UWE Bristol Engineering showcase 2015
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Danilo da Silva<br />
M.Eng Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong><br />
Project Supervisor<br />
Dr. Tushar Dhavale<br />
Design of a storage rack for aircrafts wheels and tyres<br />
Background<br />
Much research has been addressed to optimise<br />
the reliability of aeroplane tyres. In this context,<br />
the way the tyres will be stored is also important<br />
to be considered, it is known that the tyres will<br />
lost its circular shape if it is kept in the same<br />
position for a long period. Also, other specific<br />
cares were stablished by the literature review in<br />
order to keep the integrity of the wheel/tyre<br />
assemblies. Therefore, the aim of this project is to<br />
design a storage rack for military aircrafts, being<br />
the main points listed below:<br />
• Enable the tyre rotate manually or automatics<br />
• Stackable racks<br />
• Light and dirt protection<br />
• Store vertically and separately<br />
• Incorporate a traceability system<br />
Design<br />
The design attached zinc plates around it as a<br />
whole, in order to not only protect the tyres from<br />
ultraviolet lights, but also to keep it away from<br />
possible dirt or degrading substances. Bearing in<br />
mind the tracking system, a portable computer<br />
was attached to the side of the rack. Also, the<br />
racks have a simple process to be stacked; they<br />
have upper profiles which fit into the lower<br />
profiles and have holes to be screwed.<br />
The rack stores each tyre separately and vertically, it<br />
fit a range of wheel/tyre assemblies and also has a<br />
mechanism which permits the tyres to be upright,<br />
regardless with the size of it. This mechanism can be<br />
observed in the figure below.<br />
The mechanism has a spring which keeps a small<br />
roller always in contact with the tyre, regardless the<br />
width of it; as such the tyre will be upright always.<br />
Also, the project included a mechanism composed<br />
with two rollers for each wheel/tyre assemblies to<br />
enable its rotation, only one roller provide the<br />
motion, and a mechanism developed permitted to<br />
the operator rotate the assembly either manually or<br />
automatically. The designed mechanism can be<br />
observed in the figure below.<br />
As it can be seen, the mechanism permits the use of<br />
a crank to provide motion to the system when there<br />
is a screw attached. The screw transmits the motion<br />
of the crank to the shaft (the shaft is kept<br />
transparent just to allow the visualization of its<br />
interior) which is connected to the roller. Once the<br />
screw is removed, the crank will be free and no<br />
motion from the crank will be transmitted to the<br />
roller, on the other hand, the pulley system will<br />
act, applying a driller in the upper shaft, which has<br />
a hexagonal hole to be attached to the driller.<br />
Finite Element Analysis (FEA)<br />
The following boundary conditions were applied:<br />
The faces of the profiles were fixed on the ground,<br />
and loads were applied due to the weight of the<br />
tyre in the bearing attachment area. In addition,<br />
we considered the loads from the other two<br />
stacked racks, with its weight distributed on the<br />
points of contact with the lowest hack. All the<br />
parts of the rack were considered solid bodies and<br />
the study ran through an automatic mesh with<br />
mesh refinement control in parts considered<br />
critical. The results obtained in the study of stress<br />
can be seen in the figure below.<br />
Traceability<br />
To assist in tyres documenting and tracking<br />
procedures, a computer program was developed<br />
to be used by the tyres operators, helping in<br />
inventory organization. The software receives<br />
information on the status and location of each tyre<br />
when it is removed or stored in a rack, keeping a<br />
track record of the tyres. Screens of the developed<br />
program follow:<br />
Project summary<br />
Design an military aircraft tyre storage rack. The<br />
design addressed the most common issues regarding<br />
to the physical integrity of the tyres. Finite elements<br />
analyses were performed in order to ensure the<br />
safety of the prototype as well as stability analysis.<br />
Also, a tracking system was implemented.<br />
Project Objectives<br />
• Design improved aircraft tyre storage racks<br />
• Implement a tyre tracking system<br />
• Allow the designed racks to be stacked<br />
• Ensure entire design is safe and work properly<br />
Project Conclusion<br />
This first part of the project has shown, founded on<br />
the literature survey, the importance of improved<br />
tyre storage racks. As more the demand in aviation<br />
has increased, more attention has to be paid to<br />
durability and reliability aspects, wherefore aircraft<br />
companies has been more demanding to tyres care.<br />
Several requirements have been established aiming<br />
to develop the efficiency of aircraft tyres. Aircraft tyre<br />
storage racks appeared has been already developed<br />
for some companies but the majority of them still<br />
have not yet met the requirements entirely.<br />
In sum, it can be concluded that this project has met<br />
the aims, since the aircraft storage rack design has<br />
met the requirements proposed by the literature<br />
review and the results from analyses were<br />
satisfactory when it comes to safety and reliability.<br />
Built on the acquired knowledge from the literature<br />
review, the shafts and bearings were designed and<br />
selected. In Addition, finite element analysis was<br />
performed on the tubular frame and it was optimised<br />
and posteriorly considered sufficiently safe to<br />
support wheel and tyre assemblies. In this way, the<br />
storage rack designed in this project can be seen as<br />
an important investment to aircraft companies.
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