STUDY OF THE PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION ON AN AIRCRAFT TIRE WHEEL INTERFACE

The pressure distribution at the tire-wheel interface is not presently well understood, despite the need for using this load distribution to design fail-safe wheels. To investigate this boundary condition, meth odologies for accurately measuring the distribution were investigated using an F-16 main wheel subjected to the inflation-pressure condition . A purely experimental approach using piezoelectric film measured the interface pressure at eight discrete points in the tubewell, beadseat , and flange regions of the wheel. A hybrid technique used the experim ental method of holographic interferometry to measure the wheel displa cements and a three-dimensional finite element method was used to back calculate the pressure distribution based on these experimental displa cements. A comparison of the two methodologies is given. Areas of high stress are determined and discussed with respect to ensuring a fail-s afe design.