| For release: Oct. 20, 1995
Mark Chambers
Phone: 804-864-3728
Keith Henry
Phone: 804-864-6120
RELEASE NO. 95-95
NASA Tests Advanced Radial Tires For Large Airliners
NASA is working with the Michelin Aircraft Tire Corp.,
Charlotte, N.C., to document the durability of advanced radial
tires designed for use on new jumbo jets and the envisioned
supersonic high-speed civil transport.
Radial tires have proven to be lightweight, produce less drag
and generate less heat than conventional bias tires in 5 years of
smaller aircraft use in this country and 10 years of use in
European countries.
The successful tests are expected to speed up the process of
certification by the FAA, according to NASA project engineer Bob
Daugherty. "The fuel costs and savings produced are just
phenomenal," he said. The tires are the largest in commercial use
and similar to the main gear tires being considered by Boeing for
its new wide-bodied transport, the "777."
The tests, just concluded, were performed at NASA Langley
Research Center, Hampton, Va., using the center’s unique
aircraft landing dynamics facility. Langley is recognized for its
highly successful space shuttle orbiter tire durability
research.
The Langley-Michelin partnership is being supported by a Space
Act Agreement. "This is a perfect example of a U.S. industry, the
aircraft tire industry, benefiting from NASA invested capital and
helping keep our country ahead of the competition," said
Daugherty.
The advanced radial tire tests were designed to define the
mechanical properties of the tires at various loads. Slow speed
tests were performed using a carriage testbed equipped with a test
tire.
In addition, tire relaxation lengths and side forces were
measured on a "frictionless" test platform positioned at the end of
a simulated steel runway in the carriage hangar.
The test platform rotates and can be pulled sideways, pulling
the test tire with it. The specially designed equipment is capable
of pulling up to 80,000 pounds of side load.
"This was a big challenge. It took about 6 months to come up
with the side loading system, but it worked extremely well," said
Daugherty.
Follow-on tests next spring, unrelated to the Michelin
agreement, may make use of the Langley facility’s outdoor test
track where aircraft landings can be simulated at actual landing
speeds using a railed carriage that drops the test tire onto a
simulated runway.
Meanwhile, Michelin and Langley are exploring the possibllity of
further joint work on advanced radial tires.
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