Side Load Factor Statistics From Commercial Aircraft Ground Operations
Abstract
The University of Dayton is supporting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) research on the loads and structural integrity requirements for the U.S. commercial transport airplane fleet. The primary objective of this research is to support the FAA's Operational Loads Monitoring Research by developing new and improved methods and criteria for processing and presenting commercial transport airplane flight and ground loads usage data. The scope of activities performed involve but are not limited to (1) defining the service-related factors that affect the operational life of commercial aircraft; (2) designing an efficient software system to reduce, store, and process large quantities of optical quick access recorder data; and (3) providing processed data in formats that will enable the FAA to reassess existing certification criteria. Presented herein are analyses and statistical summaries of landing and ground operations data to provide the FAA with a technical basis for assessing the suitability of the 0.5-g lateral acceleration criteria specified in Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 25,495 for turning. The data represent 1037 flights, 1039 flights, and 1361 flights of B-737-400, B-767-2OOER, and B-747-400 aircraft, respectively. Included are statistical information on vertical and lateral accelerations, yaw angles, ground speeds, and gross weights experienced during touchdown and ground operations. Ground-turning lateral acceleration data were used in the development of a normalization procedure to allow prediction of lateral load factors due to ground turning on other aircraft. While the data contained in this report might indicate that the FAR 25,495 may be conservative at the O.5-g level when one considers that FAR 25,495 takes into consideration asymmetric gear loading for both dry and highly slippery conditions, the retention of the traditional O.5-g value may well be appropriate.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA413848
Entities
People
- Daniel O. Tipps
- Donald Skinn
- John Rustenburg
- Thomas Defiore
Organizations
- University of Dayton