INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPORAL THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WHEEL OUTBOARD OF AN AIRCRAFT

Three-dimensional transient natural convection flow and heat transfer around the wheel outboard portion of an aircraft brake housing was inv estigated. The wheel outboard is modeled as an annular cavity with one end open to the ambient surroundings. The temporal development of the flow and temperature fields and its effect on the thermal performance of the brake housing outboard is discussed. The transient results are presented here by means of the velocity and temperature fields and th e average Nusselt numbers over the different surfaces of the geometry. The effect of Rayleigh number and length of the inner cylinder on the thermal performance of the wheel outboard are also discussed.