UDRI working to keep landing gear strong on the job

By Pamela Gregg, Communication Administrator, 937-229-3268

The University of Dayton Research Institute has been awarded a $96 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity Air Force contract to perform engineering services for landing gear systems. Work performed under the 11-year contract will support the Air Force Materiel Command at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Engineering services will be designed to ensure mission safety; improve system life cycle cost; improve operational capability and performance; improve sustainment, including maintainability and support; and improve environmental safety and friendliness.

UDRI researchers have performed a variety of engineering services, including design, analysis, testing, modeling, prototyping, reverse engineering and failure analysis, for landing gear across multiple Air Force aircraft. In a recent program, researchers built a two-story steel frame equipped with hydraulic actuators to test the nose and main landing gear of a C-130 cargo plane, which has a max take-off weight of 75 tons. The frame had to be large enough to facilitate enough hydraulic force on the landing gear to simulate the gravity forces on a fully loaded C-130 as it hits the runway.

“The landing gear of a cargo aircraft, which frequently cycles through take-offs, landings and taxiing, endure a great deal of stress,” said Mike Bouchard division head for applied mechanics at the Research Institute. “Work we perform provides valuable information that helps our customers better address their needs.”

Learn more at UDRI System and Sustainment Engineering.

Aug. 1, 2018