UWE Bristol Engineering showcase 2015

Introduction
Although aeroplanes were made to
spend most of time flying, one of the
most critical item to maintain their
security plays its work on land: the tires.
Though tires have an important role,
they are frequently neglected and
forgotten which can end on tragedies.
Tires are critical items for the security
for several reasons: support the weight
of the aeroplane on the ground, absorb
part of the impact between aircraft and
airstrip with intense accelerations and
decelerations and large variations of
temperature.
Thus, tires demand a special attention
on their maintenance, inspection and
storage in order to prevent damages and
optimize their life.
Problems caused by poor storage
Many problems can be caused by
inadequate storage, such as: tread
separation, groove cracking, rib
undercutting, ozone or weather
checking/cracking, sidewall separation,
etc.
A tread separation can be seen below:
Osvaldo Akiyoshi Kobayashi
BEng Mechanical Engineering
Project and Design of Storage Rack for Aircraft Tires
Design, Modelling and Simulation
For the rack design a concept with capacity
to store four tires and be stackable was
developed.
Two types of racks were designed according
to the range of tires, but for structural
analysis the largest one was considered,
since can be assumed as the critical case in
due to supporting larger pressure, larger
dimensions, thus, larger bending moments.
The analysis also considered the most
critical situation for the rack that is on the
ground, since it will support another two
stacked racks.
The structures were dimensioned with
profiles of 30x40x2 mm for bars where the
forces are higher and profiles of 30x30x2
mm for trusses, both of them made of steel
1020, totalizing a weight of 25 kN to
support.
Then, using specific boundary conditions for
the problem, von Misses criteria and “iso
clipping” tool, through the software
SolidWorks, the following simulation was
obtained.
Maximum stress: 3.567 × 10 7 NN mm 2
Maximum displacement: 0.382 mm
Factor of security obtained: 9.8
The structure supported all the load pressure of two racks stacked with
all tires without ruptures or any propensity to fatigue.
Traceability Program
The main objective of traceability is to provide the story, usage and
location of a single product or a set of products through a unique
number of identification.
In order to assist on documentation and tracking of tires, a computer
programme was created, which will be utilized by employees in charge of
maintenance and tires transport, helping to organize the inventory.
Project Supervisor
Dr. Tushar Dhavale
Project summary
An investigation has been done to develop a whole
new storage rack for aircraft tires. This new design
was necessary in order to solve some problems
caused by poor storage which causes distortion and
folds over the rubber. On this storage rack, the tires
lay over rollers and can be rotated by using a drill or
human force which decrease the probability of
formation of folds or distortion on the tires in due to
an equal pressure over all their parts.
Traceability is another differential: using a computer
with the programme developed, the operator can
track and search the exact location of a specific tire,
as well as its information about inspection and
maintenance.
Project Objectives
The purpose of the project is to become capable to
create a whole storage rack that rotates the tires in
order to prevent folds over the tire rubber and
extend their life cycle with a traceability programme
to track and find information about tires stored.
Project Conclusion
• A new design of a storage rack was developed as
expected. Observing similar projects enabled us to
find a differential for this rack, which is store tires
with quality and control of process without high
efforts to rotate tires, doing it manually or
automatically.
• The rack designed has the capacity to store four
tires and also can be stacked with the maximum of
two others racks. The structure was modelled and
simulated using the software SolidWorks and could
support all the load required.
• The project also reached successfully on design
and selection of proper components. The
reduction system allows the operator to rotate the
four tires at the same time using low human force
or using a drill, facilitating the process of
maintenance and security.
• The traceability programme developed was very
efficient, simple, with easy layout and can be used
without any difficult to find any tire or information.
This totally contribute to the organization and the
process of supply chain industry.