AIRCRAFT LANDING GEAR SYSTEM-

INTRODUCTION:
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft and is often
referred to as such. The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation is the structure
that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land.
Typically wheels are used, but skids, skis, floats or a combination of these and
other element can also be deployed. Aircraft landing gear supports the entire
weight of an aircraft.
During landing and ground operations they are attached to primary structural
members of the aircraft. The type of gear depends on the aircraft design and its
intended use. Most landing gear have wheels to facilitate operation to and from
hard surfaces, such as airport runways. Basic landing gear types include those
with wheels, skids, skis, and floats or pontoons.
Other gear feature skids for this purpose, such as those found on helicopters,
balloon gondolas, and in the tail area of some tail dragger aircraft. Aircraft that
operate to and from frozen lakes and snowy areas may be equipped with landing
gear that have skis. Aircraft that operate to and from the surface of water have
pontoon-type landing gear. Regardless of the type of landing gear utilized,
shock absorbing equipment, brakes, retraction mechanisms, controls, warning
devices, cowling, fairings, and structural members necessary to attach the gear
to the aircraft are considered parts of the landing gear system.
The undercarriage is a relatively heavy part of the vehicle, it can be as much as
7% of the takeoff weight, but more typically is 4-5%.
Numerous configurations of landing gear types can be found. Additionally,
combinations of two types of gear are common. Amphibious aircraft are
designed with gear that allows landings to be made on water or dry land. The
gear features pontoons for water landing with extendable wheels for landings on
hard surfaces. A similar system is used to allow the use of skis and wheels on
aircraft that operate on both slippery, frozen surfaces and dry runways.
Typically, the skis are retractable to allow use of the wheels when needed.
RETRACTABLE LANDING GEARS SYSTEM:
To decrease drag in flight some undercarriages retract into the wings and/or
fuselage with wheels flush against the surface or concealed behind doors; this
is called retractable gear.
If the wheels rest protruding and partially exposed to the air stream after being
retracted, the system is called semi-retractable.
These are designed to eliminate drag and can be either fully or partially
retracted. Direction of retraction of landing gears depends on airframe model.
There are several methods of retraction:- hydraulic, electric, mechanical,
pneumatic etc. Most retraction systems are hydraulically operated, though
some are electrically operated or even manually operated. This adds weight
and complexity to the design. In retractable gear systems, the compartment
where the wheels are stowed are called wheel wells, which may also diminish
valuable cargo or fuel space.


Generally aircraft landing gears are of two types
1) Hydraulic landing gears
2) Pneumatic landing gears

Pneumatic System:
Pneumatic systems use pressurized gases to transmit and control power. As the
name implies, pneumatic system typically use air (rather than some other gas)
as the fluid medium because air is safe, low cost and readily available fluid. It is
particularly safe in environments where an electrical spark could ignite leaks
from system components.
There are several reasons for considering the use of pneumatic systems instead
of hydraulic systems. Liquids exhibit greater inertia than do gases. Therefore, in
hydraulic systems the oil is a potential problem when accelerating and
decelerating actuators and when suddenly opening and closing valves. Liquids
also exhibit greater viscosity than do gases. This results in larger frictional
pressure and power losses. Also, since hydraulic system use a fluid foreign to
the atmosphere, they require special reservoirs and no leak- system designs.
Pneumatic systems use air that is exhausted directly back into the surrounding
environment. Generally speaking, pneumatic systems are less expensive than
hydraulic systems.
However, because of the compressibility of air, it is impossible to obtain
precise, controlled actuator velocities with pneumatic systems. Also, precise
positioning control is not obtainable. In applications where actuator travel is to
be smooth and steady against a variable load, the air exhaust from the actuator
is normally metered. Whereas pneumatic pressures are quite low to explosion
dangers involved if components such as air tanks should rupture (less than
250psi), hydraulic pressure can be as high as 12000psi. Thus hydraulic pressure
can be high-power systems whereas pneumatics is confined to low power
application.


Principles and Maintenance:

The technology of pneumatics has gained tremendous importance in the field of
work place rationalization and automation from old fashioned timber works and
coal mines modern machine shops and space robots. Certain characteristics of
compressed air have made this medium quite suitable for use in modern
manufacturing and production plants.

It is therefore, important that technicians and engineers should have a good
working knowledge of pneumatic system, air operated tools and other
accessories, including a thorough and clear concept of the physical principles
that govern the behaviour of compressed air.

Advantages of Pneumatic System:

Wide availability of air.
Compressibility of air.
Easy transportability of compressed air in pressure vessels, containers and in
long pipes.
Fire proof characteristic of the medium.
Simple construction of pneumatic elements and easy handling.
High degree of controllability of pressure, speed, and force.
Possibility of easy but reasonably reliable remote controlling.
Easier maintenance.
Explosion-proof characteristic of the medium.
Comparatively cheaper in cost than other systems.

MERITS OVER HYDRAULIC SYSTEM:

Compared to hydraulic system, pneumatic system has better operational
advantages. In areas of hazards, probably air will be a better medium of
power than electrical system, hydraulic system and steam power system. It
may not be necessary at this stage to dwell further on the multitude of
advantages that may be derived from applying pneumatic energy on
production plants and systems except what has been already mentioned
earlier.

Pneumatic systems are generally lighter than hydraulic systems, due to
the absence of fluid. Bleed air is tapped straight off the engine so it
doesn't require any pumps or motors, just the engine running, to
produce it. In large a/c the starting system is pneumatic to eliminate an
extra motor. But it's also for safety--no hydraulic pump needed to start
the engine.

Pneumatic landing gear system can be used as suspension due to its
high compressibility under load where as hydraulic system cant be used
as such.