DETERMINATION OF TIRE-WHEEL INTERFACE LOADS FOR AIRCRAFT WHEELS

A numerical tool is developed for determining the pressure distributio n at the tire-wheel interface of an aircraft-wheel from experimentally obtained strains. The methodology employs an axisymmetric finite elem ent model which is subjected to a general loading. The loading is repr esented as a double Fourier series, and the components are determined by a least squares fit using the experimentally determined strains. A finite element code based on linear elasticity for an isotropic materi al was developed to perform this analysis. Sample experiments are pres ented to illustrate the validity and the robustness of the algorithm. Finally, the limitations of this type of analysis are discussed and fu ture directions are indicated.