Determination of tire-wheel interface loads for aircraft wheels

A numerical tool is developed for determining the pressure distribution at the tire-wheel interface of an aircraft-wheel from experimentally obtained strains. The methodology employs an axisymmetric finite element model which is subjected to a general loading. The loading is represented as a double Fourier series, and the components are determined by a least squares fit using the experimentally determined strains. A finite element code based on linear elasticity for an isotropic material was developed to perform this analysis. Sample experiments are presented to illustrate the validity and the robustness of the algorithm. Finally, the limitations of this type of analysis are discussed and future directions are indicated.