Dunlop Aviation has invested over £3 million ($4.9 million)in advanced analysis and upgraded test equipment intended for its new Structural Dynamics department.
The "top priority" for the department is achieving a reduction in brake and landing-gear vibration during taxiing, and take-off and landing rolls, says Dunlop. The effects of the problem, the company adds, "-range from airborne noise and passenger discomfort to structural damage and failure of the landing gear and associated components".
The Coventry, UK-based company is using a range of software packages to perform finite-element analyses of wheel and brake components, and evaluate the dynamic stability of the brakes.
The software also allows the likely vibration characteristics of newly designed wheel and brake assemblies, such as that for the Boeing 757-300, to be predicted. As part of the work, Dunlop has decided to refurbish its 530kN(120,000lb)-radial load dynamometer to provide a higher mechanical inertia for testing the wheels of large airliners.
Aircraft Braking Systems (ABSC)has been selected to design and manufacture the wheels, brakes and associated control systems for the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet Series 700. The work will be performed under a subcontract with landing-gear supplier Menasco Aerospace. Akron, Ohio-based-ABSC, a unit of K&F Industries, already supplies wheels and brakes for the Canadair Challenger business jet and the Regional Jet Series 100 and 200.
Source: Flight International
