AOE 3124 Aerospace Structures Spring 2004

Solved Problems in Inertia Loads & Load Factors

1. An airplane weighting 8,000 lb. has an upward acceleration of 3g when landing. If the dimensions are as shown,
what are the wheel reactions R 1 and R 2 ? What is the time required to decelerate the airplane from a vertical veloci-
ty of 12 ft./s? What is the shear and bending moment on a vertical section A–A, if the weight forward of this section
is 2,000 lb. and has a center of gravity 40 in. from this cross section. Ref. Perry, problem 3.4, page 54.

24 kips
40 in.
A
c.g.
8 kips
A

40 in.
R1 R2
240 in.

Solution. Three point landing. Neglect aerodynamic lift and drag. The tire reactions are assumed constant during
the vertical 3g deceleration.
a.Find tire reactions.

ΣM R1 = 0: ( 40 in. ) ( 24 kips + 8 kips ) – ( 240 in. )R 2 = 0

R 2 = 5.33 kips

ΣF vertical = 0: 5.33 kips – 32 kips + R 1 = 0

R 1 = 26.67 kips
b.Find the time after touchdown to decelerate from 12 ft./s.

0 – ( – 12 ft/s )
( v – v 0 = at ) → t = -------------------------------
-
3 ( 32.2 ft/s 2 )

t = 0.124 s
c.What is the vertical compression of the landing gear during this deceleration?

0 – ( 12 ft/s ) 2
( 2as = v 2 – v 02 ) → s = ------------------------------------2-
2 ⋅ 3 ⋅ 32.2 ft/s

s = 0.745 ft
d.What is the shear and bending moment on the vertical section A–A, if the weight
forward of this section is 2000 lb. and the c.g. is 40 in. from A–A? 6 kips
VA

V A = 8 kips
MA
M A = 320 kip-in. = 26.67 kip-ft
2 kips
40 in.

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AOE 3124 Aerospace Structures Spring 2004

2. An 8,000 lb. airplane is making a horizontal turn with a radius of 1,000 ft. and with no change in altitude. Find
the angle of bank and the load factor for a speed of (a) 200 m.p.h., (b) 300 m.p.h., and (c) 400 m.p.h. Find the loads
on the wing and tail if the dimensions are as shown. REf: Perry, problem 3.7, page 72.

L
Lw

W V2 φ R c.g.
----- ------
g R
10in. 200 in.
φ
nW P
W
Level flight coordinated turn

Solution. Assume a level flight coordinated turn as discussed in class, and assume the thrust and drag act along the
flight path. Solve for the bank angle φ in degrees, load factor n, tail load P in lbs., and wing lift Lw in lbs.

1 V2
From class notes n = ------------ and tan φ = ------- . where φ is the bank angle, V is the air speed, R is the turn radius,
cos φ gR
and L is the total lift. Note that L = L w – P , where L w is the wing lift and P is the negative tail lift for trimmed
flight.

ΣM c.g. = 0: ( 10 in. )L w – ( 210 in. )P = 0

Therefore L w = 21P

From L = L w – P we find L = 20P . By the definition of the load factor L = nW , so

20P = nW
Given R = 1000ft. and W = 8000 lb. , we find

88 fps 2
V ( mph ) ⎛ ------------------⎞
V2 ⎝ 60 mph⎠ –5
- = 6.68 ×10 V 2 ( mph )
------- = ---------------------------------------------------
2
gR 32.2 ft/s ⋅ 1000 ft.

n,
V, m.p.h. φ, radians P, lbs. Lw , lbs.
dimensionless
200 1.21 ( 69.5° ) 2.85 1,140 24,000

300 1.41 ( 80.6° ) 6.10 2,440 51,200

400 1.48 ( 84.7° ) 10.7 4,290 90,200

Note: In the above table only three significant figures were retained.

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AOE 3124 Aerospace Structures Spring 2004

3. The airplane shown is making an arrested landing on a carrier deck. At the in the position shown, the angular
velocity is 0.5 rad./s counterclockwise and the vertical velocity of the center of gravity is 12 ft./s. The radius of gyra-
tion for the mass of the airplane about the center of gravity is 60 in. Find the load factors n x and n y , parallel and
perpendicular to the deck, for a point at the center of gravity, a point 200 in. aft of the center of gravity, and a point
100 in. forward of the center of gravity. Find the vertical velocity with which the nose wheel strikes the deck. As-
sume no change in the dimensions or loads, and the downward acceleration of the nose wheel is constant in the ten
inches of vertical travel. Ref: Perry, problem 3.8, page 72.
Ma cy

ω = 0.50r/s ccw Ic α g = 386 in/s 2

Ma cx c.g. 15 in.

10° y
10 in. 20 kips
x
10kips
30 kips
80 in.
20in.

Solution. Find accelerations of the c.g.

10kips
ΣF x = 0: – ⎛ ----------------⎞ a cx + ( 20 kips ) cos ( 10° ) = 0
⎝ g ⎠

a cx = 760 in./s 2

10kips
ΣF y = 0: – 10kips – ⎛ ----------------⎞ a cy + 30kips – ( 20kips ) sin ( 10° ) = 0
⎝ g ⎠

a cy = 638 in./s 2

10kips
ΣM c.g. = 0: ( 30kips ) ( 20 in. ) + ( 20kips ) ( 15in. ) – ⎛ ----------------⎞ ( 60in. ) 2 α = 0
⎝ g ⎠

α = 9.65 radians/s 2 C.C.W.

Load Factors at c.g.

a cy 638
n = n y = 1 + ------
- = 1 + --------- = 2.65
g 386

a cx 760
n x = ------
- = --------- = 1.97
g 386

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AOE 3124 Aerospace Structures Spring 2004

Load Factors 200 in. aft of c.g.

638in./s 2 200α = 1930in./s 2 2568in./s 2

c.g. 760in./s 2
9.65r/s 2
=
710in./s 2
200ω 2 = 50in./s 2

200in.

2568
n = 1 + ------------ = 7.65
386

710
n x = --------- = 1.84
386

Load Factors 100 in. forward of c.g.

638in./s 2

785 in./s 2 100ω 2 = 25in./s 2 c.g. 760in./s 2

= 9.65r/s 2
327 in./s 2 100α = 965in./s 2
100in.

327
n = 1 – --------- = 0.15
386

785
n x = --------- = 2.03
386

Velocity of nose wheel at impact. The vertical velocity of the c.g. is 12 ft./s. Since the vertical distance from the C.
G. to the bottom of the nose wheel is not given, neglect the contribution of the centripetal acceleration to the vertical
acceleration component of the nose wheel
638 in/s 2
80in. c.g.
θ 760 in./s 2
9.65r/s 2
rω 2 r
θ
ap P
θ rα

a p = rα ( cos θ ) – rω 2 ( sin θ ) – 638 +

⎧
⎪
⎨
⎪
⎩

neglect

The change in θ during contact is small. r cos θ = 80 in. , but r sin θ is not known.

a p = ( 80 in. ) ( 9.65r/s 2 ) – 638in./s 2 = 134in./s 2

Assume a p is constant until contact. The initial downward velocity of point P is

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AOE 3124 Aerospace Structures Spring 2004

v0 = 144 in./s + ( 80 in. ) ( 0.5r/s ) = 184in./s

⎧
⎪
⎨
⎪
⎩
c.g.

So the speed at contact is

( 2a p ( 10in. ) = v 2 – v 02 ) → v = ( 184in./s ) 2 + 2 ( 134in/s 2 ) ( 10in. )

v = 191 in./s ( 15.9fps )

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