In this paper some of the results of a research project developed under the IMT Brite/EuRam financial support, devoted to cheek the feasibility of applying advanced composite materials to the retraction/extension actuators of a future largetransport aircraft main landing gear are outlined.During a first phase of the research activity a small size hydraulic actuator was designed and 3 prototypes were manufactured. The cylinder body was reinforced making use of the filament winding technology. Significant benefits were obtained by theintegration of the filament winding simulation software ARIANNA with a finite element structural analysis software. This allowed to develop a tool able to apply composite materials advantages, finite element design features and an advanced automatedtechnology like filament winding, that offers a great weight and cost saving potential, to highly loaded structural elements such as the landing gear actuators. After the evaluation and a careful analysis of the performances of the actuator, a secondactuator was conceived and developed. The larger size of this second type of actuator allows a best exploitation of the weight saving that can be obtained thanks to the use of composite materials for the reinforcement of the cylinder.
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