Aeroelastic coupling and control means for reduction of main landing gear doors respsonses under operational conditions

Abstract

Main landing gear doors cover the landing gear bays, keeping the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft during flight. They are open for the deployment and the retraction of the landing gears in the approach phase before landing and after take-off, respectively. During these phases, the nose landing gear creates flow separations, characterised by turbulent vortex motions, which are convected further downstream over the main landing gear region. This turbulent flow is responsible of unsteady aerodynamic loads on the main landing gear doors and may lead to vibrations (buffeting). The present work summarises the key activities carried out in the frame of the European Project AFLoNext to characterise the structural response of the main landing gear doors of a commercial transport aircraft, as well as the effect of control devices designed, manufactured and flight-tested in order to mitigate their vibrations.