CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Types of Landing gear
4. Literature review
5. Methodology
6. Manufacturing methods
7. Design approach
8. Experimental procedure
9. Advantages of Landing gear
10.Disadvantages of Landing gear
11.Applications of landing gear
12.Conclusion
13.References
 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

1. Abstract
Landing gear is a vital structural unit of an aircraft which enables to take off and land safely
on the ground. A variety of landing gear arrangements are used depending on the type and
size of an aircraft. The most common type is the tri-cycle arrangement with one nose landing
gear unit and two main landing gear units. Even during a normal landing operation heavy
loads (equal to the weight of an aircraft) are to be absorbed by the landing gear. The landing
gear is the principle support of the airplane when parked, taxiing, taking off, or when
landing. The most common type of landing gear consists of wheels, but airplanes can also be
equipped with floats for water operations, or skis for landing on snow. Landing gear
employing a rear mounted wheel is called conventional landing gear. Airplanes with
conventional landing gear are sometimes referred to as tail wheel airplanes.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 2

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

2. Introduction to Landing Gear Arrangements

The landing gear of modern Aircraft - tyres, wheels, brakes, shock struts and associated
retraction equipment - represents a substantial unit of an aircraft. In Aircraft landing gear is
meant for absorbing energy while landing with specified descent velocity and for taxing and
towing.
Aircraft is machine that is able to fly from one place to another place. In 1910 Wright
Brothers build machine which is able to fly for 59seconds, which is very short duration but it
is first milestone for development of aviation. Further many researches were made to
transport the goods and passengers. Then it is brought into business for transportation. And
also used in military for air support, thus many fighter planes are developed. An aircraft is a
machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air or in general, the atmosphere of a
planet. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift
of an aero foil. The human activity that surrounds aircraft is called aviation. Landing gear is
one of the critical subsystems of an aircraft and is often configured along with aircraft
structure.
The primary functions of a landing gear are as follows:
1. To keep the aircraft stable on the ground and during loading, unloading, and taxing.
2. To allow the aircraft to freely move and maneuver during taxing.
3. To absorb the landing shocks during landing operation.
4. To facilitate take-off by allowing aircraft acceleration and rotation with the lowest friction.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 3

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

3. Types of Landing Gear:

1. Tail wheel - type Landing Gear.
2. Tandem Landing Gear.
3. Tri-Cycle Type Landing Gear.
4. Fixed and Retractable Landing Gear.

Tail Wheel – Type Landing Gear

Tail wheel-type landing gear is also known as conventional gear because many early aircraft
use this type of arrangement. The main gear are located forward of the center of gravity,
causing the tail to require support from a third wheel assembly. The resulting angle of the
aircraft fuselage, when fitted with conventional gear, allows the use of a long propeller that
compensates for older, underpowered engine design. The increased clearance of the forward
fuselage offered by tail wheel-type landing gear is also advantageous when operating in and
out of non-paved runways. Today, aircraft are manufactured with conventional gear for this
reason and for the weight savings accompanying the relatively light tail wheel assembly. The
proliferation of hard surface runways has rendered the tail skid obsolete in favor of the tail
wheel. Directional control is maintained through differential braking until the speed of the
aircraft enables control with the rudder. A steerable tail wheel, connected by cables to the
rudder or rudder pedals, is also a common design. Springs are incorporated for dampening.

Tail wheel configuration landing gear on a DC-3 (left) and a STOL Maule MX-7-235 Super Rocket.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 4

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

Tandem Landing Gear:

Few aircraft are designed with tandem landing gear. As the name implies, this type of
landing gear has the main gear and tail gear aligned on the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
Sailplanes commonly use tandem gear. A few military bombers, such as the B-47 and the B-
52, have tandem gear, as does the U2 spy plane. The tail wheel aircraft also sits with its nose
higher than tricycle gear airplane, lowering forward visibility for the pilot during ground
operations. It's more difficult to taxi without being able to see directly in front of you, which
is why you'll often see pilots of tail wheel aircraft do S-turns while taxiing. And steering a
tail wheel aircraft is different than steering a nose wheel aircraft since steering is
accomplished from behind the pilot instead of in front. There are certainly benefits to a tail
dragger, as well. The nose-high attitude on the ground means that the propellers on tail wheel
aircraft often have more clearance from the ground, making them better suited for grass or
dirt runways. And they're often designed and configured for slow flight, making them easier
to land on short runways.

Tandem landing gear along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft permits the use of flexible wings on sailplanes
(left) and military aircraft like the B-52 (center). The VTOL Harrier (right) has tandem gear with outrigger-type
gear

Tri-Cycle Type Landing Gear:

The most commonly used landing gear arrangement is the tricycle-type landing gear. It is
comprised of main gear and nose gear. In this type of Gears the main gears are mounted
below the wings. COG is exactly in between the nose wheel nose Gear and main Gear.
1. Allows more forceful application of the brakes without nosing over when braking, which
enables higher landing speeds.
2. Provides better visibility from the flight deck, especially during landing and ground
manoeuvring.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 5

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

3. Prevents ground-looping of the aircraft. Since the aircraft Centre of gravity is forward of
the main gear, forces acting on the Centre of gravity tend to keep the aircraft moving forward
rather than looping, such as with a tail wheel type landing gears.

The nose gear of a few aircraft with tricycle-type landing gear is not controllable. It simply
casters as steering is accomplished with differential braking during taxi. However, nearly all
aircraft have steerable nose gear. On light aircraft, the nose gear is directed through
mechanical linkage to the rudder pedals. Heavy aircraft typically utilize hydraulic power to
steer the nose gear. Control is achieved through an independent tiller in the flight deck.
The main gear on a tricycle-type landing gear arrangement is attached to reinforced wing
structure or fuselage structure. The number and location of wheels on the main gear vary.
Many main gear have two or more wheels. Multiple wheels spread the weight of the aircraft
over a larger area. They also provide a safety margin should one tire fail. Heavy aircraft may
use four or more wheel assemblies on each main gear. When more than two wheels are
attached to a landing gear strut, the attaching mechanism is known as a bogie

Tricycle-type landing gear with dual main wheels on a Learjet (left) and a Cessna 172, also with tricycle gear
(right)

Fixed and Retractable Landing Gear:

Further the classification of aircraft landing gear can be made into two categories: fixed and
retractable. Many small, single engine light aircraft have fixed landing gear, as do a few light
twins. This means the gear is attached to the airframe and remains exposed to the slipstream
as the aircraft is flown. As Mechanisms to retract and stow the landing gear to eliminate
parasite drag add weight to the aircraft. On slow aircraft, the penalty of this added weight is
not overcome by the reduction of drag, so fixed gear is used. As the speed of the aircraft

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 6

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

increases, the drag caused by the landing gear becomes greater and a means to retract the
gear to eliminate parasite drag is required, despite the weight of the mechanism.
A great deal of the parasite drag caused by light aircraft landing gear can be reduced by
building gear as aerodynamically as possible and by adding fairings or wheel pants to
streamline the airflow past the protruding assemblies. A small, smooth profile to the
oncoming wind greatly reduces landing gear parasite drag.
Retractable landing gear stows in fuselage or wing compartments while in flight. Once in
these wheel wells, gears are out of the slipstream and does not cause parasite drag. Most
retractable gear has a close fitting panel attached to them that fairs with the aircraft skin when
the gear is fully retracted. Other aircraft have separate doors that open, allowing the gear to
enter or leave, and then close again. In addition to supporting the aircraft for taxi, the forces
of impact on an aircraft during landing must be controlled by the landing gear. This is done
in two ways:
1) The shock energy is altered and transferred throughout the airframe at a different rate and
time than the single strong pulse of impact.
2) The shock is absorbed by converting the energy into heat energy.
Many aircraft utilize flexible spring steel, aluminum, or composite struts that receive the
impact of landing and return it to the airframe to dissipate at a rate that is not harmful. The
gear flexes initially and forces are transferred as it returns to its original position. The most
common example of this type of non-shock absorbing landing gear is single-engine Cessna
aircraft . Landing gear struts of this type made from composite materials are lighter in weight
with greater flexibility and do not corrode.

Retractable Landing Gear

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 7

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

4. Literature review
Landing gears were first created for a plane to taxi on the runway, but they were not
optimized for a long flight. Starting from 1920, industries became more organized and
developed new technologies for landing gears. As planes went faster, the retractable version
makes its appearance smoother and help to reduce the drag. Several materials have been
developed to improve the technology, like high strength steel, carbon composites, or the use
of hydraulic control or electro-hydraulic system.
In the beginning there was one type of landing gear, the feet of the airman. In 1891, Otto
Lilienthal was one of the first men who flew above the earth. His airplane was not more than
two wings and one stabilizer. The landing gear of the Wright flyer I was made of Skis. After
the Wright Brothers had flown, the airplane was further developed so did the landing gear.
Classically, landing gears are powered by a hydraulic system or an electrohydraulic one.
Most of the big airliners and fighter jet have a hydraulic landing gear system. Even ultra-light
planes use this technology. However, in case of failure, this technology can also be backed
up by another hydraulic system.
The first type of landing gear that was used on a large scale was the convectional landing
gear .The convectional landing gear consists of three wheels. The main gear, which is under
or in front of the wings and one small wheel under the tail. These air-crafts are called tail
draggers. A well-known tail dragger is the DC-3.The DC-3 has rectangle landing gear. The
retracted landing gear was invented by Frenchmen in 1876, but only used on large scale after
1930. The main landing gear of the DC-3 is partially retractable in case of gear down failure.

The tail draggers were made for decades on smaller aircraft, but it had a few disadvantages.
At first, when the pilot braked too much, the airplane could make a nose-over .In this case the
propeller would break. Secondly, in the roll-out after the landing the plane could make a
ground loop .When steering to much or in case of wind shear, the tail of the plane would
turn. The consequences of a ground loop can be different. One will have no damage, while
the other has damaged wingtips. When the engines are located on the wings, they could be
damaged too.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 8

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

5. Methodology
In a design office or research and development department, the methodology for a project is
most of the time similar. To attain the expected results about the air load forces, the coming
steps are to be followed.
The project must start with a state-of-the-art investigation. With an appropriate literature
study, the history and the design process of a landing gear are approached. The review of the
current system with the ones existing helps understanding where the forces apply and how
the structure reacts under stress. The search is done on the internet and with the help of books
specialized on landing gears.
After the literature study, the identification of the forces and where the moment is found
leads to hand calculation for the load case. These results are calculated for several positions
of the landing gear.
Upon completion of the hand calculation, a numerical simulation with the help of Ansys will
be realized and the moment (or torque) is found. This permits to verify the results previously
calculated. All results and simulations will be verified by the company’s tutor.
Finally, a test of the system is made to compare with the numerical solution and improve the
system if needed. The experiment will first involve the rotation system, and then an
evaluation on the plane (drop test) will be executed. Those tests will be completed by the
engineers.
6. Manufacturing Methods
The Aircraft’s Landing Gear is responsible for maintaining and balancing the whole aircraft
system. The material should be highly sturdy and this becomes the main reason to make it up
of stainless steel or other hard alloys. Being heavy in nature the companies use a lighter
material to make other aircraft parts.
This landing system has to support the landing and other ground operations of the Aircraft.
They work in proper linkage with the primary structure of the aircraft and its type mainly
depends on the aircraft design. The landing gear comes with high-performance wheels which
effectively facilitate the operation of landing. As a result of this, the hydraulic system also
includes tension dampers to retain the tension while landing operations.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 9

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

Basic Manufacturing Process

The core cylinder of the landing gear system undergoes machining with the high-
performance shaping machine. It is automatic and cuts the minute disturbance on the surface
of the block. The surface should be smooth and shiny both inside and outside of the block.
With the help of a boring machine, the inner part of the cylindrical block is bored and
automatically separates the chips. After boring the main internal hole, there are two side
holes which have to undergo boring and surface finishing process. As continuous boring and
drilling heat up the tool and the work piece, the machine continuously sprays coolant on
these parts. The outer rough surface of the cylindrical block has to undergo the grinding
process for shiner and smoother surface. To clean the surface of the unreachable parts, the
technicians grind it with the help of hand grinder and polish the surface.

Calibration
With the laser calibration machine, the technicians check the calibration of all the parts. The
other important linkages come from the old landing system. They have to undergo a crack
detection test to verify the cracks.

Metal Coating

All the parts undergo chemical dipping to increase the strength and avoid corrosion of the
steel parts. After successive metal coating, the technicians clean them with water and bake it
for 24 hours.

Assembly and Testing

On completion of all the above processes, the technician assembles the landing gear. He
places the hydraulic seals in proper order before injecting the hydraulic system and the
hydraulic system of the landing gear has to pass hydraulic tests for better results. It nearly
takes 6-8 Months to make an Aircraft’s Landing Gear.

7. Design Approach
In design process, from the development of first concepts through to production
configurations, it is extremely important that complete documentation be maintained. For

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 10

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

each aircraft configuration, there should be a very minimum listing of its assumed weights
and geometric data in the landing gear and the designer should have a summary attached to
it to show the basic essentials of the gear.
The objectives in the preliminary design phase can be summarized as follows:
1) In the concept formulation phase, the landing gear location and the number and size
of the wheels is determined. The former is, at this time, a function of center-of-
gravity location and general structural arrangement. The number and size of
wheels is dependent upon the weight of the aircraft, braking requirements, and,
if specified, the flotation requirement.

2) The general configuration of the aircraft has been decided and the preliminary design
activity becomes more analytical and more detailed. Proposal preparation usually
occurs at the end of this phase and a concerted effort must be made to provide as
much detail and credibility as possible.

Preliminary Design Process

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 11

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

The basic kinematics of the landing gear demands a great deal of ingenuity on the part
of the designer.It involves the retraction extension and locking system with due consideration
to emergency conditions including free-fall. As this involves a wide variety of possible
systems ranging from simple up-and-down motion to systems that rotate the entire strut about
its axis while at the same time properly positioning the bogie. In all cases the objective is to
retract the gear into a cavity that has the least effect on basic airframe structure and also to
minimize any external contour changes that might increase aircraft drag.

The top-down design approach gives the user the distinctive advantage of using the geometry
of one component to define the geometry of the other component. Here, their construction
and assembly take place simultaneously. As a result, the user can view the development of
the assembly in real time. This design approach is highly preferred while working on a
conceptual design or a tool design where a reference of the previously created parts is
required to develop a new part.
Structural Analysis is a multi-discipline Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tool that
analyzes the physical behavior of a model to better understand and improve the mechanical
performance of a design. It can be used to directly calculate stresses, deflections, thus to
predict the behavior of the design in the real world. Structural Analysis is available in the
integrated mode of Pro/E and analysis can be performed within the Pro/E environment. Pro/E
Structural Analysis and Pro/E Thermal Analysis share a very similar approach.

Aircraft Landing Gear Design

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 12

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

8. Experimental Procedure:
At earlier aircraft were made with their main landing gear located behind the center of
gravity. An auxiliary gear under the fuselage nose was added. This arrangement became
known as the tricycle type of landing gear.
The landing gear system consists of three retractable landing gear assemblies. Each main
landing gear has a conventional air-oil shock strut, a wheel brake assembly, and a wheel and
tire assembly. The nose landing gear has a conventional air-oil shock strut, a shimmy
damper, and a wheel and tire assembly. The shock strut is designed to absorb the shock that
would otherwise be transmitted to the airframe during landing, taxiing, and takeoff. This type
of strut has two telescoping cylinders filled with hydraulic fluid and compressed air or
nitrogen. The main landing gear is equipped with brakes for stopping the aircraft and
assisting the pilot in steering the aircraft on the ground. The nose gear of most aircraft can be
steered from the cockpit. This provides greater ease and safety on the runway when landing
and taking off and on the taxiway in taxiing.

Typical landing gear

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 13

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

9. Advantages of Landing Gear

 It allows more forceful application of the brakes during landings at high speeds
without causing the aircraft to nose over.
 It permits better forward visibility for the pilot during takeoff, landing, and taxiing.
 It tends to prevent ground looping (swerving) by providing more directional stability
during ground operation since the aircraft’s center of gravity (CG) is forward of the
main wheels. The forward CG keeps the airplane moving forward in a straight line
rather than ground looping.

10. Disadvantages of Landing Gear

 Aircraft are more subject to "nose-over" accidents due to injudicious application of
brakes by the pilot.
 Conventional geared aircraft are much more susceptible to ground looping. A ground
loop occurs when directional control is lost on the ground and the tail of the aircraft
passes the nose, swapping ends, in some cases completing a full circle. This event can
result in damage to the aircraft's undercarriage, tires, wingtips, propeller and engine.
 Aircraft are more difficult to taxi during high wind conditions, due to the higher angle
of attack on the wings which can then develop more lift on one side, making control
difficult or impossible. They also suffer from lower crosswind capability and in some
wind conditions may be unable to use crosswind runways or single-runway airports.

11. Applications of Landing Gear

 Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft and used for
either takeoff or landing.
 Landing gear acts as an actuators that operate at heavy loads and in high debris
environments near the ground.
 Landing gear shock struts absorb and dissipate landing impact energy and reduce
airframe stresses.
 Landing gear are also used as steering systems in modern aircrafts.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 14

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

 In Aircraft landing gear is meant for absorbing energy while landing with specified
descent velocity and for taxing and towing.
 Landing gear facilitate take-off by allowing aircraft acceleration and rotation with the
lowest friction.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 15

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

12. Conclusion
The design of the landing gear is one of the more fundamental aspects of aircraft design. The
design and integration process encompasses numerous engineering disciplines such as
structure, weights, runway design, and economics, and has become extremely sophisticated
in the last few decades.
The need to design landing gear with minimum weight, minimum volume, high performance,
improved life and reduced life cycle cost have posed many challenges to landing gear
designers and practitioners. Further it is essential reduce the landing gear design and
development cycle time while meeting all the safety and regulatory requirements .many
technologies have been developed over the years to meet the challenges of landing gear
design and development.
These technologies have matured over the years and widely used in the current landing gear
system and new technologies will continue to ever in future. The future landing gear design
for aircraft poses many new challenges in configuration design use of materials, design and
analysis methods. These challenges can be met ,while adhering to all regulatory requirements
of safety ,by employing advanced technologies , materials, analysis methods ,processes and
production methods.
By applying functional simulation and developing design tools, the development time and
cost are reduced considerably. Use of higher strength materials, composites and technologies
like active damping control, electric systems and health monitoring technologies will steer
the landing gear design in the days to come.

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 16

 Landing Gear Arrangement of aircraft

13. References
1. Fundamentals of flight Volume I and Volume II.
2. Aircraft structures by Lalit Gupta and Dr.O.P. Sharma.
3. Batill, Stephen M., “A Study of Analytic Modeling Techniques For Landing Gear
Dynamics”.
4. . Kapadoukas, G. and Self, A., “The Simulation of Aircraft Landing Gear”, Systems
Analysis Modeling Simulation.
5. Al-Hussaini, Undercarriage (Landing Gear) Layout Design.
6. Yadov, D. and Ramamoorthy, R. P., “Nonlinear Landing Gear Behavior at
Touchdown”, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, Vol I

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering 17