PFR - Aerospace Engineering Sciences Senior Design Projects ...

Project Final Report – CUDBF April 30 th , 2009
ASEN 4028: Aerospace Senior Projects
A simply supported beam was analyzed, fixed at one end with a load P applied at the free tip of
the beam. From Vable, the critical load experienced by the beam (i.e. the maximum amount of
force the column can take before it buckles) is known and seen in Equation 33. Simply
rearranging the critical load equation, knowing the moment of inertia for a cylinder, the radius
can be solved for as in Equation 34. The code is provided in Appendix I.
Equation 33: Beam Buckling Critical Load
Equation 34: Minimum Radius for the Buckling Case
The analysis of these different beam cases under the same applied forces proved the deflection of
the landing gear to be of the higher concern. Thus Equation 32 showed the minimum diameter
for the Al 2024 material properties was 0.2 inches. In order to both add a safety factor while at
the same time easing the manufacturing of the landing gear, the final selected landing gear
diameter is the readily available 0.25 inch diameter Al 2024.
Once the landing gear was sized, it needed to be integrated into the aircraft structure in such a
way that the risk of tearing out of the wing was mitigated. The strut is to be attached to a
plywood plate using two small brackets that strap to the strut structure. The two brackets, seen
in Figure 69, will then be screwed into the plywood plate.
Figure 69: Two View of the Landing Gear Structure
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