Vibration and fatigue life of an arresting cable under impact landing loads

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the fatigue life and dynamic loads of an arresting cable when a landing aircraft passes through a runway.

Design/methodology/approach

The cable is assumed to be under tension and with bending rigidity. The normal modes and natural frequencies of the vibrating wire are obtained analytically. The response of the arresting cable owing to the impact of the landing aircraft is modelled as a problem of initial conditions. The maximum normal and tangential stresses are determined for different landing conditions and landing aircraft sizes. The fatigue life of the wire is determined based on classical theories.

Findings

The results show that maximum shear stresses occur at the end of the cable. These shear stresses increased with higher off-centre landing position and decreased tyre width. Between 50 and 70% of the service life of the cable is reduced due to the dynamic loading effects.

Originality/value

A novel technique based on the solution of a continuous elastic system is proposed for analysing the displacements and stresses on an arresting cable due to the impact of a landing aircraft. The derived stresses can be used to calculate the service life of the cable.

Citation

Egido Fernández, A., García-Fogeda Nuñez, P. and Arévalo Lozano, F. (2020), "Vibration and fatigue life of an arresting cable under impact landing loads", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 92 No. 8, pp. 1207-1213. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-10-2019-0209