Aerodynamic interactions between landing-gear components

Abstract

The major features and physics of the aerodynamic interactions between various main components of a generic four-wheel landing gear are studied. The study was conducted as a part of the UK ATI ALGAAP (Advanced Landing Gear Aero-loads and Aero-noise Prediction) project. Delayed Detached-Eddy Simulations with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model with fixed laminar-turbulent transition are performed to compare three configurations of landing-gear components. The wheel geometry is the same as in the tandem-wheel configuration that was previously studied for the ALGAAP project. For this geometry both simulations and experiments are available for validation and comparison with the current results on the four-wheel bogie. The effect of the fixed transition are also assessed on the four-wheel geometry and compared with the tandem wheels. The results show strong effects of the axles and the bogie beam on the flow past the wheels. The axles generate a wide low-pressure wake in the aft part of the front wheels, which increases the mean drag coefficient of the front wheels. The flow features observed on the three configurations show some similarities with the flow features that were reported on tandem wheels, with a few differences. Adding axles and bogie beam increases the mean drag significantly on the front wheels, and slightly on the downstream wheels. Adding a main strut reduces the mean drag of the downstream wheels, but the mean drag of the front wheels slightly increases. A similar trend is seen with the RMS. The effect of the fixed transition in the four-wheel case is important in order to capture the transitional flow features but does not show an effect on the mean force coefficients as strong as on the tandem wheels.

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