not treated eArpliciLly. Thus, if it is de ired to con ider the
effect of the drag load on the gear behavior, uch a in the
case of a ch-op te t in which drag loads are simulated by
reverse wheel rotation or in a landing with forward peed, it
is neces ary to estimate the ch'ag load, either by mean of
other analytical con iderations or by recour e to experimental
data. As a first approximation the instantaneou chag force
may be as umed to be equal to the vertical ground reaction
multiplied by a suitable coefficient of friction J.L; that is,
FHg= F vgJ.L , up to the instant when the wheel tops skidding,
after which the drag force may be assumed equal to zero.
(The current O'rotmd-load requirements specify a skidding
coefficient of friction J.L = 0.55 ; limited experimental evidence,
on the oth er hand, in licate that J.L may be as high as 0.7 or
a low as 0.4.) In ome ca e experimental data indicate
that r epre entation of the drag-load time history can be
implified even further by a suming a linear variation of the
ch'ag force with time during the period of wheel skidding.
The instant at which the wheel tops skidding can be
es timated from the simple impulse-momentum relationship
where
polar moment of inertia of wheel assembly about axle
V Ho initial horizontal velocity
Td.
radiu of deflect d tire
t.u
time of wheel pin-up
When the ch-ag forc e i expressed in terms of the vertical
lw
force, the value of the integral
r FH
Jo
t
dt can be deLermined as
the step-by-step calculation proceed and the ch'ag-force

term eliminated from the equation of motion after th e required value of the integral at the in tant of pin-up i
reached.
EVALUATION OF A ALYSIS BY COMPARISO OF CALCULATED
RESULTS WITH EXP ERIME TAL DATA
In order to evaluate the applicability of the foregoing

analytical treatment to actual landing gears, te t were
conduc ted in the Langley impact basin w.ith a conventional
oleo-pneumatic landing gear originally de igned for a small
military traininO' aUplan. A de cripLion of the test pecimen
and apparatu u cd is given in appendix B .
In this section calculated result are compared with experimental data for a normal impact and a evere impact
with tire bottoming. The vertical velocities at Lhe instant
of ground contact u ed in the calculation COLTe pond to
14
RE POR1' 11 54-
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMI'lvfEE FOR AERONAUTI CS
the verticltl velocities measured in the tests. Equations

(12), (13), (14 ), and (15a) were used to calculate the values
of the variables at the instant of initial shock-stru t deflection.
Numerical integra tion of equations (16) and (17 ) provided
the calculated r es ults for the two-degree-of-freedom system
subsequent to the beginning of sho ck-stru t deflection.
In these calculations the discharge coefficient for the orifice
and the polytropic exponent for the air-compression process
wer e a um ed to have constant values throughout the impact.
Consideration of the shape of the orifice and examination
of data for rounded approach orifice in pipes suggested
a value of C~ eq ual to 0.9 . Evaluation of data for other
landing gears indicated that t.he air-compression proce s
could be repre ented fairly well by use of an average value
of the effective polytropic exponen t n= 1.12. In view of
the fact that the landing gear was mounted in a vertical
position and drag loads were absent in the tests, fri ction
forces in the shock stru t were assumed to be negligible
in the calculations.
ince the weight was fully balanced
by lift force in the tests, the lift factor K L was taken equal to
1.0. The appropriate exact tire characteristics (see fig. 3)
were used for each case.
ORMAL IMPACT
Figure 4 presents a comp arison of calculated results wi Lh

experimental data for an impact without tire bottoming at
a vertical velocity of 8.86 feet per second at the instant of
ground con tact. The exact dynamic force-deflection characteristic of the tire, including hysteresis, were used in the
calculation . These tire characteri tics arc shown by the
olid lines in figure 2 (a) and values for the tire constan ts
m,' and r arc given in figure 3 (a).
Calculated time histories of the total force on the upper
mass and the acceleration of Lhe lower mass are compared
with experimental data in figLU'e 4 (a ).
imilar comparison
for the upp el'-mass displacement, upper-mass velocity, lowcrmas displacement, trut Lroke , and tl'ut telescop ing
velocity arc presen ted in figure 4 (b ). As can be seen, the
agreement between the calculated and experimental results
is r easonably goo d throughout mo t of th time history.
orne of the minor di crepancies during the later stages of
the impact appear to be due to errors in measurement since
the deviation s between the calculated and experimen tal
upper-mass accelerations (as repre en Lcd by the force on
the upp er mass) arc incompa tible ,~~ith those for the uppermas displacement , whereas the calc ulated upper-mas displacemen ts arc nece sarily d irectly compa tible with the
calculated upper-mass accelerations. The maximum value
of the experimental acceleration of the lower mass may be
somewhat high because of overshoot of the accelerometer.
In add ition to the total force on the upp er mass, figure
4 (a) presents calculated time hi tories of the hydraulic
and pneumatic components of the sho ck-struL force, a
determined from equa tions (2 ) nnd (3), re pectively. It
can be seen that throughout most of the impact the force
developed in the sho ck stru t ari es primarily from the hydraulic resistance of th e orifi ce. Toward Lbe en d of the
impact, however, because of the clecreased Lele coping
velocities and fai rly large sLr okes which corresp,:md to high
compl'e sion ratios, the air-pressure force becomes larger

than the hydraulic force.
IMPA CT WJTH TIRE BOTTOM! G
Figure 5 presents a compari on of calculated and e>"'}lerimen tal results for a severe impact (V vo = 11.63 ft per ec)
in which tire bottoming OCCUlTed. The tire force-deflection
characteristic used in th e calculations are shown by the
solid lines in figure 3 (b). Region (1) of the tire forcedeflection curve has the same values of the tire constants
Tn' and T as for the case previously discussed.
Following
the occurrence of tire bottoming, however, different values
of m' and r apply. These values are given in figLU'e 3 (b).
It can be seen from fig LU'e 5 that the agreement between
the cal culated and experin1ental results for this case is
similar to that for the comparison previously presented.
The calculated instant of tir e bottoming i indicated in
fi gure 5. Wh en tire bottoming occurs, the greatly increased
stiffness of the tire cau es a marked in crease in the shocktrut telescoping velocity, as is hown in the right-hand
portion of figure 5 (b ). ince the strut i suddenly forced to
absorb energy at a much higher rate, an abrupt increase
in the h ydraulic re istance take place. The fmther increa e
in sho ck-strut force immediately following the occurrence of
tire bottoming i evi lent from the left-hand portion of
fi gme 5 (a). The udden increa e in lower-mas acceleration
at the instant of tire bottoming can al 0 be een.
In this severe impact the hydraulic resi tance of th e orifice
represents an even greater proportion of the total shockstru t force thaD was indicated by the calculated results for
an initial vertical v locity of . 6 feet per secon d previou ly
discussed.
The foregoing comparison indicate that the analytical
treatment presented, in conjunction with rea onably traightforward as umptions regarding Lhe parameters involved in
Lhe equations, provide a fairly aCCLU'ate repre enLation of
the behavior of a conventional oleo-pneumatic landing gear.
P ARAMETER STUDIES
In the previou section comparisons of calculated results

with e).'}lerimenlal data howed that the e luations which
have been developed provide a fairly cyood representation of
tbe be.b avior of Lhe landing gear for the impact conditions
considered. In view of the fact that the equations are
somewhat complicated and require numerical values for
several parameters such as the tire force-deflection constants
m,' and t, the orifice discharge coefficient Od, aDd the polytropic exponent n, wbich may not be readily or accmately
known in the case of practical engineering problems, it
appears desirable (a) to determine the relative accuracy
with w111ch th ese vari us parameter h ave to be lmown and
(b ) Lo inve tigate the extent to which the equations can be
simplifi ed and still yield useful results. In order to accomplish these objectives, calculation have been made to
evaluaLe th e effect of in1plifying the force-defiection characteri tics of Lhe Lire, as well as to determine the effects which
differenL values of the orifice discharge coefficient and the
effectivc polytropic exponent have on t.he calc ul ated behavior.
The re lUtS of the e calculations are discussed in the pre ent
section. The question of simplification of the equation of
motion is considered in more detail in a sub equent section.
A "ALYSI
OF L
DI
15
G-GEAR BEHAVIOR
-7
-6
6
~
-5
"'"
: ~N
- - Colculated
o Experimental
,,; -4
.!"!
<1'-
'"o
.,:4
-3
Q)
0-
~
u
:J
03
::l -2
E,
.,u
~-I
(0)
LL-L-.~0~4~L-.0~8~J--.~12~J--.~16~i-~.
20
10
.04
Time after cantoct, sec
.08
.12
.16
.20
(a) Tim histories of forces on upper mass and lower-mass acceleration.

FIGURE 4.-Compal'isons bet ween calculated re ults and ex perimen tal data for normal impac t;
olution with e xact exponential t ire characteri t ic . V vo = 8.86 feet per econ d ; Cd =O.9; n=1. 12.
1.0
10
.8
Upper' mass
displacement - _,
.6
.5
5
Strut stroke-,
Upper-mass
velacity - - ____
.6
Q)
~.4
u
0
~4
'u
0
'"
is
'"
.9>:
~ ,3
]3
Q)
>
0.
;::
.,x
4 -
.4
'"
.9-
Strut velocity-- , __
A
A
'2
if,
(j)
A
A
.2
.2
0
E!l
0
0
.1
- - - Calculated
ODAOV Experimental
(b)
-2
.04
.08
.12
.16
.20
0
Time after contact, sec
.04
(b) Tim e h istories of landing-gcar v loci Lie and dis placements.
Fw RE4. - oncluded.
.08
.12
.16
.20
- - - - - -----
16
REPORT 11 54-NATIO AL ADVI SORY COMMITTEE FOR AERO AUTICS
-12
10
- -- Calculaled
o
Experimenlal
-10
0
~
:~
L-
-8
]
c
20
~
OJ
-6
u
u
0
'"'"0
E
I
f- - - - -Tlre
I
ci; -4
.J
ballamlng
I
I
-2
I
Tire
I
balloming __ I
I /, pneumallc
.04
.08
.1 2
.20
.16
.04
.08
( a)
.12
.20
.16
Time afler conta ct, sec
(a) Time hi tories of forces on upper mass and 10\\'er-mas acceleration.

FI GURE
1.2
12
1.0
10
5.-Co mpari ons between calculated r es ults and exp eri mental data for impact wit h t ire bottom in g; sol ution with
exact exponential t ire characteristics. Y vo = 1l.63 feet p er second; C d = O.9 ; n= 1.12.
o
o
.6
Upper- mass
displacement ___ ,
Upper-mass
velacity -'--
Strut stroke .
.8
.::
Strut velocity --_ .
'"
.9-
cOJ
~6
~6
Ci
.4
'"
<5
'"
.9OJ-
I>
~ .3
I>
I>
OJ
"2
if,
I>
:B3
>
"2
I>
- - Lower- mass
displacement
.2
>-
.><
I>
.4
if>
.2
0
0
0
_- - Tire
.I
0
~ -- bottoming
I
I
I
I
I
-2
.04
.08
__ - Tire
bottoming
- -- Calcula ted
Experimental
001>0'(1
.12
16
.20
(b) Time hi tori es of landing-gear Yelocitie and displacements.

FlGUHE
5.-Concluded.
(b)
08
.12
.16
.20
17
ANALYSIS OF LA DII G- GEAR BEHAVIOR

REPRESENTATIO
OF TIRE FORCE-DEFLECTION CHARA CTERISTrCS
In order to evaluate the degree of accmacy r equired for

adequate representation of the tire force-deflection characteri tics, compari ons are made of the calculated behavior
of the landing gear for normal impact and impacts 'with
tire bottoming when the tire characteri tics arc represented
in various way. Fir t, the force-deflection characteri tic
will be a umed to be exactly a hown by the olid-line
curve in figme 2 (b), including the various breaks in the
curve and the effect of hysteresis. Th ese characteristics
are referred to h ereinafter as the exact exponential tire
characteristic. The eff ct of implifying the representation of the tire characteri tics will then be investigated by
considering (a) the ec>.:ponential characteristics without
hysteresis; that is, the tire will be assumed to deflect and
unload along the same exponential CLU've, (b) Lhe linearegment approximation to the tire characteristics (longda hed line ), which al 0 neglect hy tere i , and (c) error
introduced by neglecting the effect of tire bottoming in the
case of evere impacts. The calculated results presented in
this tudy make use of the relation hip betwee.n vertical
force on the tire and tire deflection, a hown ill figures
3 (a) and 3 (b).
Figure 6 present a comparison of the calculated 1'e ults
for a normal impact at a vertical velocity of . 6 feet per
econd, whereas figLU'e 7 permits comparison of the solutions
for a severe impact, involving tire bottoming, at a vertical

velocity of 11.63 feet per econd. In figmes 6 and 7 the
olid-line cmve represent solution of the landing-gear
equations when the exac t exponential relationship between
force and tire deflection are con idered. Since these solution were previou ly hown to be in fairly good agreement
with experimen tal data (fig . 4 and 5), th ey arc u ed a a
basis for evaluating the re ult obtained when tire hysteresis
is neglected and the force-deflection characteristics are represented by either simplified ex,})onential or linea1'- egment
relation hips.
As in the calculations previou ly de cribed, the olu tions
were obtained in two part. Dming the flrst tage of the
impact the shock strut ,vas considered to be ri.gid until
uflicient force was developed to overcome the initial airpre m e force. The calculations for the landing-gear behavior sub equent to this in tant were ba ed on the equations
which con ider the gear to have two degree of freedom.
Time historic of the upper-mas acceleration calculated on
the basi of a rigid shock tru t are hown by the dotted
curve in figme 6 and 7. The e solutions show the greatest
rate of increa e of upper-mass acceleration pos ible with
the e)..,})onential tire force-deflection characteristic conidered. Comparison of the e olution with tho e for the
two -degree-of-freedom ystem indicate the effect of the
hock trut in attenuating the severity of the impact.
-3.0
-10
-2 .5
-8
~
N
'I"
~5
-6
ti
.2
c
c
o
.Q
e - 1.5
Q!
tl
~
u
V>
V>
V>
V>
E
L - 1.0
Q!
-4
"- ~
Q!
Q.
Q.
-2
Q!
=>
Tire characteristics considered:

Exact exponen tial
Exponential (no hysteresis)
Linear - segment (no hysteresis)
Exponentia l (r igid strut)
-.5
.04
08
.12
~,
O~--------------~------~~--------
\
16
.20
(a)
20~---"L--.;;'04
-;;----L--+::---.L----:l=-....L-..L-..L..:.:...-J
.08
Time after conta ct, sec
.12
.16
.20
(a) Time historie of upper-rna s acceleration and lower-mas acceleration.

FIG RID
6.- Effect of ti.re characteri tic on calculated landing-gear behavior in normal impact.
VVo = ' 6 feet per second; Cd = O.9; n=1.12.
REPORT 1154-NATIO AL ADVI ORY COMl\1I'l'TEE FOR AERO AUTICS
12
10
Upper moss
.6
.5
Q)
~ .4
Lower moss
a.
OJ)
.3
Or---------~----~~------
.2
Tire characteristics considered:
Exa ct exponential
Linear - segment (no hysteresis)
.1
.04
.08
.16
.12
.20
-2
_4~~~~L-~~--~-L~--~(b~
)
o
.04
.08
.12
.16
.20
Time after con tacl, sec
(b) Time histories of landing-gear di placement and velocities.

F1
G.- Cont inued .
,URE
.5
.4
=.3
"2
Vi .2
.1
Tire choroclerlstlcs considered:

Exact exponential
Linear - seg ment (no hysteresis)
.12
.16
1
I
.20
(c)
.04
TIme of ler contact> sec
(c) Time histories of shock-strut stroke and velocity.

FIGURE
6.- Concluded.
.08
.12
.16
.20
ANALYSI
19
OF LANDII G-GEAR BEHAVIOR
-4.5
-12
-4.0
-10
-3.5
-s
:~
~
: ....-
5 -3.0
-6
.E
c:
.E
.9
c:
.9
-0 -2.5
-4
Q;
a:;
u
u
'"'"o
E
'"0 -2.0
, -2
'"E
I
~
(1)
a.
a.
-1.5
::J
Exact exponential
Exponentiol
(no bottoming, no hysteresis)
Linear - segment
(with bottoming, no hysteresis)
Lineor - segment
Exponential (rigid strut)
-1.0
O~----------------~~------
Tire choracteristics considered :
.16
.12
.08
.20
.04
.12
.08
(0)
.16
.20
(a ) Ti me histories of upper-mass accelerat ion an d lower-rna

FIG a U E
accelerat ion.
7.- E ffect of t ire ch aracterist ic. on calculated landing-gear behavior for impact wit h t ire bot to ming.
VVo= 11.63 feet p er eeond ; C d =O.9 ; n = 1.12 .
.9
12
.s
.7
.6
_- .5
.9- 4
c:
(1)
8o
5}.4
i:5
o~--------~~----~---------
.3
Tire choracteristics considered :
Exact exponential
Exponentiol
Linear - segment
Lineor- segment
.2
.1
.os
.12
.16
.20
-2
-4
(b)
-6L--L__L--L__~~__~-J__~~~
.04
.08
.12
Time of ter contact, sec
(b) Time hi t ories of landing-gear displacements and vel ocities.

FI GUR E
7.-Con t il1u ed.
.20
20
REPORT 11 54-
ATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONA '.rICS
.6
.5
~\
.4
~.~
Q)
.:.:
i; .3
.2
Tire characteristics considered :
\\
Exoct exponential
Exponential
(no bottoming, no hys teresis)
Lineor-segment
Linear- segment
(no bottom ing, no hysteresis)
.1
.~
.04
.08
.12
.16
.20
.~
\
.0 4
.08
.12
(c)
.16
.20
(c) Time histories of shock-strut stroke and velocity.

FIGURE
7.-Concluded.
Normal impact.- In the ca e of the normal impact at a

vertical velocity of .86 feet per econd, figUl'e 6 shows that
the solution ob tained with the e}','ponential for ce-defiection
variation which neglects hysteresis and the solu tion with the
linear-segment approximation to the tire characteri tics ar e
in fairl y good agreement with the re ult of the calculation
based on the exponential r epresentation of th e exac t tire
characteristics . The greate t differences between the solutions are evident in the time histories of upper-mass and
lower-mass accelerations; considerably smaller differences are
obtained for th e lower-order derivatives, a might be xpected. With regard to the upper-ma acceleration, the
three solutions ar e in very good agr eement dUl'ing the early
stages of the impact. In the case of the simplified e}''"ponential characteri tics, neglect of the decrea ed slope of the
force-defi cction ClU'Ve between the fir t break and the maximum (r egime in fig . 3 (a)) r esulted in the calculation of a
somewhat high er valu e of the maximum upper-mass acceleration than was obtained with the exact tire characteri tics.
For the simplified e}"-rponential and linear-segment characteristics, neglec t of hy teresis r esulted in tb e calculation of
omewhat exce sive value of upper-mass acceleration ub sequent to the attainment of the maximum vertical load .
It i of intere t to note that the calcul ated 1'e ult for the
exponential and linearegment characteristic without hy teresis were generally in quite good agreement with each
other throughout the entire dUJ'ation of th e impact, al though
the assumption of linear-, egment tire force-deflection characteristics did re ult in somewhat excessive values for the
maximum lower-ma s acceleration. On the whole, the
implified tire for ce-defl ecLion characteristics con ider ed permit calculated re ults to be obtained which represent the
behavior of the landing gear in normal impact fairly well .
Impact with tire bottoming.- In the case of tbe severe

impact at a vertical velocity of 1l.63 feet per second, the
effects of tire bottoming on the upper-ma acceleration, the
lower-mass acceleration, and the strut telescoping velocity
are clearly indicated in figUl'e 7 by the calculated r esults
based on the exact tire characteristics. As can be seen, the
linear-segment appro}"'imation to the tire deflection characteristics which takes into account the effec t of tire bottoming
resul ted in a r easonably good r epre entation of the landinggear behavior throughout most of the time history. On the
other hand, a might be expected, the calculations which
neglected the effects of bottoming on the tire force-deflec tion
characteristics did not r eveal the marked increa e in the
upper-mass acceleration due to th e increased stiffness of the
tire sub equent to the occurrence of bottoming. It is also
noted that the disc1'epancie in the calculated upper-mass
acceleration due to n eglect of hystere i in the later stages
of the impact are more pronounced in this case than in the
impa.ct without tire bo ttoming previously con ider ed, again
as might be expected.
EFFECT OF ORIFI CE DISCHARGE COEFFICI E T
In view of the fact that there i very little information

available r egarding the magnitude of discharge coefficient
for orifices in landing gears, it app ears desirable to evaluate
th e effect which differ ence in the magnitude of the orifice
coefficient can have on the calculated r esults. Figure
pre ents compari on of calculated r esults for a range of
value of the orifice discharge coefficient Oil. between l.0
and 0.7. The foUl' olutions pre en ted are for the same set
of initial condition a the normal impact without tire
bottoming previou ly consider ed and are based on the
exponential til' force-d eflection characteri tic which neglect
hy teresis.
21
A ALYSIS OF LA JDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR
-3.0
-1 0
~ - 2.5
-8
:~
.2
c
- 2.0
.Q
Q)
Cii
u
~-1.5
o
.~~ :.:......
.!.
Q)
a.
a.
~,:'"
, : ...........
'.
'.
0:..... ........
.............
::J
.............
Cd
-1 .0
"""
- - - 1.0
- - .9
.....
- - - - .8
.... ............ . 7
\\",,".
Or-----------------------~~~-----
- .5
.04
.08
.12
20~~L-~~~-~--L-~-~-~-L-~
.04
.20
.1 6
.08
.12
T ime of ler con i oct, sec
(a) Time hi torie of upper-rna

FI GU R E
" .
.....
".
acceleration and lo wer-mass acceleration.
8.-Effect of orifice di charge coefficient on landing-gear behavior; calculation with exponential tire characteri t ics
wit hout hy tClesis. V vo =8. 6 feet p er econd ; n=1.12 .
.8
10
.7
8
Upper moss
.6
Upper moss
.5
4
CI)
.E-
Q)
...........
~ .4
u
::.
'0
a.
<II
(5
.3
0
Lower moss
\.
.2
-2
.~
Cd
-- - --- - -
.1
................. ..
: :. --
1.0
.9
.......
-4
.8
.7
- 6 L_~-L__L-~-L__L-~-L__L(_b)~
.04
.08
.12
.20
.16
.04
.08
Time of ter contact, sec
(b) Time hi tor ies of landing-gear di placement and velocities.

FIG
28i845-54--4
.........'---
RE
8.-Co ntinued.
.12
.1 6
.20
22
REPORT 11 54-
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERO AUTICS
.6
.5
/
//
//
.4
1//
//
//
Q)
-"
"2
//
/ / I ..'
/ I .:
Vi
(I I
I I '
III:'
'II.:
II;.:
.1
W'
""
...... .. .......... ,,,~
........ ",
..... \
...... '\
'
'.
/:.1/ .:
//
:
I .:'
f;f I.': '
11/ ....
:'
//1 ....
.2
------ -------
/'
//-----"
// ........
I ....
1
'/ f ....
!;/
tn.3
Cd
- --
I.'
1.0
-.9
- - - - .8
.. .. 7
,/.. '
/I."
Y"
(cl
.04
.08
.12
.16
.20
.04
.08
.1 2
.16
.20
(c) Time hi, tor ies of shocktrut stroke and velocity.
FIGURE
S.- Concluded.
These calcula tions show that a decrease in the orifi ce disehf1.rge coefficient l'esulls in an approximately proportional
lllerease in the upper-mas acceleration. This variation is to be expected ince the smaller coefficien ts corr espond to rcd uced efi'ective orifice areas which result in
gr eater shock-stru t force due to increased hydraulic
r es istance . As a result of the increa eel bock-strut force
acting cio\\'nwarci on th e lower mass, th e maximum upward
acceleration of the lower mass is red uced with decreasing
values of the discharge coeffi cient. The increase in sbockstr ut force with decreasing cli scb ar o-e coeffi cient also re ults
in a decrea e in the str ut troke and telescopin g velo city bllt
an increase in the lower-mas velocity and di placement,
as might be expected. However , sin ce the increases in
lower-mas displacement and velocity are smaller than the
decreases in strut stroke and telescop ing velo city, the upp ermass displacement and velocity are redu ced with decreasing
orifice discbarge coeffi cient.
Tb ese comparisons show that the m agnitud e of the orifice
coeffi cient has an important efi'ect on the behavior of the
landing gear and indicate that a fairly accurate determi nation of the numerical valuo of thi param eter is necessary
to ob tain good results.
EFFECT OF AIR-COMP R ESSION P R OCESS
. ince tbe nature of th e air-compression proce in a hock

strut is not well-defin ed and different investigators have
assumed values for the polytropi c exponen t ranging anywhere between the ex tremes of 1.4 (adiabatic) and l.0
(isothermal ), it appeared desirable to evaluate th e importance of the air-compre ion process and to determine t he
('xtrnt to which different values of th e polytropic exponent
can influence the calculat ed results. Con equently , solution
have been obtained for three different value of the polytropic exponen t; namely, 71 = l. 3 , l.12, and O.
Th e value 71 = l. 3 correspond s to a very rapid compression
in which an adiabatic process is almost attained. Th e
value 71 = 1.12 corre ponds to a relatively slow compr es ion
in w b ich th e process is virtually i, 0 thermal. Tb e val ue
1. = 0 is completely fictitious since it implies constant air
pressure within the strut throughout the impact. The
assumption 71 = 0 ha b een consid er ed sin ce it makes one of
the terms in the quations of motion a constan t and permits
simplification of the calculations. The three solutions
presen ted are for the same et of initial co ndition as t he
normal impact without tire bottoming previously considered and are ba ed on the exponential tire force-deflection
characteristics which neglect hyster e i .
Figure 9 show that the air pres m e contributes only a
relatively mall portion of the total shock-strut force throughout mo t of the impact since the compression ratio is relatively small until th e later tages of the impact. Toward
the end of the impact, however , the air-pressure force
becomes a large part of tbe total force since the compre ion
ratio become large, whereas the hydraulic resistance decrea cs rapidly a the trut telescoping velocity i reduced
to zero.
23
Al ALYSIS OF LAN DING- GEAR BEH AVIOR
- 10
-8
~
N
:"
5
vi
Eu
.2
E4
.2
til
a.
a.
1.3
1. 12
:0
Q)
Qj
u
u
0
is?
2
Pneumatic
-2
<f)
Q)
-4
Q)
-6
.:
,9
til
I,
Q)
...J
"
\
"-
--=~
" ,
"'_"""'_=-=_=
______ ____ _______
4 -.......
.0 4
.08
.12
.20
.16
.0 4
.08
.12
.16
"-
"-
"-
\
.20
(a) Time hi to ries of upp r-mass force and lower-mass accelerat ion.
FIGURE
9.-Effect of polytropic exp onent; calculat ions with exponent ial t ire characteri tic without hy teresis.
VVQ=8.86 feet per econd; C d = O.9 .
.8
12
.7
10
.6
Upper moss
.5
til
Q)
E
~.4
.~
4
u
a.
til
OJ
Lower moss
>
~~
.3
"\ ,
.2
n
1.3
- --1.12
-- - - 0
.1
:-.
,
\
-2
\
\
.04
.08
.12
.1 6
--~
/
",
.20
/
",
-4
.04
.08
.12
(b) Time hi tories of landing-gear displacement and velocitie .

FI GU R E
9.-Continued.
.16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
24
REPORT 1154- JATIOI AL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS

.7
.6
,/
,..'"
,/
.5
//~
I.
/,
h
!J
.2
n
- - 1.3
- - - 1.12
---- 0
.1
tcl
.04
.08
.12
.16
.08
.20
Time after contact. sec
(c) Time hi tories of. hock-strut t rok e and velocity.

FIGURE
9.-Concluded.
A a result, the calculalion show that the magnitude of

Lhe polytropic exponcnt has only a very mall effect on the
behavior of the landing gear tlu'oughout most of the impact.
For th e practical range of polytropic e:;;.:ponents, variations
in the air-compression proce re ulL in only minor differences in landing-gear behavior, even during the very latest
stages of the impact. The assumption of constant air
pre UTe in the strut throughout the impact (n=O), however,
doe lead to the calcula tion of excessive yalues of stroke and
of the time to reach the maximum troke. The time history
of t.he hock-strut force calculated on the basis of this
a ump tion i , on th e other hanel , in quite good agreement.
'with the results for th e pracLical range of ail'-compre ion
processes.
On the whole it appears that the behavior of the landing
gear is relatively in en itive to variations in Lhe ail'compression proce . The foregoing result suO'O'e L tba t, in
maIW case, fairly reasonable approximation for Lhe landinggear force-time variation might be obtained even if the airpre ure Lerm in th e equation of motion were completely
neglected.
SIMPLIFICATION OF EQUATlO S OF MOTlO
The preceding studies hav e indicated that variation in the

tire force-deflection characteri tic and in th e air-compression
process indi,-idually h ave only a relatively minor effect on the
calcul ated behavior of the landing gear . These results sugO'e t that the equations of motion for the landing gear might
be implified by completely negl cting the internal ai.rpressure forces in the shock stru t and by considering Lhe tire
f01'e -defleetion characteristic to be lin ear . ,Vi th Lhe e assumptions, the equation of motion for the upper mas,
lower mas, and complete sy tern (eqs. (16), (17), and ( )) can
be Wl'i tten a follow for the co. e where the wing lift is equal
to the weight and the internal friction i neglected:
WI z l+ A(ZI- Z2)2+ W 2= O
g
lV2 Z2- A (ZI- z 2)2+ a z 2+ b- -VT'2 = O

g
(1 )
.. +
+ b-- O
g z?- az?-
.. +VV2
-lVl ZI
g
where
and
a slope of linear approximation to tire force-deflection
charactel'i tic
b value of force corresponding to zero tire deflection, as
detennined from the linearegment approximation to
the tire force-deflection characteri tic
The motion variabl es at the beginning of hoek-strut defl ection can be readily determined in a manner similar to
that employed in the more general treatment previou ly eli cussed. For the simplifi.ed equation the variable at the
instant tT are given by
..
W2
ZT=-W
(19)
I . 2 -W
ag
ZT J
2
ZT= -y Zo
In most cases the term ~fr z/ is small in comparison with Z02

so that ZT:::< zo.
25
N ALYSIS OF LANDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR

-3.0
-10
-2 .5
-8
t>,
'-....
:'"
o - 2 .0
:~ -6
o'
.2
.Q
Qj
u
u
~
~
.2
.Q
[)
-1.5
Q;
-4
Qj
<f>
<f>
<f>
<f>
;;; -1 .0
0.
0.
-2
I \
I ~--
I
3 /
::J
- - -- Solution of figure 4
Simplified system, W2 = 131 Ib
- - - - Simpl ified system, W2 = 0
- .5
o ~--------------------------~--------
(0)
.04
.08
.1 2
2~~--~~~
.16
.20
.04
__~~-L__~__~__~__L-~
.0 8
.12
.16
.20
T ime after can tact, sec
(a) Time histor ie of upper-rna

F I GU RE
acceleration and lower-rna s acceleration.
lO.-Evaluation of calG ulated results for simplified system .
The values determined from equations (19) are u ed a

ini tial condi tion in th e olution of quation (1 ).
The fa t tha t the lower rna is a relatively mall fr action of
he total mas suggests that th e y tern migh t be implified
even fur ther withou t gr ea t;ly modifyinO' the calculated re ul ts
by a uming th e lower mas to be equal to zero . Wi th this
a sump tion tT= O and th e ini tial value of the variables in
equations (1 ) corre pond to th e condi tions at initial contact.
EVALUATIO
OF SI MPLlFI CATIO
In order to evalua te the applicability of th e e implifications, the behavior of th e landing gear ha b een calculated in
accordance wi th equation (18) for an impact with an initial
ver tical velocity of . 6 feet per econd. A similar calculation ha b een made wi th the assump tion W 2= 0. The e
re ul t ar compared in figure 10 wi th the more exact olutions previously presen ted in fi gure 4, which include conider ation of the air-compre sion springing and th e exact
exponen tial tire ch aracteri tics. A time hi tory of the lowerrna s acceleration is not pre en ted for the case where TiV2 is
a tuned equal to zero ince th e values of Z2/g have no
ignificance in this case.
Figure 10 hows th at the two implified solution are in
qui te good agreement with each other, a migh t be expected,
and are aloin fairly good agreement with t he more exact
eglecting the air-pre ure force and a uming a
r ul t.
linear tire force-deflection variation r e ulted in the calculation of ligh tly lower value for the maximum upper -rna s
acceleration and somewhat higher value for the maximum
troke than wer e ob tained with the more exact equation .
V vo = 8. 86 feet per second; C d = O.9.
The effec t of neglec ting the lower rna wa primarily t o

r educe th e lower-mass displacemen t (tire deflection), a a
re ul t of the elimination of th e lower-m as iner tia reaction.
On the whole, it appear that the assump tion con idered
permit appreciable simplification of the equation of mo tion
without greatly impairing th e validi ty of the calcula tedresults.
GENER ALIZ ED T R EATMENT
Equations and solutions.- By wri ting the simplified equations of motion in t erms of dimen ionle s variable, generalized olution can be obtained for a ,vide range of landing-gear
and impact paramet ers which may be u eful in preliminary design. If W 2 is taken equal t o zero and it i
further a umed that the tire force-deflection cur ve i
represen ted by a ingle traight line through the origin
(b= O throughou t the impact), equations (1 ) reduce t o
-WI Z.. I +
A('ZI- Z2
')2= 0
A( zI- z 2)2- a z 2= 0
-WI Z.. I
(20)
+a Z2= 0
where WI, A , and a are con tant ,a pr eviously defined, aod

g
any two of the foregoing equation are ufficient t o de cribe
completely the behavior of the sy tern. With thi repre ent ation of the ys tem , the ho ck trut begin to deflect at the instant of initial contact (tT= O). Thus, the initial conditions
for equation (20) arc the initial impact conditions; namely,
zZo= Z2o= 0 and ZlO=Z 20= zo.
26
REPORT 1154-
ATIOI AL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERO
.8
Upper
.7
mass~
A TICS
12
--
10
.6
.5
Q)
~.4
a.
<f)
c5
.3
.2
O~----------~----~~------
.1
- - - Salulian of figure 4
- - -Simplified system , W2 = \31 Ib
- - - - Simplified system, W2 = 0
.04
.12
.08
-2 (b)
.20
.16
.08
.04
.12
.16
.20
(b) Time hi 'to l'ie of landing-gear displacements an d velocities.

FIGUR E
10.- Continued .
.6
.5
.4
.2
.1
- - - - Solution of figure 4
- - - - Simplif ied system, W2 = 131 Ib
- - - - Simpl if ied system, W2 = 0
(c)
.04
.08
.12
.16
.20
.04
.08
(c) Time histo ries of shock-strut stroke and velocity.

FI GU RE
lO.-Concluded.
.1 2
.1 6
.20
- -
- ----
- --
- --
-------- - - - -
27
ANALYSIS OF LANDII G-GEAR BEHAVIOR
As can be een, with the equations in this form, the solution
and
depends on five parameters, namely, W I, A, a, and the

g
initial co ndition Zo and zoo However, since zo= O in all

cases, the number of variable parameters is r educed to four.
In view of the fact that these parameters are indep endent of
one another and each may ts,ke on a large range of values, a
great ma ny solutions and a large numb er of graph 'would be
r equired to cover the entire range of landing-gear and impact
parameter with the equations in the form of equations (20).
The number of independent param eters which have to be
consider ed may be greatly decr ea ed by the introduction of
generalized dimensionless variablc and thc corresponding
tr an formations of equation (20). In thi ca e, generalized
variables can b e obtained which permit transformation of the
equati0n of motion to a form which do es not involve any
con t!1nts. With the equations in this form , there is oo1y
one variable parameter, namely, the initial veloci ty parameter . To determine the generalized variable which sati fSthe aforementioned r equirem ents, let
U=Zex
and
o= t(3
, du . ex
u=d o=z 73
and
II
du' .. ex
U =Te=Z (3 2
Substituting the e n ew variable permits equations (20)

to b e written as
-U2')2+ (~ Wg,I)
With the e n ew variables equations (20) can b e written a
Cut' -U/)2+Ut"
ut" = O
(20a)
(UI'-U2'Y- U 2=0
wher e any two of the e equations are sufficient to describe

the behavior of the y tem.
Ina much as equations (2 1) do not involve any cons tants,
their solutions are completely determilled by the initial values of the variables .
ince th e displacements at initial
contact UI O and U20 are equal to zero and the initial velocities
UI ' and U20' are equal , the only p arameter is the initial
O
dimensionless velocity
where uo' =UI O' =U20'.

Generalized solu tions of equations (21 ) are presented in
figure 11 for values of Uo' corresponding to a wide range of
landing-gear and impact parameter. Parts (a) to (e) of
figure 11 show the variations of the climensionle s variables
during the impact; part (f) and (g) show the maximum
values of the more important variables as functions of uo'.
Part (h) shows the hock- trut effectiveness 7J . and the
landing-gear effectivene s 7J !g. The shock-strut effectivene s, ometimes called "efficiency" and, in Europe, "planimetric ratio," is defined as
l~('~ du
"+(a/(3
W dg2) U2 = 0
The number of independent parameter will be l'educed

if all the combined con tants in equations (20a) are set
equal to one another, that i , let
a ex
(21 )
UI"+U2=0
UI
ex W I
=O}
, . jA2g
Uo =zo ", W 1a
Thu ,
(UI'
where
aj(3 2
A g= A (32 = Wdg
From this r ela tionship, it can be seen that

A
ex=Wdg
u,nd
ut"
maz
umaz
where U= UI-U2 is th e dimen ionless shock-strut stroke.

Since 7J a repre ents the r atio of the energy actually absorbed
by the hock trut to the maA'imum energy which the strut
could pos ibly absorb for any combination of ma}rimum
acceleration (or load) and maximum stroke, it serves a a
m easure of the extent to which a given combination of
maximum load and stroke has b een utilized to absorb the
energy of an impact. A similar measure of the en ergy
absorption effectiveness of the landing gear as a whole is
given by 7Jl g which is defined by
Thus the generalized variables become

1] !g
, Equations (21) may be reduced to a single equation in one variable by diiIerentiating the
last equation and substituting for U2' in the first equation. This gives (u,'+u,m),+u,"=O.
By introducing tbe new variable w=uI', tbis equatlou may be reduced to the second
order equation (w+w"),+w'=O, subject to tbe initial conditions wO=UQ' ~nd WQ'=O.
28
REPORT 1154-
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTI CS
-6
1/
-5
C
Q)
E
Q)
a.
V>
c'
.9
ea;
E,
Q)
Q)
.2
V>
V>
Q)
Q)
c0
Q)
-3
::>
V>
V>
(5
c0
in
c
Q)
E
IV
'I II /
-2
/ 11 /
1/
h 1/
r/
./
v-
I~ ~ v
/'
V-
i"'-- t'-...,
'"
"\
" '\
"" '"
I-- I---
t-
-t-
l'---
r-- r- r-
- r--
r-
.5
1.6
2.0
Dimensionless time , B
1.2
"f'.
r- I---r---
'\
~
"'t::::,
1.5
"\
I'-- i'--
-"" ~ ~
"'"
"'",
5:---
./
''\
'" '"
----
V
/
.8
.4
--
~V
./
jjj t% V:: j....--I -
1// I V V
~G
I
AllV V / ' V
fj ll l 1
I
/ V
J-1
(5
-I
/ I
1/ / 1/
1/
/ / I
a.
a.
in
1/
I I
V>
V>
V>
V>
-4
u
u
'0
E,
Q)
=",-
::,
--
(jo' = 8
"t'---
\
\ \
1\
1,\
\ ~
1\
1\
I""
1"'-
"'"
1\
\ 1\
l"\ '\ 1\\
"['-..,
1'\ ~\ f\
1
, \ f\.~
"I'--"'-.
r-- 1-I"'" ~ ~
t--r-- t- t:::::::- t--- r-- """ ~ ~
'"""
2.4
~~
(0)
3.6
3.2
2.8
(a) R elat ionship between upper-mass a ccelerat ion, lower-mass displacem ent, and t ime.
F IGU RE
ll .- Generalized solutions for implified system .
.5
(b)
.4
.8
1.2
1.6
2.4
2.0
Dimension less time ,
(b) Relation hip between upper-rna

FIGU RE
2.8
8
displ acement and t ime.
11 . -Continued.
3.2
3.6
4.0
29
ALYSIS OF LANDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR

1.0
r....... ~
I:
.8
,
Yo
__ .5
~~
~~
l\~ ~ ~
.4
'"
.Q
l=o
.2
uo'
3.0
I--
4.0
I-- 5.0
f- f-- 6.0
-.2
f-- f--
7.0
f- 1--8.0
"" "I'..
~~
I ~ ~ f\."~~
~
,'"
rx
'
,' ' '
" N,
''
'
,
'
,,
., , '
5.0
,
, , , , / 6.0
,
: 7.0
, ', /
8.0
,, " ,
,,
/~
' ~/ ,
, ' " , '-,.. '
~ , , ..... 1... /, ... ">
,
I'> 'IX~ 1\" xx.

, ,
,',," '
//~~~
'/ -4.0
, ,
,, ,
"""" i"---.
, ,,
/ .2.0
, , / / 3.0
'' , '
--
. . . . 1"--- ........
~ ~ '/ K>~/ "

''''''--r--...
~ k'\) ",y' ~
"'
I'--~
~ k~
~ 1\" ,"\ 1\
---.
r-- l:::::::,
l - f-
""
I""
f'-.-
t-- t-- t--
r- t--I~ K\ ~~
k ,
,
~"'\ I"" i"-, "I'-r--,/
~
., .'
~
tx~
rx::
K ~
~ l'\
~
,
,I'-- r-...
'\ ~\ [\ l\. 1""-.-- -- - - - . f>< - K ~ ~ ~
---.
- --- -- - - - / "'; r( ~ ~
r- r-"~
1\\
~ f\. ~
-.......
- -- --.,
~ "- ~ ~
I" "
I\,
~
I"--- .
"-- '\
t--!-~~~
.
~ l\ ~ 'r-,,,",
'\
--.
r--"""'ll
,.
.
V /. 1.1'
~
"-- "I\;
V
1'--- b I-~ ,.....
"\ J0 ~ 1""'-V7 V
- ,,,.
.5
1.0
I-- 1-- 1.5
o I-- 1-- 2 .0
Yo'
'\l"0 t\
'\ ~t\
\ '\ 1\1\ ~
~\; '\ f'v ~~ ~
f\ ['\'\
'\ '\ ,\
1\
~~
I~~~
\ \ 1\ 1\\ ~~
\ 1
"'1\ ,\: ~
1\
- / 1.0
- _1.5
/
/
~~~
\,,,,
'u
'"
~~
\\, '\['\ ~
/\ 1\ 1\'\ \ ['\\ ~
.6
Upper- mo ss veloci ty
~ ~~ ~
\ l\\[\'\ ~
\/\ '\ l\ ~\ ~
'" ,
~~
\\\\\ ~ ~
,
YI
..';
rx
---..
'"
"'"
- ---
"
u2
Uo
Lower-moss veloci ty - ,
t---I"'--
~'\
I": '"
.......
~ I'--~ ~ I"--- t-~ ~ ]'-....... ---.

~ ~ r-~ ~ r-r--f":: ~ t-1"-,"'"
"
"
- .4
k- +-
.8
1.2
1.6
2.0
Dimensionless time,
2.4
vv
b=
--
P< t-- .LV /

"-...
/[J
l'-. I"-- ...... < V
V L
1'-- J'-,. I"'-]'-.......
r::::: t---
.4
l--
t><
--- k
I-- p<-. V
2.8
LZ
7
J:/V
t:::V
(c)
3.2
3.6
4 .0
(0) R elationship between upper-rna s velocity, lo\\,el'-mas, ,elocit.l', and time.

FIGURE
n .- Continued.
The generaliz d re ults pre ented in figure 11 3 can be

u d to e timatc the performance of a given landing gear of
lmown configuration for particular impact con lition or to
choose the dimension for a landing gear when the impact
conditions and de ired performance are specified.
Applicability of solutions.- To illustrate the applicability
of the generalized olution , the curves of figure 11 have
been applied to the previously con idered ca e of the normal
impact at an initial vertical velocity of . 6 feet pel' econd
for compari on with the more exact solution presented in
figure 4. In order to make u e of the O"eneralized solutions
3 Although tlmehlstory solutions are presented C
or values of uo' as small as 0.5, It will be
noted that values of 'alma ,., O" moz , '1" and '1h are not given for values of uo'< 1.5. It can be
seen from the time Ilistories tl.at the cbamcteristics oC the solution in the later stages of the lmpact change as uo' becomes small ; i.n particular, 1.1 increases and tuo curve of 161 mo. as a Cunction oC uo' appears to react. a min imum at some value oC uo':;>J.5. Furtbermore, the lat~r
stages oC tho solutions gl'oatly stretch out in time and appear to be almost asymptotic in
character. Several dlITerent analytical, numerical, and analogue methods were applied in all
attempt to stndy this pbase of the problem Curther but the extremely ~low rate of change oC
the variahles in tbis region prevented successlu] completion oC the solutions.
2 7 46-54---4
it i fir t necessary to approximate the tire force-deflection

characteristic by a imple linear variation. Two such
lin em' appl'o.>..imation which might be considered suitable
for this purpo e are shown in figure 12. Linear approximation I i a traight line through the origin having a slope
a= l .5X 103 pounds per foot (a ' =ad= 41.6 X 103 lb) . This
value of a and the other pertinent landing-gear and impact
parameters result in a value of the initial dimensionless
velocity parameter uo' = 2.57. Linear approximation II is
a straight line with lope a= 21.3 X 103 pounds per foot
(a' = 47.9 X 10 3 lb) which does not pa s tm:ough the origin
but inter ect the eli placement axis at a value of
z\pv g_o)=O.0508 foot. With this value of a, uo / = 2.39.
ince the solutions of figure 11 have been calculated only
for integral value of uo', curves for the foregoing values of
uo l wer e graphically inLerpoiated by cros plotting. These
re ult were then converted to dim n ional value by multi-
30
REPOR'l' 1154-
NATIO AL ADVI ORY COMMITTEE FOR AERO AU TICS
-6
"'" "
-5
/'
)!J/
:0)
.--4
~
/I
--..
o X1 /
u =8
-.......
OJ
u
u
I II /
o
OJ)
OJ)
II I I Y
'/ /
~ -3
OJ
a.
--..
--
'-.."
:>
OJ)
OJ)
.'!!
c
.~ -2
WI I
OJ
E
"c5
Ij
II /
'I
'/--
Y"
_I
-....
.5.......... '-..
""
'"
\
"\
1\
\
i\
I \
I~
\
\
\
\
1\
\
1\
1\
1\
\
1\
1\
1\
'\
1\
1\
D..
f\
I\.
'" 1\
1\
" '\
l ~"
//'
--..
"~
1\
"'- f'..
I 'I / 1
II If/ A
111II V
Cl
'" \
"" "\ \
"" ""
/ l'
.'!!
"'"
\
\
(,l -
\
7
10
Dimensionless strut stroke, <r
(d) R e lat ion hip between upper-mass acceleration and stru t strok e.
FI GU R E
D.-Con tinued .
plying the dim ensionles variable by the appropriate

constant . The re ults obtained arc compal'ed in figure 13
with the more exact solution presented in figure 4. The
values based on linear appl'oximation I h ave been plotted
exactly as determined from the generalized olution. The
1'e lUts for linear approx imation II, how vcr, have been
displaced r elative to the ol'igin of coordinates a indicated
in the following di cll ssion.
The a umption of lineal' approximation II implies that
Lhe system must move a di tance equal Lo Z2(Fv g =0) after
initial conLact (at constanL yelociLy since the wing lift is
taken eq ual to Lhe weight) before any finite gl'oundreaction
can develop. The lerivation of the equations of motion ,
on the other hand , as ume that Lhe ground react ion increa es lin early \\'iLh deflection from the instan t of initial
contact. As are ulL, the equations of motion do not apply
until aftrr the ystem h a attained a di plRcemrnt equal to
Z\F Vg=O)' which occurs at a time Rfter inilial contact
Z2 (F V g-O)
V Vo
In ocher words , [he equRlion
of moL.ion
apply to a coordinate sy Lem tran sformed so that the tire

force-defl ection r elationsh ip pa es through Lile origin; that
is, a coordinal e system di placrd by Z2(F V g =0) l'ela Cive [0
th e coordinate y Lem originating at the point of initial

contacL. It thereforc follows Lhat the upp er-mass an 1
lower-mass di placements determined from the generalized
solution for the ca e of lineal' approximaLion II mu t be
increased by a con tanL amounL equal to Z2(FVg~0)' in this
ca e 0.050
foot , and all resulL
lime by u con lant iner menL tlt =
rou t be displaced in
;g
Z2(F
=0)
,in Lhis ca
Vo
8~5~
= 0.0057
econd, rdative to the in Lant of initial
contact. The e cOlTec Lion hav been incorporated in plotLing the curve for lineftr appl'oximation II bown in figure 13.
As can be seen, the res ult oblained by applicaLion of the
generalizcd ol u tions, parlicularly b)' the method employing
linear approximalion II , arc in fairly good agreement with the
more exact oluLion. Th e di cl'epancies which exi tare
atLribuLable to the neglec t of th e ho ck- truL preloading and
pringing provided by th e air-pre ure force, n eglect of the
lower mass, and Lv difference between tb e very simple tire
fOl'ce-cle[lec tion relation hips a umed anel the exact tire
characteris tic. On the whole, iL app ear that the generalized result ofrer a mean for rapidly estimating tb e behavior
of th e landing gear within r easonable limits of accuracy and
may Lher efol'e b u eful for preliminary de ign purpo es.
ANALY IS OF L
31
DI G-GEAR BEHAVIOR
6
I.----
uo'=8
/""
5
,/'
./---- --
, / //""
,/
./
/
~
V>
V>
./: ~ ,/'
[ -3
~
a.
::J
~V
..Q1
o
'in
ij; - 2
E
(5
~ ;.-/
~v
A ~V
~
-I
~ ~V
.~
/'"
~ ::--
~ I
--2...
'"
--
/
/
II
I
/
/
7
/
V
II
/
/
/
II
1/
Ii
/
I
I
3
//
II
I.----
/""
1\
:\
-....., ~5
/""
~v
~ ;::/ /'" ----
/'
,/V
R~ /' /'" v/"

~ ~ /""
A ~ /""
3
V>
V>
'/
"'J7
(e)
/
7
Dimen sionless upper - mass displacement,
10
u1
(e) R elat ion hip betwe n upper-mass acceleration and upper-rna s di placement.
FI GU RE]
l.-Continu ed.
SUMM ARY OF RESULTS A D CO CLUSIO S
A theoretical study ha been made of the bebavior of tbe

conventional type of oleo-pneumatic landing gear dming the
proce of landing impact. The basic analy is i presen ted
in a general form and treat the motion of the landing gear
prior to and sub equen t to the beginning of ho ck- trut
deflection. In the fil' t pha e of the impact the landing gear
i treated a a sinO'le-degr e-of-freedom sy tern in order to
determine the conditions of motion at I.he in tant of ini I.ial
ho ck-st.rut defl eetion, after which instant tb landing gear j
con ider ed as a y tern with t wo degr ees of freedom. Tb e
equation for the two-degree-of-freedom ystem con id r
uch factor as the hydraulic (velo city quare) resis tance of
tbe orifice, th e for e due to air compre sion and internal
friction in the hock trut, the nonlinear force-defl ection
characteri tic of the tire, tbe wing lift, the inclinal.ion of the
landing gear, and the effect of wh cl spin-up drag load .
The applicability of the analysis 1.0 actual land ing gears
ha been investigated for the particular ca e of a verLical
landing gear in the absence of drag load by comparing
calculated r esults wi Lh e::\.'])erimen tal drop-test cI aLa for C01'1'eponding impact condition , for both a normal impact and a
evel'e impa tin oIving tiro bot t()ming.
tudies have also been made to determine the effecL of
variation in uch parameter a th e dynamic force-d flection
characteri tic of the tire, the orifice di charge coefficient, and

the effective polytropic expo nent for Lhe air-compre ion
proce ,which migh t no t be known accmately in pract,i cal
de ign problems.
In addition to the more exact treatment an inve tigation
has also been mad e to determine the extenL 1.0 which the
basic equal.ions of mo tion can be implified and still yield
u eful results. Generalized solution of th e implified
quation obtained are pre en ted for a wide range of landinggear and impact parameters.
On the basis of th foregoing sLudie th e following conclusion are indicated:
1. The behavior of th e landing gear a calculated from the
ba i.c eq uation of moLion \Va found Lo be in good agreement
with experimental drop-te t data for the ca e of a vertical
landing gear in the ab ence of drag load, for both a normal
impact and a severe impact involving tire botLoming.
2. A st ud y of the effect of variation s in the force-deflection
characteri t ics of Lhe ire indicate that
a. In t.he case of a normal impacL withouL Lire bo ttoming,
rea onable variation in the force-deflection characteristics
of Lhe tire have only a relatively mall effect on Lhe calculated
behavior of Lh landing gear. Appl'oxirnaLinO' the rather
C'o mplicated force-deflection characteristic of the actual tire
by simplified exponential or linear-segment varia tion appears
- - - -- --
32
- -- --
REPOR'r 1154-
- --
NATIO AL ADVISORY COMMI TTEE FOR AERONAUTI CS
-6
JI
/V
-5
"~"
=",-
-4
Q.l
vu
1.2
Q.l
0.
-3
,/
a.
:J
Q.l
!/
<J)
Vl
Q.l
C
0
in
E
E
:J
x
0
Q.l
.8
E
15
/
v"
I max
-I
/'
/V
VV
--- ----
/'
L/
Q.l
/'
I
I
<J)
<J)
Q.l
/V
.4
lL
-2
E
:J
E
x
Q.l
.--V
C
0
in
c
<J)
<J)
-.
Cl>
C
.2
8("
UI max )
VV
c-
1.6
(fl
Initial dimensionless velocity, vo'
(f) Variation of maximum upper-mass acce leration and timc to reach maximum upper- masR acceleration with ini t ia l ve locity parameter.
FIGURE
11.-Continued.
to be ad equate for practical purpose. Tire hystere i was

found to be relatively unimportant.
b . In the case of a evere impact involving tire bottoming,
the use of implified exponential and linear-segment approximations to the actual tire force-deflection characteri tics
which neglect the effects of tire bottoming, althouo-h adequaLe
up to the in tant of bottoming, fail to indicate the pron01.llced increase in landing-gear load which l'esult from
bottoming of the tire. The u e of exponential or lin arsegment approximation to the tir e characteri tic which
Lake into account the increa ed LifIness of the Lire tha t reult from bottoming, however , yields good r esult .
3. A study of the importance of the discharge coefficient
of the orifice indicates that the magnitude of the eli charge
coefficient ha a marked effect on the calculated behavior of
the landing gear; a decrea e in the discharge coefficient (01'
the product of the discharge coefficient and the net orifice
area) r esults in an approximately proportional incroa e in
the maximum upper-mas acceleration.
4. A study of the importance of th e air-compre sion proce
in the shock strut indicate that the ail' pl'inging i of only
minor ignificance throughou t mo t of the impact, and that
variations in the effective polytropic exponent n between the
isothermal value of 1.0 and the near-adiabatic value of 1.3
have only a secondary effect on the calculated behavior of
the landing gear. Even the assumption of constant air

pressure in the trut equal to the initial pre Ul'e (n= O)
yields fairly good r esult , which may be adequate for many
practical pillpO e .
5. An investigation of th extent to which the equations of
motion for the lanelino- gear can be simplified and still yield
accep table calculated r e ul ts indicate that, for many praclical purpo es, the aiI-pre ure force in th hock trut can
1 e completely neglected, the tiI'e force-defl ection relationship
can be assumed to be linear , and the lower or un pnmg rna
can be taken equal to zero.
6. Generalization of the equations of motion for the
implified system de cribed in the preceding paragraph
hows that the b ehavior of this y tern i completely determined by the magnitude of one parameter, namely, the
dimensionles initial-velocity parameter. ,olution of these
generalized equation in term of dimen ionle s variable
permit compact r epre entation of the behavior of the sy tern
for a wide range of landing-gear and impact parameter )
which may be useful for rapieUy estimatino- landing-gear
performance in preliminary de ign.
LANGLEY AERONA UTI CAL L AB ORAT ORY,
N ATIONAL ADVI ORY COMMI'l'TEE FOR AEROI AUTI CS,
L ANGL EY FIELD , VA .,
May 1, 1952.
33
10
~v
ti 8
b~
ti
~
-ti
U'mOK /
Ol-
Q)
'6
Vl
Vl
Q)
e0
'iii
Q)
'6
E
::J
E
...---::
V "'----- ----
V
V
---~
:2
I
V
,--- V
---
----
---- ----
--- ----...-------
umo x
./
'x
/'
...-----
I
2mOK
---...----- --~
0.
Vl
Q)
/'
/'
...----/'
(9)
o'
Initial dimensionless velocity, u
(g) Var iation of maximum uPl CJ'- mas di placem cnt, maximum 10\\' r-mass diflplacemcn t, a nd maximum t.r u t. strokc with initial " eloc i(,y para meter.
FI G
HIC
ll.-Co ntinlled .
100
I
90
I
I
80
70
e .
Shock -s trut effectiveness, 7Js
--
I
-~
~ 60
Landing-gea r effec tl v e~ess, 7JU}
Q)
CL
~
VlVl
I,
50
Q)
Q)
~ 40
W
~-
I---
30
I
20
,
10
I
(h)
Initial dim ensionless velocity,
uo'
(h ) Variation of h oc k-. trll t efl"ect i" cness and landing-gear cffectivene. s with initial vcloci (,y param et er.
Fw
HE
11.-
oncilided .
34
REPORT 1 15-!-c-.rATIOKAL AD "ISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
5
-3.0
"'-- Exper imental :
VVo =8.86 fps
- 2 .5
c
o
u
'"
,,,-~
.E
~-
~3
.E
>'"
.2
- 2.0
-0
- 1. 5
'"uuo
2
OJ)
OJ)
IDI -10
.
a.
a.
=>
- - - Solut ion of figure 4

General ized solutions
- .5
/
----
t-- Lineor approxi mat ion ]I :

3
0 =21 .3x 10 Ibt lt
o' = 2.57
(0
=18.5 XI0 3)
- - uo' = 2.39 (0=21.3X I0 3 )

(0)
.2
.3
.5
.0 8
Tire deflection, z2' ft

FIG URE
12.- Lin ear app roximations Lo t ire force-defiection characteristics used in application of generalized olutions.
.12
.16
.20
Time alter contact , sec
(a ) T ime history of upper-ma s acceleration.

FIG li RE
J3 .-Co mpa rison of generalized res ults and more exact solution. \ "v o=. 6 feet per seco nd ; d= O.9 .
35
A.J.'<ALYSIS OF LANDI "G-GEAR BEHAVIOR
.8
12
.7
10
Upper moss
.6
.5
Q)
~ .4
Lower moss
a.
on
o
.3
2
Lower moss
O r---------~------~------
.2
Solution of figure 4
Genera lized solutions
.1
-2
vO' : 2.57 (0 : 18.5 X 10 3 )

VO' : 2.39 (0: 21.3 x 10 3 )
.04
.12
.08
(b)
.08
.20
.16
.12
.16
.20
(b) Time hi tories of landing-gear di placements and velocitie .

FIG U RE
13.-
ontinued .
.6
.5
.4
;::
oJ
oX
iii .3
'2
i.n
2
.2
Solution of figure 4
Generolized solutions
v o' : 2.57 (0 : 18.5 x 10 3 )
V ' : 2.39 (0 : 21.3 x 10 3 )
.1
.04
.08
.12
(cl
.20
.16
.04
Time after con tact, sec
(c) Time hi tories of hoc k- t ru t t r oke and veloc ity.

FIG U RE
13.- Concluded.
.16
.20
APPENDIX A
UMERrCAL I NTEG RATIO
As pl"('\' iou sl~' notpd, 1110 t of thp s pPC' ifiC' solutioll presented
in this J'('port \\'erp obtai IlPd \\'i t It a n 1I meri cal int egra tion
pro ce(iul"(" tp rmed the " linear procedure ," whi ch as L1mc's
changes in the yariablp to be lin ea r oYerfin.ite timl' int el'yals .
,Yith thi" pro ced lll'e a time interyal f= O.OOJ econd wa s
used in ord er to obtain the de ired accllracyfor the particular
cases co n ieiNed. A fe\\' of the s pecific oluti ons presented
\\'el'e obtained b y menns of a procpdurp, termed the "q uadrati c procl'dul'l' ," whi ch a s ume a quadratic \-al' iation of
clisplacempnt \\'ith time for s Licce SlY(' interval. Thi proceciure, altho ugh rc'q uirin g somc' \\'h at more comput in g time
prr int r n 'al, may prl'mit an in crea e in the int rryal ize Jor
a giYr n Hrcuracy, in om c' ca es allowing a l'e(\ucti onin the
total ro mputin g timC' required . In the case of the more
exact pquatio ns of motion the acc uracy of the CJuadratic proced urr wit lt a timc' intpryal of 0.002 econd appears to be
equa l to tltal of thC' lin ea r procrdure with an intetTal of
0.001 scco nd . Although tlte accuracy naturally ckC1'ca C'S
with increasing intl'rnll size , the 10 s in accuracy for proportionatp inc reasc's ill intC'ITnl izp appc'ars to 1)(, smaller for
th e quadratic than 1'0 1' the lin car procedure. In thp case of
the simplifi ('(l C'ftllatio ns of motion rpasonably s,lti ",letoI'Y
results \\'Pl"(' obtai ned in test comp ut ations \\-itlt thp quadratic
pl'ocC'ciul'e for int pl'Ya ls as la rgp as 0.01 scco nci , \\'I1('l'c'as til('
linea l' proc('(1LII'C' \\'a co nsi ci c'l'c'cl quC's ti ona bl p for int cl'Ya ls
lal'grr titan 0.002 ('(ond.
The ge nprali z('(l solut ions jH'psC'ntN[ , bccause of thc
l'elati\'('ly s im plc f01'111 of til<' <'qllnt ions of mot ion , \\'r l'P
obtain c'd \\'itll the \\,pll-kl1 o\\'n R u ngc'-Kutta pro('cdure .
A tud.\ of tIl(' all O\\'nble' int clTa l sizp l'Psl:lt ecl in tll(' l:sr of
all int('l'\'nl ~ 8 = 0 . 08 , \\'hidl ('o lTPspon ds to a tinl(' int('l'nJl of
al)01lt 0.00,'5 s('c'onel for t11(' I and in~ gl'fll' under ('on silil'rn t ion.
PRO CE D RES
tion. Ho\\'eyer , th e sam e gener al p roe-edul"e can be u cd if

the e, or other compli e-a tin g effects, arc included in th e
equations.
For the e-ase under cons ideration til equation of motion
(eq . (16 ), (17 ), and ( )) can he writt en a follo\\'
WI z l+ A(zl-z 2)2+ B[l-0( z l-z2)]- n+ D = 0

g
(AI)
Jl'2
g z2 -A(z l-z 2)2-B[l-0( z l- z z)]-"+ F v g (Z2) - 11'2= 0
(A2)
TVI z.. \ + H'2;.:.~2 + F' v ( Z2 )+ E1-- O

g
g
g
\\'lI('1'e
(A3)
A =~-- P h
I ~ I 2( Ccl A n)2cos<p
0= ~
1' 0
COSIO
D = Kl.. Tr -
n'l
E = 1I'(KL - l )
Soh -ing equation (A3 ) for
z\ gi,' cs
ZI=[FGzog
- IIF v g(z ..- )].lg
(A4)
whcre
l.IN EA R PRO CE D URE
In this s tep-b.,- tc'p procl'clul'e the yariations in elisplacel1H' 1l t , \-('loci t~', and accele'l'a t ion a re ass11med to be
lincar O\' CI' each finite time int e lT al~. The l1wthod, as
used , ilwoln's onp stage of iteration. Line'ar pxtrapolation
of the Vl'loe it~- at th c' end of an .,- intc'l'val i lIsc'cl to obtain
est im atC'C[ \'nlues of \'('locit,\' and di splacement [01' lll(' 11 rx[
interval. Th ese n1l1lPs are then u eel to calcllit1tp \' alues o[
the accple'nlt ion in Hccorel ancl' \\'ith tlH' equa t ions of motion .
In tegrnt ion of the accekrn t ion pro \' ielcs improH'el \-alue of
the w locity and , if de ired , the eli pla('emenL and accelcrntion. 1n thi pro('ec!l11'c' all intc'grations Sf'(' jWl'fo nn ecl b,'appl ica t ion of the t rnpc'zoiclal rule'.
The following clel'iYation illustrates the appli cation o[ thc
linear p1'oe('([u1'e to the equatio ns o[ motion [or the landin g
gear, ",hidl apply lib que nt to the beginning of sh oek-s tnl L
d efle ct ion at timc t r . In th e pxample p1'e cnt ecl internal
friC'lion fol'c'cs arc Iwgk ctc'd in ol'clc'r to implify thp clcriya36
IntpgJ'ating cquatio n (A4 ) \\'i ll! l'C' pect to t b('(\\'een the

limits l, and t and not ing that ZIT =zz,=z, gins
where T= (t-t, ).
Integrating aO'ain and notinO' that ZI,=ZZ,=z, g iy('s
ZI= (l + G)(Z , +Z ,T )+ !I; l _ G zz - lJ ( T ( ' F\'g(zz) dT dT
JoJo
(A6)
37
ANALYSIS OF LAl DING- GEAR BEHAVIOR
ub titutinO' for ZI and ZI in eq ua tion (A2) gives
(A7)
Th e motion of th e landing gear ub equ ent to Lhe beginninO'

of sho ck-s tru t deflection is determined by m eans of a stepby- tep olution of equaLion (A7 ). Tili numerical procedure
yields tim historie of th e lower-mass mo tion variables
22, zz, and i 2, from which the mo Lion variables for th e upp er
mas ZI, ZI , and 21 can be calculated by m eans of eq uation s
(A4 ), (AS ), and (A6 ).
Th e initial conditions for the step-b)T-s tep procedur are
appropriate inLegro li frerential equat ion for Lb e sys tem,

equation (A7 ) in the pre en t case. Thu
(A1 3)
In equaLion (A7) th e in tegral expressions can also be evaluated by appLi cation of the trapezoidal rule. For example,
when FVg( z2)= m 22T ,
(A )
('\'14)
and
wher e ZT, iT, and i T ar e th e condition s of motion at th e
b eginning of shocktrut deS.eetion as determin ed from th e
solu tion for th e one-degree-of-freedom system.
E timatecl va lue of th e lower-rna veloc i t)- at th e end of
Hi e fir t time incr em ent e following the b eginning of h ockstrut deflection can be obtained from the e"-'Pre sion
(A9 )
(AI S)
An improved value for th e velo cil)- is obtailll'd from th e
expression
(A1 6)
or, as a fir t approxima tion,
Th e corre poneling displacement is given b)(AlO)
After th e ini tial co nditions and Lh e conditions at the end

of Lh e first time incremen t are e tabE h ed, a tep -by-step
calculation of th e motion can be obtained by routine operations as indica tcd by the following gener al procedure which
applie at any time T= n e aft er Lhe begimling of the proce .
Th e operation indicaled are based on in tegration b)T application of the trapezoid al rule:
.",- n = Z.2n _ 1 +(.Z o- n- I z;
. )=.Z
Z 2n_2
2n _ 1
+ -2e ( Z..
2n _ 1
+ z?. -11-2 )
(All)
Z :n=Z2n_ I+~ ( Z2 n_ 1 t-Z:n)=Z211_ I+ eZ2n_ l+ :- (Z2n_ l +z~n_2)

(A12)
z:
Thi value is u ed in the calculat ion of the e Lim aLed velocity

n+ 1 and displacement zi n+ 1 for the next interval.
If desired, improved valu es of th eli placemen t and
acceleration for the nth interval ubseq uent to th e beginning
of sho ck-stru t defl ect ion can be obtained as follow :
i:
Wi th the e timaLecl values n and 2i n Lhe acceleration of

the low~r mas can be determined by substitution in th e
Z 211
.)
= 2 2,,- 1+2-e ( z?. - n- I+ z?
- l1
2
=Z2n_ l+ ez Zn_ I+: ( Z2"_ I+ Z2 ,,)
and
z,
= I ( Z2 n' z?-11' T)
"n'
11
(AI7)
(A I 8)
wh ere '/( 22 11 ,22 11 , T,,) is a n appropriate eq ua tion for the s)'stem,

uch as eq ua t ion (A7 ) .
W ith tbe values of 22 11 , Z2n' and zz", the moLion vari ables for
th e upp er rna s i l", ZI ", and 21" ca n be calc ulat ed eparately
h om equation (A4 ), (AS ), and (A6 ), a previou 1:\' noted.
In setting up tlw numeri cal procedure u cd in obtaining the
olutions pre ente d in this r epor t, an evaluat ion of the error
intro duce d by the procedure ind icated that it wo uld no t be
nece sa!"y to calculate the improved values of th e displacement 22" (eq. (AI 7) or the acceleration ZZn (eq . (AI . However , improved value of th e vcloc it:l- zZn were calculated by
- --
- - -- -
- --
- -- -- - - - --
REPORT ] 15-l-
- - - --
- - --
- -- - - - -- - - -
NATlONAL ADYISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTI CS
means of equation (A16 ) for th e purpose of determ inin g

estimated yalue of the velocity~ Z2 and the displacement z~
(e qs. (Al l) and (A12 )) for th e inc reme nt imm e di a tcl~T
foll owing.
In ord er to illustrate the appli cat ion of th e m et hod , a
tabular computing pro cedure fo1' tb e solu tion of th e sy (e111
represented byequa ti on (AI ), (A2 ), a nd (A3 ) is presented in
table 1.
Q ADRATI C PRO C EDURE
In th is s tep-by-s tep proced ure a q uaclr atic va riat ion of

eli placem ent is a sllmed OYer uC'c'e sin equal finite time
jnte n~a l s for the purpose of extrapolat ing Yalu('s o f t he
motion variable from one in ter val to Lhe n ext. Wi th thi s

a s umption the eli placf'ment vari at ion over two uccessive
eq ual time intervals is co mpl etely~ determined by th e t hree
y alu es of di splacement at tbe beginning and eod of each of
the two inLerval . By wriLing t he q uaclratic var iat ion in
difl'e1'en ce form , the velo city and acceleraLion at th e midpoin t
of the double interval can b e expre cd in terms of the three
displacement valu es previou ly~ m ent ioned.
llb Lituting for
the velo cit y~ and acceleration in the differential equat ions for
th e ystem y-ielcls differen ce equation of motion in term of
success ive d i placeme nt value "'h ich can b e evalu ated
int erval by intel'val.
I
TABLE I
LINEAR PROCED1.:RE
Row
Quantit.,
Procedure t
Equation
~--------------Z2 ._I+ ~ (Z2 ._2+ Z2 ._I)
CD
1-
----------~----- - -------~-~-
I
0"
D eter mined from tirc forecdcfi eet ion charact eri stic.
--------Equation ( A14 )
Equation (.-\ 15)
CD
Eq ualion ( A 7)
Ci" cn b~' equation ( A 7).
Eqllati on ( A'\ )
C:i\' cn by cq uation (. \ 1) .
Equatio n ( A5)
C:i\'(' n by cquation ( .\ ,5) .
Equatio n ( .-\6)
C:iv en b," equation (. \ 6) ,
t 0.
clcn o t c~
"alu c for prc"ious tim c int cn al.
- - -- -
- ----- ------------
- - - - - - - - - - - - --
39
A JALYSIS OF LANDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR
The following dcrivation shows how the procedure can be

applied to the determination of the behavior of the landing
gear ub equent to the beginning of hock- trut deflection at
time tr. In order to simplify the derivation, internal frictioD
forces are again neglected in etting-up th e equation of
motion.
The assumption of a quadratic variation of displacement
with time (constant acceleration) over two succes ive intervals, each of dm-ation f , permits ex-pressing th e velocity and
acceleration at th e midpoints of the double interval (sec
ketch) in terms of the displacemen t values at the beginning,
midpoint, and end of the double interval by the equations
(sce ref. 5, p. 16):
Z"+I - Z"_l
in
Zn+l
(A I9)
2f
and
Zn+ I-2z n+z n- 1
Zn=
f2
(n- il .
2.
n.
(n +l).
r =t-tT
(A20)
where zn, zn, and Zn are the velocity, acceleration, and displacement at the end of the nth interval (r =n f ) after the
beginning of shock-strut deformation and Zl1-1 and Zn+l are the displacements at the end of io tel'vals n-l and n+ 1,
respectively.
ubstituting the difference relations for iI, zz, iI, and 22 into equations (Al) and (A3) permits writing the equation
of motion for the landing gear in difference form as follows:
(A21)
and
Zln+l = 2ZIn - Zln_l - G( zZn+l- 2 Z211
+Z2 n_I)- I]f
Z
[
Fvc( zz .. ) +E]
(A22)
where the constant are as defined in the previous ection.

u b tituting for ZI n+, in equat ion (A21) O"ive
nt'+
ZZn+l= .8
gA\lj/Z [ 2WtTifTz-,14 W1 ZW z(g A W.8 n+l+ W I2W z)-gA l VZ(4 WI 2an+l+gA'Yn+I)]
(A23)
where
a,,+l = 2 liT1zZ2n - 1lj/2z21l_I-gfZ[ F v g( Z2,, ) + E]
.8n+1 = 21rzz 2n +(W,- W Z)Z2n_ 1 2WI( ZI" - Zln_l ) _gf Z[FvcCZ2n) +E ]
and
Equations ( A.22 ) and (A2 3) are e entially extrapolation formulas which permit the dcterm.ination of values for Lhe
upp cr-mass and lower-rna displacements to comc from the valnes of displacemcnt all'eady cal ulated. The e equat.ion
thus permit tep-l y-sLep calcul ation of th e displaccment a thc impact progresses, star ting with tbe initial condition ,
from which thc upp er-rna and lower-mass velocities and acceleration an bc detcrmined by means of equations (A19 )
and (A20 ).
, ince the calculation of thc displaccment ZI and Zz at. any in tant by m cans of cquation (A22 ) and (A23) requires
value for Lhe displacemcnLs at t\\~O prcvious instants, the routinc application of the c equations can begin only at thc
cnd of thc econd interval (7=2 f) following the bcginning of sho ck- trut deflection. Beforc thc di placemcnts at thc cnd
of the sccond intcrval can bc calculated, howevcr , it i nccessary to determinc the displacement at thc end of the fir L
intcrval. The c value' can bc obtained from the condition of motion at the in tant of initial sho ck-strut deflcction by
applying equations (AI9 ) and (A20 ) to thc instant t=tr.
40
REPORT 11 54-
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
the foregoing appl ication of the difference eq uation results

eli placement and
in iden l ical values for Lhe upp er-rna
lowor-mass di splacem ent at the end of tbe fir t interval.
Simultaneous solution of equations (A25) give Lhe fo11owinoexpl'es ion for lh e displacement at th end of the fiJ' t int erva l:
.\ 1 lhe instant of initi al bo ck-slrut deflection
Z,n=O =Z? ,, = 0 =ZT(

,
(A24 )
z ' n=O= Z2,,=0= ZT,
,>
Z2"= I =Z ' '' = I =Z T + ~ Z T+ ~
Z1 11 = 0 =29- 11=0 =2 'T
Applicalion of the difl'erence equation (A19 ) a nd (A20 )

lo th e ins tant l= lT (th aL i , n= O) g lYCS th e follo,,-ing
equation:
Since the land ing gear i con id el'ecl as a one-el eg l'ee-offJ'cedom sy tern from ini tial con tact up to th e ins tan t 1= IT,
TABLE II
Ql AD TIATJ C P IWCED RE
Equation
Pro cedure
_ _ _ __ _ 1
-------- -- --- --- ---------- \---- ---------------- --------- -
Eqllat ion ( ,\2 3)
Gi,'en by equation ( A23) ,
Equation (,\22)
Gi,'en b,Y cquation ( A22) ,
0-
Z2,1 + 1 - Z2 n _ 1
Z2 n + 1 -
+ Z1
n_ 1
~2
0 - 20 +0.
t o. dcnoLcs \'alu e for
(i) .
2-~-
2 Z2n
(A26)
'W ith the yalues for ZT and Z,,= I , eq nation (A22 ) and
(An ) permiL the tep-by-s tep calculation of Lhe upper-mass
and lo\\-cr-ma s di splacement ub eq uenlto lh cfi r l interval
following th e beginning of hod;:- [rut deflection, The
corrc poneling vclocitie and accelerations of Lhc upp er and
lowcr masses can bc determined from lh e calculated eli placem cnts b:v mean of eq ual ions (1'1..19) and (1'1..20), as prcv iousl)T
no ted,
A Lab ula.l' computing procedw'e illustrati no- Lho application
o f the method is prese nLed in Lable II.
(A25)
Quant it y
ZT
~2
pI' ,' ious lim e int cl'\'al.
41
ANALYSIS OF LANDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR

R
a,nd (A31 ) gives
GE-KUTTA PRO CE O HE
In tills tep-by- tep procedure the differences in Lhe dep r nd enL variables over any giv n interval of the indep endent
vuriable are alculated from a definite set of f'Jrmula , t he
sam e et of formulas being used for all in cr ement . Thu the
vu lu es of the variables aL th e end of any given in terval arc
completely determined by t h e valu e at the end of Lh e preceding interval. Unfortunately, h owever, unle s th e equatio n to bc integrated arc relatively simple, the m ethod ca n
bec'Jm e quite length y .
Th e followin g derivation illustrates the appli cation of the
Ru nge-Ku tta m ethod to the generalized equations of motion
(eq . (21 )) for th e implified ystem co n idered in Lhe section
on generalizrd results.
ince these equation s can b e r eadily
]'rdll ced t o the first order, th ey can b e integrate 1 by tho
tep-l y- top application of the general equati011 given on
p ages 301 and 302 of r eference 6 for fir t-order imultancou s
differ en tial equation .
The generalizcd equations for Lhe implified 8ys tcm prev iously discus od (eqs. (21)) arc
(A32)
wh er e
k 3= ( Wn_ t+~) t,O

k 4 = (w n -t
+l3)6O
Ina mu ch !is any tw of th e e equalion arc ufftcien t to

describ e the beh avior of t he y tern, only lhe la t two eq uations arc employed in t his pro cedure. Th e e equ ations can
be l"CClu ced to ~ fir t-Ol'der ys lem by introdu cin g th e new
variable
(A27 )
w = u, '
o t hat
(A2 )
w ' = Ut"
and the eq uatioll of mo tion b ecome
(W-U2' )2_U2=
O}
(A29)
W' +U2= 0
olvin O" equaLi ns (A29) for U2' and w', respecLively, give
(A3 0)
w' = -Uz
(A3 1)
pplying t h e general procedure presented in lh e r eferen e

p)'evioll , ly cited to the imllitaneous eqllation (A27 ), (A3 0),
7n 4 =
[ (W n _l + l3)- u2 n_t + m 3] /::"0
With this procedure , Ut, W , fLnd Uz can be calcula te d in

lep-by-slep fa hion from the yalue for the preceding interval, the procedure beginning with the initial condition.
From the e value, Ut', u/', and U2' can be calculated by
mean of equaLion (A27), (A2 ), and (A30), respectively.
APPENDIX B
SOUR CE OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Follo,,-ing i a brief de crip tion of th e apparatus and test

specimen used in obLaining the experimental data pre enLed
in thi report_
EQU I PMENT
The basi c piece of equ ipm nt employed in the te ts is the

carriage of the Langley imp act basin (ref. 7) whi ch provides
m eans for effectin g the con trolled descen t of th e te t pccimen _ In t hese tesls Lhe impact-basin carriage was u sed in
mu ch the ame mannrl' as a co nventional stationary landinO'gear Lest jig (see l'of. ). In order to imulate mechanically
th e win g lift forces whi ch usta in an airplane during landing
th e pneumatic c.dincler and cam s.\-ste m incorporal ed in lhe
carriage was usedlo apply a con tant lift force to lhe dropping
mass and landing gear during impact. Thc lif t force in the e
le ts was equal to the total dropping weight of 2,542 pounds.
TEST s PE c r ME N
The landinO' gcar uscd in the te l was originall.Y designed

for a mall milit ary traini ng airplane having a gro s weight of
approximately 5,000 pound . The gear i of eonnntional
can tileyer constru ction and incorporate a sta ndard type of
oleo-pneumatic ho ck strut. The wheel i filted with a 27inch type I (smooth-eon tour) lire, inflated to :32 pound per
quare inch. The weigh t of the landing gear i 150 pound .
The weigh t of t he 10ll'er mass (un prung weigh t) is 131
pounds.
In the present invcstio'ation Lhe gear was some,,-h at modified in th at the metcring pin \\-a removed and the original
orifice plate was replaced with one h avi ng a smaller oriflce
diameter. Figure 14 ltO \\' th e internal arrangement of thc
hock t ru t and prese nt detail of th e orifice. Oth er peltin cnt dim en ion are present ed in table III. The truL " 'as
fillcd with specification AX- YV- O-366B h.\-d raulie fluid.
The infl ation pre sure with the strut full.,- extended ,,-as 4:3.5
pound p er quare ineil . In these tests t he l anding gear was
mount ed with thc shock-strut ax i vert ical. Figure 15
is a photograph of the la ndin g gear installed for test in o.
TABLE III
nfP OllT.\.KT CII.\.ll.\ C'TEHI TICS OF L.-\.XDIXC CEAR
l: SED I K TESTS
.!la, sq ft
sq ft
I l o, sq fl
A,,,
ft __
Poo, Ib/sq ft
I" ft
12, ft
11'" Ib __
VO, Cll
W2, lb
42
O. 05761
O. O~708
_ O. 00055 5
O. 035-1-5
6, 20-+
O. 552 1
2. 2260-+
2, "I J 1
J31
STR ME TATION
A variety of time-history instrumentat ion was u cd during

the tests. The vertical acceleration of t he upp er mass wa
m easured by means of an oil-damp ed elec trical strain-gage
accelerometer having a range of g and a natural frequency
of 5 cycles p er second. A low-frequency (16.5 cycles p er
econd ) I A A air-damped optical-recording accelerometer ,
h aving a r ange of - l g to 6g, was u ed as a tand-by instrument and a a ch eck against the Lrain-gage accelerometer.
Another oil-damped train-gage accelerometer, having a
range of 12g and a natural frequ ency of 260 cycle p el'
second, wa used to determine the vertical acceleration of the
lower m ass. The vert ical di placement of the low er m ass
(tiro defl ection) and the shock-strut troke were m ea ured
separately b:v me an of variable-resi tan e lide-wire l)otentiom eter . rrhe vertical di placem ent of th e upper mass was
determine 1 by adclition of the strut-stroke and tire-deflection
m ea uremenLs. The vertical velocity of th e landing gear at
th e in tant of O'l"ound contact \\-as determin ed from the output
of an elemental electrom agnetic voltage generator. A time
history of the vertical velocit.'- of the upper ma s wa obtained b.,- m ech ani cally integr ating th o vertical acceleration
of the upp er mas ub equen t to the iostan!' of ground contacl. Elec Lri cal clir1"el"enti ation of the cu rrent oULput of the
truL-stroke circui t provided time-hi tory m ea urement
of the shock- t ru t lelescopin g velocity. The in tant of
ground con tac L wa de!'ermined by mean of a microwit ch , rece cd into th e ground platform, whi ch closed
a circuit as long as the tire \Va in con taot with th e platform .
The electrical output of the in trument s was recorded on a
14-channcI 0 cil1ograph . The galv anometer wore damp ed
to approximately 0.7 critical dampin g and had natural frequ encies high enough to produce virtually un ifol'm r esponse
up to fr equencies commensu r ate ,,-ith those of th e m ea uring
instrument ation. A (ypical oscillograph record i 110W11 in
figure 16.
It i believed th at the measurements obtained in the test
are accuraLe within the foll owing limits:
Measurement
Accu racy
Uppcr-mass accclc ration, g_ _________________ ____________
0.2
Fo rcc 011 upper ma"s, Ib _________________ _____ _________
500
Lowcr-mass accclcralion, g____________________ __ ____ ___
0.3
Ver tical " clocily at ground contact, fps_____ _
O. l
Uppcr-m ass "('locity during impact, fps _
0.5
Upper-mass displaccment, fL __________ ___ _ _ _______ _ 0.05
Lowcr-ma. " disp laccmcnt, fL ______________
_______ _ 0. 03
Shock-str ut st rokc, fL ____________________
_________ 0.03
Shock-s trut, tclcscopin f!; "('locity, fps_____ __
___ _______
0.5
T imc aflcr co ntact, CC ________________________________ 0. 003
At ALYSIS OF LANDI
G-GEAR BEHAVIOR
_----0
~_ v_-'_'
- ---------@
CD
Air valve
Lack screw
Branze bearing
Cannecting hole
Outer annular chamber
@- ----0) ---@ ------
Pistan suppart ing tube
----0 ------
@- -----
(J) ---@------
Fitting assembly flange

Outer cylinder
Inner chamber
@
@
@
Upper packing - ring spacer
13
Lower pocking-ring spacer
Spacer
Packing rings
Bearing nut
Wiper ring
Pistan
Orifice plate
@------ -
Lower chamber
19
@----@ ------ .;
@ ----@ -----
Inner cyl inder

End plate
Yoke collar
22 Yoke
23 Filler plug
@------
~---------~~--i,kI",'~~:_<,'/-'--"'-"~""'-"l.:~ ------- @
~ --------
--'
~~~~~~~~~
@)---------
0:
--- @
@- --- --i@---- :
I
I
0:
I
.250 -'
\- .2 50 R
1-0-- - - - - - - 2 .936 - - - - - -- --{
Orifice details
(Di menSions in Inches)
F roUlm 14, -
hock t ru t of lan din g gear tested at Langley impact bas in,
43
44
REPORT
11 54-
rATIONAL ADVISORY COMMI'lv!'EE FOR AEROI AUTI CS
REFERENCES
1. McPherso n, Alb r t E., Evans, J. , Jr. , and Levy,
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
amuel: Influence
of Wing Flexibility on Foree-Ti me R elat ion in Shock Strut Folio\\"ing Vertical Landing I mpact. NACA TN 1995, 1949.
towell, E lbridge Z., Houbolt, John C., and Batdorf, . B.: An
Evaluation of Some Approximate Methods of Computing Lan ling
Stresses in Aircraft. N ACA TN 1584, 1948.
Wall , Jame H .: Inv e. t igation of the Air-Compressio n Process
During Drop T e t of an Oleo-Pneumatic Lan li ng Gear. NACA
TN 2477, 19 -1.
Hur ty, Walter C.: A t udy of the Re pon e of an Airplane Landing
Gear Us in g the Differential Analy zer. Jou!". Aero. 'ci. , vol. 17,
no. 12, Dec. 1950, pp. 756-764.
outhwell, R. V.: R elaxation M ethod in Theo ret ical Phy. ics.
The Clarendo n P ress (Oxford), 1946.
carborough, James B.: Numerical Mathematical Analysi. econd
ed., T he Johns Hopkins P ress (Baltimore), 1950.
Batter on , idney A.: T he ACA Impact Basin and ,r ater Landing
T ests of a Float Model at Various Velocitie and ,,- ight. ~ A CA
R ep. 795, 1944. (up rsedes JACA ACR L4H15. )
i\Iilwitzky, Benj amin, and Lindquist, Dean C. : Evaluation of the
R educed-Mass l\Iethod of R epre enting W ing-Lift Effects in
Fr e-Fall Drop T e ts of Landing Gear. NACA T X 2400, 1951.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
FrcURE
I5 .-Vie,, of landing gear and instrumentation.
Callerio, Pietro: The Shock-Absorbing Sy tem of the Airplane Landing Gear.

JACA TM 93 , 1940.
Ko chano\\" ky, W.: Landing and Taxying ho ck With Oleo Leg
Undercarriage. British Min i t ry of Supply, TPR 3/TIB 2 Tran lation No. GDC 10/ 5250 '1', Nov . 1944.
::ltowell, Elb ri dge Z., Houbolt, John C. , and Batdorf, . B.: An Evaluation of Some Approximate l\Iethod of Computing Landing
Stresse in Aircraft. NACA TN 1- 84, 194 .
Schlaefke, K.: Zur I\:enntni der I\:raft\\"egdiagramm ,on Flugzeugfeder beinen. (On Force-Defl ection Diagram of Airplane
pring Stru ts.)
1. T cilbericht: Vergleich von Diagramm en mit lincarer und CJuadratischer Dampfung. (Par tial R ep. No . 1: Compari on of
Diagram W ith Linear and Quad.ratic Damping.) T ech.
Berichte, Bd. 11, I-l eft 2, 1944, pp. 51-53. (Translation
ava ilable from CADO, \"\' right-Patterson Air Force Base, a
AT! 27004. )
2. T eil bericht:
aherungs,erfahren zum Berechnen der J\:raftwegd iagrammc mit nichtlinearer Federkellnlinie und linearer ode r quadratischer Dampfung. (Partial Rep. No.2:
Approximation l\I ethod for the' Calculation of Force-Deflection Diagram \\' ilh a Kon-Lin ear 'I ring Chart and Linear
or Quadratic Damping.) T ech. Bcrichle, Bd. 11, I-l eft 4,
1944, pp . 105-109. (Translation available from CADO,
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as ATI 27031.)
3. Teilbericht: Der Landestoss von Olluflfederbeinen. (The
Landi ng Impact of Air-Oil Shock Abso rber. ) T ech.
Berichte, Bel. 11, HefL 5, l\fay 15, 1944, pp. 137-14l.
-~-'- I'
' "-
-r--'
45
ANALYSIS OF LA.t'<DING-GEAR BEHAVIOR
'1 --1-~
--
__ 0
f'
I
I'
Initial vert ical velocity
'\
Upper- mass displaceme nt
~"1'-#' '"'+
' .........
I ~.......-+-_~i
. ~;';'.":"":-+_""-""t'- .,
,:': . l ,
I
"
,i I i I; '
l"IG
Rl';
16.-Typical o. cillograph record obtained dur ing te~t in Langley impact basin.
chlaefk e, E.: Zur I\:en nlnis der \\'echselwirku ngen zlyischen Feder bein
und Reifen beim Lande -toss Yon Flugzeugfahnl' rken . (On R ecipro cal Effects BetlYeen Landing Gear and Tire in Landing Impact of
Airplane Undercarriagcs.) T ech. Beri chLe, Bd . 10, H eft 11, Nov.
15, 1943, pp. 363-367.
i\[arquarcl, E ., and i\Ieycr zur Capcl\en, 'Y.: Nahe rungsll'eise Berechnung dcr zw ischen Fahrgestell und Ru ml f beim Landen auftretenden F ederkraft e. (Approximate Calculation of the SJ10ck-Strut
Forces Occurring Betwee n Landing Gear and Fuselage in Landing. )
FB Kr. 1737, D utsche Luftfahr tforschung (Berli n- Adlershof) , 1942.
Marquard, K , and Mey r z ur Cape llen, , V.: Saheru ngs lI'ei e BerechnLlng del' zll'ischen Fahrge tell und Rumpf b('im Lande n auftrete nden F ecler ungskrilfte. (Approx im ate Calculation of the hockStru t Forces Occurring Betwee n Landing Gear and Fuselage in
Land ing.) FB N r. 1737/ 2, D e utsche Luftfahrtforsch ung (Berli nAdler hof), 1943.
Yo rgiad i , Alexander J .: Graphical Analysis of P erformance of H ydraulic Shock Absorber i n Aircraft Landing Gears. J our. Aero .
ci., vol. 12, no. 4, Oct. 1945, pp. 421-428.
T e mple, G.: Prediction of Undercarriage R eac tion . R . & i\I. No.
1927, British A.R. C., ept. 1944.
i\Iakovski , S. A.: A i\Iet hod of Shock Abso rber Performance Pred iction
,\' ith a Note on Its Application Lo Tricycle Ae roplanes. T:\f ::\0.
.:'IL K 1 3, British R.A.K, Sept. 1943.
Frankland, J. i\I.: Ground Loads in Carrier Aircraft. R ep. Xo. 7992,
Chance Vought Aircraft, Di v. of Un ited Aircraft Corp. (Dallas,
Tex. ), Oct. 20, 1949.
R ead ey, W. B ., and LaFa vor , S. A.: An Analyti cal MeLhod for Lhe
Des ign of Mete ring Pin. and Predict ion of Load 'L rok c Hislory of
Landing Gear . R ep. ~o. 1688, :'IIcD on neli Aircraft Corp ., 1\Iay 12,
19-0.
Berr y, F. R. , a nd Frick, R . P .: Theo ret ical D evelopment of Load
Factor Vs. Tim e Curves fo r Lhe DC-6 Main Gear. R ep. No. 21546,
Douglas Aircraft Co. , In c., Sept. 1, 1950.
Hur ty, \\Taltcr C.: A Ludy of the R esponse of an Airplane Landing
Gear sing the Differe nt ial Anal.vzer. Jour. Aero. ci., voL 17, no.
12, D ec. 1950, pp. 756-764.
i\Iasaki , :'II amo ru , milg, Bcn, and M oore, C. I\: .: The Prediction of
Ver tical Two- Wheel Landing JJoad. 1\IR ~o. T SEAC5-4595-2-1O,
Air :'IIaLeri el Com.man d, Eng. Dil'., U . S. Ail' Force, :'I1ay 28, 1946.
Fli:tgge, W.: La nding-Gear Impact. NACA T N 2743, 1952.
U. S, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFfiCE: 1954

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AKRO. & ASTRO.

NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

ANALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR

By BENJAMIN MILWITZKY and FRANCIS E. COOK

ANALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR

By BENJAMIN MILWITZKY and FRANCIS E. COOK

Langley Aeronautical Laboratory

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautic

HON. ROB ERT B. MURRAY, JR., nder eeretary of Commerce

HUGH L. DRYDEN, PH. D ., Director

JOHN F. VICTORY, LL. D., Executive Secretary

LANGLEY AERONAUTICAL LABORATORY,

AMES AERONAUTICAL LABORATORY ,

LEWIS FLIGHT PROPULSION LABORATORY,

ANALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR 1

This report present a theoretical turly oj the behavior of the

egment approximation.s to the actual tire jOl'ce-deflection

NA'rIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTI CS

Th e hock-ab orbing characteri tic of airplane landing

A ALYSIS OF LA DI:\fG- GEAR BEHAVlOR

time ulterval in numeri al integration procedure

vertical axis, positive downward

of ini t ial contact

MECHANICS OF LA DING GEAR

In view of the fa t that landing-gear performance appears

it can be sen that

REPORT 11 :j4-NA,]' IONAL ADVI ORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS

(b) Sche matic representation of Hhoek st rul.

(a) Sy. tem with LII"o degrees of fre eelom.

Flr.r R" l.- Dynamical

considered in analy. is.

and the tir(' muluall.l- influence the behayior of all(' anolher

From can iclrralion of the pressur s fl.cting in th e shock

Fs= PII(Ll, - A p) + Pa(A 2 - A ,)+ PaA p+ F f

inl ernal (Toss-srclional area of innrr cylindcl'

ANALYSIS OF LA TDING- GEAR BEHAVIOR

Forces on ou ter cylinder

Forces on inner cylinder

(c) Balance of for ce and reactions for landing-gear component .

REPORT 11 54-N ATIOl A L ADVISORY COMMITT EE FOR AEROI A UTI CS

This expre ion can al

Fs= (Ph- Pa) (A 1 - A v) + PaA 2+ F,

P"- Pa and the ar ea AI! which i subj ect ed t o t h e hy draulic

= (P.~- Pa) A h+ p(LA a+ F,

Th e h~~cl ra uli c r ('s islivlCP F" du c t o th e tel escopin g of tb ('

trokes by introdu cing the factor

to incl icate the sign of th e hydraulic r e is tance; thu

AJ.'l"ALY IS OF L NDI G- GEAR BEHAVIOR

leakage area around the piston may be of the same order of

The force due

NA'l'roNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AEROI A TICS

normaJ force on lower bearing (attached to outer

factor to indicate sign of fri ction force

forcl' normal Lo s trut applil'll at axle

P Va nrlical foree applied at axle

The normal force at the axk can therefore be expressed in

masses by the kinematic r elationship X2=(ZI- z2)tan <p , as

vert.ical force, applied to t ire at ground

AI ALYSIS OF LANDING-GEAR BEHAVIOR

Tire deflection, z2, ft

(a) Uniform coordinatcs.

It may be noled from figure 2 that e sentiall)' the same

hydraulic, pneumatic, and friction force , a gIven by

The inLernal axial force Fs prod uced by the ho ck trut