A simulation of the fatigue life of light aircraftglass fibre-reinforced composites landing gear

摘要

This study uses finite element analysis software to conduct simulations and compares the fatiguebehaviour of the aluminium alloy and glass fibre-reinforced composite that is used in light aircraftlanding gear. The maximum stress, maximum strain and deformation of landing gear of differentshapes (plate and tube shapes) are also determined. The results show that the compositelanding gear weighs 45% less than an aluminium equivalent. Of the samples tested, plate-shaped glass fibre-reinforced composite landing gear exhibits the lowest maximum stress undera static load. Regardless of whether the landing gear is plate- or tube-shaped, the maximumstrain and deformation for the composite landing gear are more than four times those for thealuminium alloy landing gear. The results for dynamic load show that plate-shaped glass fibre-reinforced composite and tube-shaped aluminium landing gear have similar maximumalternating stress under cyclic loading.