This paper examined the critical loading condition of a light-sport aircraft's main landing gear during the impact loading condition. The new category airplane was established by the FAA in 2004. The light-sport aircraft has great market demand for personnel entertainment purpose and regional transportation. The main object of this research was to establish a static and dynamic loading simulation model for the aluminum alloy landing gear of a light sport aircraft. This work also examined the critical loading parameters of the main landing gear, including the maximum take-off weight and maximum stall speed. The analysis was performed using ANSYS and LS-DYNA to establish the finite element model after simplifying the geometric characteristics and verifying the results by energy conservation, hourglassing energy, and sliding energy. The study tested aluminum plates with a thickness from 15~25 mm. The results showed all the samples could sustain the required loading condition, except for the thickness of 15mm that failed under impact loading. The simulation model provides a cost-saving process compared to a real crashworthiness drop test to test the main landing gear's compliance with regulations.
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