A simulation of the fatigue life of light aircraft glass fibre-reinforced composites landing gear.

This study uses finite element analysis software to conduct simulations and compares the fatigue behaviour of the aluminium alloy and glass fibre-reinforced composite that is used in light aircraft landing gear. The maximum stress, maximum strain and deformation of landing gear of different shapes (plate and tube shapes) are also determined. The results show that the composite landing gear weighs 45% less than an aluminium equivalent. Of the samples tested, plate-shaped glass fibre-reinforced composite landing gear exhibits the lowest maximum stress under a static load. Regardless of whether the landing gear is plate- or tube-shaped, the maximum strain and deformation for the composite landing gear are more than four times those for the aluminium alloy landing gear. The results for dynamic load show that plate-shaped glass fibre-reinforced composite and tube-shaped aluminium landing gear have similar maximum alternating stress under cyclic loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]