This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2019/045295, filed Nov. 19, 2019, claiming priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-216320, filed Nov. 19, 2018, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a wear amount estimation method, a wear amount estimation device, and a wear amount estimation program.
A technique is known that estimates a wear amount of aircraft tires (for example, Patent Literature 1). The method disclosed in Patent Literature 1 acquires plural kinds of wear energy corresponding to plural running states (such as a touching down state, a deceleration state after touching down, and a taxiing state) classified depending on the conditions of use, and estimates the wear amount of the respective aircraft tires based on the acquired wear energy.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5778560
Generally, a plurality of aircraft tires are mounted on the aircraft. In the touching down state, the wear amount of each aircraft tire is different. For example, in the touching down state, the state (such as shearing force, slip rate) of each aircraft tire is not uniform because a load applied to each aircraft tire is different. However, since the method according to Patent Literature 1 does not consider the state of each aircraft tire in the touching down state, it is difficult to accurately estimate the wear amount of each aircraft tire in the touching down state.
To solve the conventional problem described above, the present invention provides a wear amount estimation method, a wear amount estimation device, and a wear amount estimation program capable of accurately estimating the wear amount of each aircraft tire in the touching down state.
A wear amount estimation method according to the present invention calculates a shearing force of each rib based on an average grounding pressure of each rib (rib 50 to 53) of an aircraft tire (aircraft tire 31); calculates a wear energy of the aircraft tire based on the shearing force; and estimates the wear amount of the aircraft tire based on the wear energy and a wear resistance showing a relationship between a predetermined wear amount. The information related to the aircraft includes an internal pressure of the aircraft tire. The average grounding pressure of each rib is calculated based on the internal pressure and a wheel load applied to the aircraft tire.
According to the present invention, the wear amount of each aircraft tire in the touching down state can be accurately estimated.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the illustration of the drawings, the same constituents are denoted by the same reference signs, and description thereof is omitted.
(1) Configuration Example of Wear Amount Estimation System
An example of a configuration of a wear amount estimation system 1 will be described with reference to
The wear amount estimation device 10 mutually communicates with the airline 30 via the network 20. Specifically, the wear amount estimation device 10 acquires pieces of information from the airline 30 via the network 20, and estimates wear amounts of a plurality of aircraft tires 31 mounted on an aircraft individually. A scene where the aircraft tire 31 is used includes a plurality of driving states. The wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the wear amount of the aircraft tire 31 in a touching down state. Details of the touching down state will be described later. The information acquired by the wear amount estimation device 10 from the airline 30 will also be described later. In the following, “aircraft” may be simply referred to as “airframe”. The network 20 is a communication network capable of transmitting and receiving various kinds of information. For example, the network 20 is implemented by various types of communication lines, such as dedicated lines installed by telecommunications carriers, public switched telephone networks, satellite communication lines, and mobile communication lines.
The wear amount estimation device 10 is a general-purpose computer, for example, including a processor including a CPU and a memory such as a read-only memory (ROM) and a random-access memory (RAM). The CPU reads out a program stored in the ROM to the RAM and executes the program. The wear amount estimation device 10 may be either a built-in terminal device or a mobile terminal device easy to carry (such as a smartphone). The wear amount estimation device 10 may be a server. As shown in
In the present embodiment, the plurality of aircraft tires include an aircraft tire mounted on the main gear and an aircraft tire mounted on the nose gear. Further, a plurality of aircraft tires (six, for example) are mounted on the main gear. Also a plurality of aircraft tires (two, for example) are mounted on the nose gear. However, depending on the size of the aircraft, one aircraft tire may be mounted on the nose gear. The main gear may be referred to as a main landing gear. The nose gear may be referred to as a nose landing gear. The main gear and the nose gear are so-called landing gears, and include, in addition to the aircraft tires, a shock absorbing device for absorbing an impact load at the time of landing, a pedestal, or the like. Hereinafter, unless otherwise stated, the aircraft tire refer to each tire mounted on the aircraft. Hereinafter, aircraft tire is simply referred to as tire. Hereinafter, unless otherwise stated, the gear includes the main landing gear and the nose landing gear.
(2) Wear Amount Estimation Method
Next, referring to
In step S101 shown in
The process proceeds to step S103, and the wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the touching down time of the tire. The touching down time means the time at the moment when the tire is grounded (the tire lands). The touching down time may be different between the tire mounted on the main gear and the tire mounted on the nose gear. Also, even in each tire mounted on the same main gear, the touching down time may be different depending on the mounted shaft position.
A method of estimating the touching down time will be described with reference to
Generally, when the aircraft lands, the pitch angle of the aircraft gradually increases as the altitude decreases. In the present embodiment, the direction in which the nose (aircraft's nose) is directed upward is defined as “positive”. Generally, the pitch angle becomes maximum the moment the aircraft lands and then decreases (refer to
The process proceeds to step S205, and the wear amount estimation device 10 determines that the tire mounted on the nose gear is grounded when the pitch angle is less than or equal to a second threshold value. The second threshold value is not particularly limited, but is, for example, 0 (zero) degrees. In the example shown in
After estimating the touching down time, the process proceeds to step S105 shown in
Therefore, the wear amount estimation device 10 according to the present embodiment calculates the evaluation time Tg based on the descending speed of the aircraft. An example of a method for calculating the evaluation time Tg will be described with reference to
The descending speed is not constant in the touching down state. As shown in
It is noted that the evaluation time Tg may be defined as a time from when the tire is grounded until the aircraft enters a taxiing state. The taxiing state is a state in which the aircraft runs on the runway using the power of the aircraft.
The process proceeds to step S107, and the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates a load applied to the tire. For example, when one tire is grounded on the road surface at the moment of touching down, the tire bears the total load of the aircraft. The load is determined by subtracting a lift from the total weight of the aircraft. The lift is determined by well-known methods.
The process proceeds to step S109, and the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates a wheel load applied to the tire. In the present embodiment, the wheel load is a weight to be borne by the tire, which is the same as the load described above, but the wheel load is a parameter in consideration of the characteristics and behavior of the aircraft relative to the load described above.
The characteristics of the aircraft include, for example, gear arrangement and gear structure. The gear arrangement relates to a position where the main gear and the nose gear are attached to the aircraft. The gear structure relates to the shaft position to which the tire is attached. The position of each gear or the load borne by the tire in each shaft varies. The load after the variation is defined as the wheel load.
The behavior of aircraft includes the lift, the roll angle, the roll rate, the pitch angle, and the pitch rate. The behavior of the aircraft also includes an impact load generated by the rotation of the gear structure and the bounce of the aircraft and the tire. The load borne by the tire is varied by the behavior of the aircraft. The load after the variation is defined as the wheel load. The behavior of the aircraft acquired by the wear amount estimation device 10 is in the touching down state.
In the touching down state, the aircraft receives various forces. Such forces vary depending on the characteristics and behavior of the aircraft. For example, the gear is deformed by the force acting up and down the aircraft. Thus, the wheel load of the tire is calculated according to where the tire is mounted in the gear. When fs is defined as a coefficient determined by where the tire is mounted in the gear, the wheel load is expressed by Formula 1.
[Math. 1]
Wheel Load=fs×(Total Weight−Lift) (1)
The lift is statically zero.
There are various types of aircrafts (size and shape), and the characteristics described above differ from aircraft to aircraft. When fd is defined as a coefficient determined by which aircraft the tire is mounted on, the wheel load is expressed by Formula 2.
[Math. 2]
Wheel Load=fs×fd×(Total Weight−Lift) (2)
Statistically, left and right roll variations are assumed to have a median value of zero. When fr is defined as a coefficient determined by the behavior of the aircraft (left and right roll variations of the aircraft), the wheel load is expressed by Formula 3.
[Math. 3]
Wheel Load=fs×fd×fr×(Total Weight−Lift) (3)
In the present embodiment, the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the wheel load using above Formula 3.
The process proceeds to step S111, and the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the shearing force of the tire. As shown in
The process proceeds to step S113, where the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates a slip rate in a rotational direction of the tire. Specifically, the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the slip rate using a rotational speed of the tire. The wear amount estimation device 10 can acquire the rotational speed of the tire from the airline 30. The rotational speed of the tire is measured by a sensor mounted on the tire (or the aircraft). It is also possible that the rotational speed of the tire cannot be acquired. When the rotational speed of the tire cannot be acquired, the wear amount estimation device 10 may calculate the slip rate based on a laboratory test result. The laboratory test is, for example, a test in which conditions equivalent to those at the time of landing of the aircraft are given to the tire. The rotational speed information and the wheel load information are acquired by the laboratory test.
Note that the example shown in
The process proceeds to step S115, and the wear amount estimation device 10 multiplies the slip rate by the shearing force and calculates an instant wear energy in a minute time. Then, the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates a wear energy by integrating the instant wear energy at the evaluation time Tg. The wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the wear amount based on the wear energy and a wear resistance showing a relationship between a predetermined wear amount. For example, the wear resistance is calculated by using the wear energy per flight calculated from the behavior of the aircraft of an average flight (airport to airport) and the wear amount per flight. The wear resistance described above is usually used in the taxiing state. Since the impact is large in the touching down state, the wear resistance smaller than the wear resistance described above may be used. In other words, in the touching down state, the wear resistance smaller than the wear resistance used in the taxiing state may be used.
(3) Working and Effects
As described above, the wear amount estimation device 10 according to the present embodiment acquires information related to the aircraft from the airline 30 and estimates the wear amount of the tire in the touching down state. Specifically, the wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the shearing force of each rib by multiplying the average grounding pressure of each rib of each tire by the dynamic friction coefficient μ. The information related to the aircraft includes the internal pressure of the tire. The average grounding pressure of each rib is calculated based on the internal pressure and the wheel load applied to the tire. The wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the wear energy of the tire based on the shearing force. The wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the wear amount of the tire based on the wear energy and the wear resistance showing the relationship between the predetermined wear amount. Thus, the wear amount estimation device 10 can accurately estimate the wear amount of each tire in the touching down state.
The information related to the aircraft includes the structure of the landing gear of the aircraft, the total weight of the aircraft, and the behavior of the aircraft in the touching down state. The wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the wheel load by using the Formula 3. Thus, the wear amount estimation device 10 can calculate the wheel load in consideration of the characteristics and behavior of the aircraft. Since the wheel load thus calculated is highly accurate, the wear amount estimation device 10 can accurately estimate the wear amount of each tire in the touching down state.
The wear amount estimation device 10 calculates the slip rate in the rotational direction of the tire based on the rotational speed of the tire. The wear amount estimation device 10 can accurately calculate the slip rate by using the actual rotational speed.
The wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the time during which the touching down state continues based on the descending speed. As described above, the evaluation time Tg becomes longer because the rotational speed of the tire slowly increases as the aircraft slowly descends. On the other hand, when the descending speed is fast, the rotational speed of the tire is also fast, so that the evaluation time Tg becomes short. The wear amount estimation device 10 can accurately estimate the time during which the touching down state continues by using the descending speed.
The wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the time when the touching down occurs based on the pitch angle. As in the above example, the wear amount estimation device 10 determines that the tire mounted on the main gear is grounded when the altitude is less than or equal to the first threshold value and the pitch angle becomes maximum. The wear amount estimation device 10 determines that the tire mounted on the nose gear is grounded when the altitude is less than or equal to the first threshold value and the pitch angle becomes 0 degrees. Thus, the wear amount estimation device 10 can accurately estimate the time when the touching down occurs for each tire. The wear amount estimation device 10 estimates the wear amount while the touching down state continues from the time when the touch-down occurs. Thus, since the touching down state is accurately divided from other running states (for example, taxiing state), the wear amount estimation device 10 can accurately estimate the wear amount of each tire in the touching down state.
While the present invention has been described above by reference to the embodiment, it should be understood that the present invention is not intended to be limited to the descriptions and the drawings composing part of this disclosure. Various alternative embodiments, examples, and technical applications will be apparent to those skilled in the art according to this disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2018-216320 | Nov 2018 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP2019/045295 | 11/19/2019 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2020/105641 | 5/28/2020 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20220001701 A1 | Jan 2022 | US |