Uavos unveils carbon fiber main landing gear spring
Enhanced unmanned aircraft performance can be achieved via Uavos’ latest 16-kilogram design, rigorously tested to illustrate its safety and efficiency optimizations.
Source | Uavos
Unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) engineering and manufacturing company Uavos (Mountain View, Calif., U.S.) announces the development of its latest main landing gear spring, designed to improve durability, performance and safety for unmanned aircraft.
The component is made of carbon fiber prepreg using the inflatable bladder molding method — a technique that involves impregnating sheets of fibers with a specialized resin, then placing them inside a mold for the desired part and sealing them. The landing gear spring is built to withstand high-impact landings and harsh operational conditions. It features improved shock absorption (reducing stress on the airframe), reduced weight (better fuel efficiency and payload capacity) and increased longevity compared to traditional steel components. This newest design aims to enhance aircraft stability during landing and taxiing while reducing an operator’s maintenance costs.
“Our goal was to create a landing gear solution that not only improves safety but also optimizes UAV efficiency,” says Aliaksei Stratsilatau, founder and CEO at Uavos. “The main landing gear has been designed with a minimum weight of 16 kg.”
According to Uavos, reduction in landing gear mass does not affect the stiffness of the train or its deformations to operating demands. The train’s reduced thickness will directly influence the decrease of its drag. Its surface is reported to be smooth enough that a UAV at maximum flight speed does not decrease in performance.
The landing gear spring underwent rigorous initial overloaded testing of 1,800 kg, demonstrating a 160-mm deflection of the axis under the load, as well as high durability. Torsional stiffness testing proved the gear’s resistance to twisting under load, which is crucial for preventing vibrations.
Uavos’ first retrofit main landing gear has already been delivered to one of its clients to support a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) aircraft program. Uavos included the brake lines installed into the leaf spring landing gear.
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